Who are you talking to? People most likely to buy or repurchase.
What do you want them to do? Buy again, buy more, come in.
How will you persuade them to do it ? Make your offer irresistible.
Here's How To Create Irresistible Offers:
Jim Kobs, author of Profitable Direct Marketing has a checklist
of proven direct response offers. He also recommends to feature your offer
prominently in your ad and if it's a FREE OFFER, make sure it is played up
strong in your headline or subhead, not buried in the copy.
Here are a few of his proven offers that apply to retailers:
Free trial
Installment terms
Free gift for order, inquiry or trial
Free demonstration
Cash discount
Introductory order discount
Short term introductory discount
Price increase notice
Free samples
Guarantee
Piggyback offers
Add on offer
Lucky number sweepstakes
Everyone wins sweepstakes
Trade in offer
What About Couponing?
Couponing is still big business in the U.S. Unfortunately, when
companies get involved in couponing wars it destroys loyalty and everyone
suffers. Besides coupon offers, you can use other strategies to sell your
products and services, without discounting.
Quality - mention specifics and proof. Show testimonials of happy
customers.
Variety - show your customers you are customer oriented and you
stock what they request.
Delivery - if possible, offer free delivery.
Personality - Personalize your store with pictures of employees.
Reward employees for building business relationships with customers.
Guarantee your products and service.
Premiums - Give away premiums with your name on it. This builds
awareness while rewarding the customer at the same time.
Tips for Writing Effective Copy
Promise benefits in your headline
Appeal to the customers needs for:
a. pleasure
b. appetite
c. convenience
d. attractiveness
e. health
f. money
g. popularity
Turn selling points into benefits, then give the benefit of the
benefit.
Support claims with proof (testimonials, sales records)
Be enthusiastic and positive about your products, services and the
future.
Be clear and logical.
Include useful information, address, phone, hours, map, directions,
email, web site
Don't be funny. People react to humor in different ways
Use effective, persuasive words in your headlines like you, free,
now, announcing, guaranteed, save, easy, win.
Write in the present tense as if you were writing to a personal
friend.
Use testimonials.
Use buzzwords that reflect your knowledge of your customers.
How to Design More Effective Ads
Know your market. For upscale offers use plenty of white space.
Discount offers, can fill up the page with type and graphics.
Put your main offer in the headline or subhead.
Use a typeface that reflects the image you want and don't use too
many in the same ad.
Keep it simple, don't confuse people with complicated percentages
and restrictions.
Use your name and logo prominently.
Make it easy for the reader to respond.
Use mini headlines, bullets and tags to break up copy.
Use graphics or pictures to invite the reader in or through the
copy.
Know your colors. Consumers are attracted to certain colors.
a. Red - Recall and Action
b. Yellow - Eye Catching and Happiness
c. Green - Stable, reassuring and secure
d. Blue - Soothing, quiet, cool and orderly. Not good if you want people
to concentrate.
Use these colored paper stocks when you want to take advantage of the
unique attractions certain colors create. A study was done in Cleveland,
Ohio by a quick printer who tested different color reply cards for his
in house self mailers. Of all the colored post cards, pink pulled the
best! Test your color instincts and find out what works best for you.
When using reply cards, make sure you don't get fancy and use slick
paper or reverses. (It's impossible to write on a black background.)
Leave enough space for the customer to write down information.
When designing a folded mailer, line up the inside type with the
address side of the fold, where most people open their mail.
If you want your reader to cut a coupon, border it with dashed
lines.
Don't use large blocks of paragraph test. Keep it 4 to 5 lines.
How to achieve better response rates
These strategies of do's and dont's have been culled from many sources
including years of testing elements of direct mail packages. Some may not
be appropriate for every situation. You should use them as a guide, not a
rule set in stone. The main thing is to keep on testing and see what works
for you.
Use short words, 5 letters or less.
Personalization dramatically increases response.
Eliminating a return address on an envelope does NOT usually
increase response.
Use of teaser copy on outside of envelope or self mailer MAY
increase response.
A letter with a brochure or insert will usually increase response
over a brochure or flyer by itself.
Copy should be as long as necessary to sell your product or message.
Don't be afraid of long copy. If it's interesting people will read it
and respond.
Write as if you were talking to your friend one on one.
Mail as often as your return on investment exceeds the cost of
mailing.
Make sure your letter looks typed, not typeset. Use the Courier or
Times typeface on your favorite word processor or desktop publishing
program.
Highlight with underlines, bold, writing in the columns and spacing.
Allan Katz is a marketing coach, professional speaker,
and author. For more information about his coaching services and books,
visit his web site at
http://www.loyaltycoach.com/ or contact him via email at
info@loyaltycoach.com or
telephone 901-359-8299.
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