Every day, we see a lot – and we mean a lot – of direct mail. And sometimes it becomes our job to help save a client from themselves. Above all else, we want your direct mail to work for you. Here are some of the most frequent mistakes we see – and how you can avoid them.
Using a Bad List. When direct mail doesn’t work, this is typically the culprit. You can’t sell steak to vegetarians. The best list is one made up of your current customers. They already know you, like you, trust you. The next best list is people who buy from your competitors – because those prospects are already in the market for what you sell; they’re just not buying from you . . . yet. And, finally, you can get a list of cold prospects by making logical choices of who is likely to be a good prospect for you. We can help you choose your list with care, so you’ll have everything to your advantage.
Giving the Prospect an Excuse to Ignore You. Your prospect doesn’t owe you their attention. You have to earn it. And you do that by giving an incentive to capture them. Unless you PROMISE something in return for their attention – and it needs to be something worthwhile – the prospect will simply pass you by. That’s why you need to appeal to basic human emotions, ambitions, and desires. Anything that screams “I want to sell you something” will fail. But if you can truly help someone solve their problems or achieve a desire, they will sell themselves on you.
Failing to Present a Headline That Attracts the Reader. So many headlines we see actually prevent people from reading. The headlines never arouse the slightest interest. Your prospect will not get excited about something that is unimportant to them. If you’ve ever been involved in a headline test, you know what we mean. One headline can outpull another 10 to 1 – with nothing different about the two mailings except the headline. Be honest with yourself: are your headlines flat, dull, and selfish? Headlines like that don’t even give you a chance to succeed.
Trying Too Hard to Be Clever and Creative. Often, when we tell clients they can’t bore people into being interested, they take it to the opposite extreme. They emulate Super Bowl advertising and try to be funny. You can win awards doing that, but you can rarely win customers. Can you even remember a single Super Bowl commercial from last year? And did you buy anything based on any of the ads? If you are like the majority of people, your answer is no. When you risk getting cute with your direct mail, you almost always reduce your selling power.
Not Making a Real Offer. You might think pointing your prospect to your website to get more information is a good call to action. Sorry, it’s not. You need a “thing,” a “widget,” a “something” to offer in return for their compliance. You must have something worthwhile to offer. Otherwise, you’ll simply be waiting for business to come to you – instead of you going after it.
The experts at Andrick & Associates can help you pick your market, match them with a marketing message that will capture attention, and deliver a compelling offer to help you get the response and the results you want.