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The Most Important Component of Your Direct Mail Package: The Sales Letter
1/27/2009
The Most Important Component of Your Direct Mail Package: The Sales Letter
by Ron Brauner
The sales letter is the single most important component of your direct mail package because it literally takes the place of the salesperson.
A good sales letter creates a one-to-one rapport between reader and writer. So it is critically important that the writer of any direct mail letter understands the reader in terms of their personal and business motivations in order to create an effective appeal that addresses one or more of the reader's needs.
In a typical direct mail package, the sales letter sets up the positioning of the offer while the product features and benefits are substantiated in the accompanying brochure. The letter works to persuade the reader that this product will uniquely meet their needs and personally benefit them. It also creates a sense of urgency that should motivate the prospect to respond immediately.
Three characteristics of effective sales letters include:
- A single coherent statement that uses specifics to focus the sales argument on the key benefits for the reader.
- Straightforward approach that quickly delivers the message without unnecessary and distracting details.
- A clear and direct call to action that tells the reader exactly what to do to respond.
Common sense dictates that the letter should be appealing and easy to read. Readability tests have identified several mechanical considerations that facilitate readability and comprehension. Following these guidelines will make any letter easier and more inviting to read.
Conventional serif typefaces have been shown to aid reader's perception and should be used for the body of the copy. Sentences and paragraphs should be kept short, seven lines or less for paragraphs, to eliminate reader fatigue.
The letter itself should be single-space with double-space between indented paragraphs. This serves to draw the reader's eye into individual paragraphs, eliminates the overall gray look that double-spaced type can produce on a typeset page, and physically shortens the length of the letter.
If the length of the letter exceeds a single page, the final line of the first page should break mid-sentence. This serves to hold the reader's attention and encourages them to read on to the following page to complete the sentence.
Headlines, subheads, and other enhancements may be printed in a different font to add emphasis. Some direct mail letters use underlining, highlighting, handwriting, illustrations and a variety of other tactics to attract the reader's attention. To preserve the appearance of personal correspondence, the second color used for underlining, handwritten notes, and signatures should resemble the blue of a pen's ink.
Most direct mail letters employ a friendly informal tone by adopting a rapport-generating “me-to-you” orientation. In most cases, the sales letter comes from a senior executive at the company sending the solicitation. But sometimes a peer-to-peer approach between writer and reader can be more effective in establishing a personal rapport. For example: fitness enthusiast to fitness enthusiast, working mother to working mother or cruise traveler to cruise traveler. So long as the writer is someone other than company representative whose credentials qualify him or her to endorse the product or service being offered.
A good sales letter points out the product benefits in a very personalized way. Frequent use of “you” and focusing on the reader's wants, needs, and pain points helps engage their attention. This helps readers visualize the use of product and identify with its benefits. Creating these mental pictures helps move the prospect through the hierarchy of effects from the awareness stage through interest, desire and finally action stages, just as a skilled salesperson would in a face-to-face presentation.
The beginning of the letter must immediately grab the reader's attention. Promote a key selling feature or dramatizing a main benefit. Techniques for capturing the reader's interest include asking a question, telling a story or extending an invitation. Some direct mail letters begin with a Johnson box or overline: an introductory legend above the greeting that summarizes the offer.
The body of the letter performs the essential job of generating interest and desire in the offer. It refers to the product features and benefits as demonstrated in the accompanying brochure and explains to the prospect why this product or service will benefit them personally. The body of the letter may also include testimonials, evidence to back product claims and other reasons to buy.
The close of the letter should include a reinforcement of the selling argument combined with a call to action. A sense of urgency should be created, based on limited time, limited quantities or immediately realizing the product benefits. The call to action is a key feature of the direct mail letter. It tells the prospect exactly how to reply and encourages immediate action.
Studies of reader's interaction with direct mail letters indicate they look at the signature first followed by the postscript (P.S.). In keeping with the personalized tone of the direct mail letter always include a legible signature. The key to an effective P.S. is to position it as an irrepressible last-minute thought on behalf of the writer. The P.S. may be used to restate the key product benefit, highlight the offer, stress the urgency of response or direct the reader's attention to other components of the mail package.
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