The secrets behind successful mail-shots!
A Special Marketing Report
By Jim Connolly
Right now, here in this FREE special report, I am going to show you the secrets behind one of the most powerful and cost-effective marketing tools on the planet!
Make no mistake; if you want to generate more leads and sales, this FREE report is worth more to you than most of the chargeable marketing information on the Internet!
No matter how specialised or widespread the market for your services is, you can generate an avalanche of new leads, sales and contacts through the effective use of mail-shots (also known as direct mail or marketing letters.)
However, most people who ‘try’ mail-shots get little if any response.
Why?
To find out why so few people achieve the results they want from a mailing, you only need to take a look at the junk you received in the mail this morning! The unfortunate people who sent you that rubbish are sat there now; wondering why no one has called them! Seriously, even though their mailing was so dreadful that you never even bothered to read it – they will be sat there saying; ‘mail-shots don’t work!’ It will not occur to them that their mailing failed simply because they never put it together correctly. Saying mail-shots don’t work is like saying computers don’t work. After all, if you randomly throw a handful of electronic components into a computer case - nothing happens – it won’t work!
Mail-shots work exceptionally well, which is why they are relied upon by the world’s most successful businesses – large and small.
The people who sent that ‘junk mail’ to you this morning should have read this free report!
They never realised that using a printed label on a non-window envelope, instead of making the address visible through a window envelope, would mean that around 10% of their letters would not even get opened! They never realised that by addressing it to ‘The Managing Director’ instead of the intended reader’s actual name, would mean that a further 15% of their letters will not get opened. Their message may have been superb, but so far around 25% (or more) of the people they wrote to will have put their letter in the bin before even opening it!
If you have tried mail-shots in the past and found that it just didn’t work for you, you are in very good company! I work with a number of small businesses; helping them make more money than ever before with my sales and marketing program. In just about every case, the companies I work with have previously tried to use mail-shots as a way of generating leads or sales and found that they got little (if any) response.
In every case that I have researched, there has always been a REALLY, REALLY GOOD REASON for the lack of response!
What I have compiled for you in this special report are the key things YOU need to know, in order to avoid the most common mistakes and achieve outstanding results. These ‘mail-shot secrets’ are easy to understand and like all my work – written in plain English with no buzz-words or marketing-speak.
The tips that follow are in no particular order, as they are all key elements in generating superb results from a mailing. Please recommend this report to your friends and let them know that they can access stacks more free information here on the web site.
Who are you writing to?
The very first thing you must do is identify exactly who your reader is going to be! Your mail shot is going to cost you at least £1 per letter; perhaps two or three times that, so you need to make sure that you are only writing to people and companies that fit your “ideal client or customer” profile. The fastest way to increase your response rate is to ensure that every letter you send is sent to someone with a potential requirement for your services.
What’s happening in THEIR world?
Consider your prospective client’s problems & opportunities. Translate the benefits of your service into answers for your readers. People will only call you, meet you or buy from you IF THERE IS A REASON FOR THEM TO DO SO! Just telling someone you are the best or most qualified is not enough.
Test, measure, test then measure again. . .
One of the most important elements within marketing is the role of testing and measuring. To improve your marketing, you need to measure your responses and then test what happens when you make a change. After making a change, you measure the response again and see if it helped or hindered.
The golden rule here is to only make one change at a time. That way, you can identify precisely what it was that lead to the improved response rate. Test one headline (also known as a strap line) against another, test one PS line against another, test one mailing list against another, test one offer against another – test (then measure) everything until you get the highest possible response.
First impressions are very important.
The first material you produce for a potential client provides them with their first impression of you and your company! Ensure that the letterheads you use and any accompanying material are of good quality. Your letter should be printed onto professionally prepared letterheads with a good quality printer. Laser printers produce easy to read, crisp, sharp output. How do you think your letter is likely to be received by a prospect, if it has been produced on a £50 bubble jet printer? First impressions are vital, so make sure the whole package looks just right!
Focus your message.
What action do you want the reader to take as a result of your letter? If, for example, the reason you are sending the letter is to generate a telephone call from the reader, make sure that everything is focussed on motivating them to call you. If the purpose of your letter is to ‘pave the way’ for them to accept a phone call from you, make sure that this becomes the 100% focus of your letter. DON’T confuse the reader, by trying to sell your services in the letter – if what actually want the reader to speak with you or meet with you instead!
Confine each paragraph to just one thought.
This will make the letter easier to digest. Bombarding the reader with too many messages and facts and benefits in too small a space will confuse them and massively reduce your chances of success.
Remember; ‘a confused mind always says no!’ When we are confused or unsure about something, we opt to keep things as they are. This is very definitely NOT want you want when you are trying to do business with someone!
Write in the present tense when possible.
Example – “I have an idea you will be interested in”, not “I’ve had an idea I thought you would be interested in.” Using the past-tense will lessen the necessity for the reader to take action – which is the whole point of your letter! Using the past-tense in marketing, subconsciously tells the reader that ‘it’s already happened.’
Use a headline (known within marketing as a ‘strap-line’).
The very first thing a reader looks at when they open a letter is the headline. Your headline needs to grab their attention and motivate them to carry on reading. Your headline should be placed below the “Dear Mrs Smith” line & above the initial paragraph. It should be no more than a single sentence and no more than one and a half lines in length – less is better! The most effective headlines either make a bold statement or ask a question. You have between 3 and 5 seconds to grab the reader’s interest, so make the opening as gripping as possible! Past headlines I have used range from; “How can this happen?” to “The secret behind the UK’s most successful businesses exposed!”
Spend as much time as needed to get your strap-line ‘just right’. A well-crafted strap-line can increase your success by hundreds of percent.
Avoid humour.
If the reader does not get the joke, you are in trouble!
Aim for limited visual interest.
Use underlined words – Bold type – CAPITALS etc. However, do not overdo it! Only use these visual tools to highlight the most important area of your letter. The more you use these visual tools, the less effective they become. If, for example, you only use bold type on one word or one sentence, that word or sentence will automatically attract the eye and REALLY stand out! Use bold type all over the letter and it just makes the letter look messy – without making any single part of the letter actually stand out.
Build belief by using testimonials.
Testimonials are a super-effective way to develop trust and are ideally suited to mail-shots. By using testimonials, you show the prospective client that other people already use your services and that they are happy with it. This makes using your services far less of a gamble for the reader.
I have found the best format for testimonials to be a short quote from a named customer or client. Just a couple of sentences will do. Always include the quoted person’s name and industry as well as their job title.
Remember; it’s a testimonial and not a reference! If someone is keen to do business with you, pending a reference, then provide it – but this is simply a testimonial for a marketing letter. Obviously, you should always seek the person’s permission before using their details in any way.
Tailor the content of your letter as much as possible.
General letters are vastly less effective. Make the reader feel as though you have taken time to specifically write to him or her. Make your message as relevant as possible. If necessary, split your database into smaller databases so that your message is more focussed. I do this all the time and the results are stunning!
Use as few words as possible!
The longer a letter is, the less likely it is that the recipient will read it. Most sales letters are vastly too wordy.
There’s a lot of rubbish ‘out there’ today that says that the more pages of material you stuff into an envelope, the better. People have never been busier or more environmentally aware than they are today. These are two powerful reasons why you need to keep your letters to a minimum. People in business today are really busy – too busy to waste half an hour reading pages and pages of marketing material that they never requested in the first place!
The idea of sending pages and pages of material in marketing letters comes from the 1980’s – a time of far less environmental awareness. If you are a long-time reader of the jimconnolly.com newsletter you will recall the lady who wrote in, after doing as her marketing ‘guru’ said and stuffing 8 pages of material into each marketing letter she sent. She not only wasted £7000 on the mailing, (no sales or leads), her largest prospective client emailed her to explain that because of their commitment to the environment and her obvious disregard for it (through her waste of paper), they would not be interested in her company’s services!
The general rule of thumb is to ensure that your mailing runs to just ONE PAGE and that there is no more than 50% of the page printed on.
ALWAYS sign the letter with a pen.
People hate photocopied signatures! Sign with blue ink NEVER black. This makes it more obvious that you have personally signed the letter. If like me you usually write with a fountain pen, use a ball pen for your signatures. These pens create an indent on the page and show that the letter has been individually signed.
NEVER, EVER, EVER use labels on envelopes!
You might have just written the most powerful marketing letter ever, however, sending it in an envelope with a name and address label will massively limit your response rate. Think about it and you will quickly realise that nothing of interest EVER comes to you in a labelled envelope. We know from research that an average of 15% of letters mailed using labels are never even opened. Those that are opened, are opened in the knowledge that the reader is about to be sold to – massively increasing their resistance.
Database Brokers are the source of this envelope-addressing format. They like the idea of selling addresses on labels, because once a set of labels are used, you have to buy the data all over again! Using a label to print the address onto an envelope is similar to printing the words ‘JUNK-MAIL’ on it in big red letters!
Instead, include the name and address of the prospective client within the body of your letter and ensure that it is visible through a window envelope.
The single most effective way of ensuring an envelope gets opened is to handwrite the information directly onto a crisp, white non-window envelope. Handwritten envelopes are always opened – giving you the maximum potential for your message to be read. Obviously, it takes AGES to handwrite envelopes, but why not try sending a small percentage of your next mailing in this way and measure the response rate?
Ensure the letter is spelt and punctuated correctly!
Few things diminish confidence as fast as a poorly spelt or badly punctuated letter. A recent letter I received from a recruitment company came with half a dozen punctuation errors.
Reassure the reader that they are under ‘no obligation whatsoever.’
If your mailing is intended to generate a meeting, let the reader know they are “under no obligation whatsoever” by calling you or responding to your letter. Prospective clients like to see written confirmation that they can meet you without obligation or cost.
Send your letter to a named person – never a job title!
By writing to a named person you ensure that the letter reaches the correct person. You also set yourself apart from those in the bottom 5% of marketing, who address their sales letters to a job title rather than a person. A letter addressed to a job title shows that the sender is either; too mean to buy a database or too amateur to research the person’s name. It says nothing positive whatsoever about the sender – does it?
Of course, everyone knows that all letters that are addressed to a job title are trying to sell something. Thus, before the reader opens the letter, they have their defences up. This generates unnecessary ‘buyer-resistance.’
Timing!
Timing can have a huge impact on the success of a mail-shot. In general, try to get your letters out so that they arrive during a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. Letters that arrive on a Monday can get ‘lost’ with the mountain of weekend post. You don’t want your letter being opened by someone who has a stack of mail on their desk, because it makes it harder to get YOUR letter noticed! Equally, if your letter arrives on a Friday, it can get caught up in the end-of-week rush. You want the reader to have enough time to read your message.
You should also avoid writing to an industry during a time of the year when they are low on staff. UK Accountants, for example, are massively busy during January and far less likely to be able to meet with you or buy from you EVEN IF THEY NEED your offering! Generally, avoid mailings during August – unless you are writing to an industry with a different holiday period. The last two weeks in December can also be very unproductive.
Write in a 12-point font.
Making your text smaller, so that you can fit more words onto the page, is a mistake. It makes the page harder to read.
Make sure you are using up-to-date contact information!
If you are using data (contact information) that is more than 6-months old, a significant number of the letters you send will be wasted. People get promoted, people leave, people pass away, addresses change, businesses go broke, businesses merge and businesses get acquired – all of which will make your data inaccurate! If you are using data that’s 12-months old – an even higher percentage of your letters will be wasted before they are sent – up to 30% or more, depending on the industry and their company size!
If you are in a business association, you may have previously used a directory of fellow members for a mail-shot. Did you know that the information you were using for your mailing could have been over a year old BEFORE you even received it! Membership organisations often compile their directories with the same data a member uses when they join their association – so if their directory is produced in January – and Bob Smith joined last February, his contact details will be almost a year old BEFORE the directory is designed, then signed-off, then printed and finally sent to you.
Skimping on data is always a false economy! It is going to cost you over £1 for each letter you produce. Send out 1000 letters using a members directory you can easily waste £300 / £400 in dead letters! Quality data, on the other hand, has never been cheaper or easier to buy. You can get a 1000 strong contact database, with full mailing details and a named contact for around £400 in the UK. You can also get really specific and only buy details for people who are in the ideal group for your services; based on things like industry type, size of business, turnover, and number of employees or geographical area. This allows for a more targeted mailing and a far greater chance of achieving success from your mailing investment.
There is NEVER a good reason to waste money using poor quality contact data – ESPECIALLY trade or membership directories!
Data protection!
Make sure that you comply with the rules governing the way data is to be used and stored. If you are in the UK, go to the Information Commissioner’s Office web site http://www.ico.gov.uk/ for everything you need to know. If you would rather speak with someone, there is an enquiries number on the site. The staff are extremely helpful.
This Special Report is designed to help you improve the responses you achieve from your mail-shots.
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To your success!
Jim Connolly
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