For many small to midsized businesses, direct mail isn’t always the best way to generate response from prospects. If you don’t know the “WHEN” – when prospects need a particular product or service – direct mail can be an expensive way of getting qualified leads. The cost of reaching individual prospects can range from $300 per thousand to $750 per thousand and more. Reaching prospects through print advertising costs a fraction of that; even less if you use smaller ads or take advantage of remnant space. Additionally, print can help build your brand much more than direct mail.
If you decide to test direct response print, here are 10 tips for creating a successful ad:
* Define your objectives clearly. Do you want to sell merchandise, subscriptions or memberships right from the page? You’ll need a workhorse ad that uses every inch of space for persuasive “why you should buy now” copy. If your objective is to generate an inquiry, your ad needs to sell the next step – why it’s worthwhile for people to get more information. You need to decide how qualified you want the inquiry or lead to be.
* Understand who your prime prospects are. Good direct response print ads make their strongest appeals to their best prospects, and then gather in as many additional prospects as possible. Don’t write your ad for everyone.
* Find the ultimate benefit for your prospect or service… and for reading or responding to the ad. In a competitive advertising environment, you must give prospects a reason to read the ad before you can convince them to respond to it. The product/service must be perceived as unique. You may have a “commodity” product, but if you can guarantee delivery in 24 hours, that becomes an exclusive benefit.
* Link your primary prospects with the unique benefit. Often, the most effective direct response ads use audience targeting in “eyebrows” (lead-ins), heads or subheads. A classic example of this is “Be a Model (or Just Look like One),” a headline for Barbizon School that ran for many years. In the business-to-business arena, an example of audience targeting would be “For architects and engineers who spend too much timing wearing IT hats.”
* STARTLE… logically. You must attract attention for your ad to succeed. But the way you attract attention must evolve logically from the product/service and must be based on knowledge of the prospect. Depart from the expected with words or illustrations. “Get Rich Slow” is a jarring headline.
* Get to the point immediately. If your headline makes a promise, start to back up the promise with proof in your subhead and first paragraph. Make every moment count to move the reader to the moment of truth: the response.
* Build in credibility. While print is a more credible medium than direct mail, every ad should be examined for its credibility and believability. Is the headline promise too outrageous? What does the ad say about your company’s ability to deliver? Testimonials, case histories, and guarantees can help considerably in making the offer credible.
* Ask for response—and not just in words. Most direct response print ads today do not have a coupon. Frankly, that takes away from readers’ immediate sense that they are being asked to respond. With the coupon gone, you need to make the 1-800 phone number large and run it in a few places… and also invite readers to visit your web site.
* Spend most of your time on the headline. Over 75% of the success of an ad is dependent on the head. After you’ve found the right benefit, consider carefully how you want to communicate it. Should the headline be a question, command, story (“They laughed when I sat down at the piano…”), news flash, or “how to”?
* Get professional design help. Graphics and art direction are increasingly important. Be sure you use an art director/designer with direct response experience. “Lifestyle”-type ads normally don’t generate much response. Perhaps the most important thing to know about design: The ability of an ad to attract attention in a cluttered environment depends on the size of the largest single element, not on the total size of the ad.
If you follow these basic guidelines, direct response print can be a useful tool in your marketing portfolio.
Lee Marc Stein is an internationally known direct marketing consultant and copywriter. He works with direct response agencies and with his own clients. Read more of Lee’s articles at www.leemarcstein.com.
