| Author |
Title |
Knowledge
Level |
Provided
By |
| Jeff
Dobkin |
Increasing
Direct-Mail Response Part II
|
Novice
to Intermediate |
 |
Increasing Response
Rates of Ads and Direct Mail, Part II
by Jeff Dobkin
Jeff Dobkin is the author of
How To Market a Product for Under
$500 and
Uncommon Marketing Techniques. He is also
a speaker, writes response-driven sales letters, engaging web content,
persuasive catalog copy; and exceptional direct mail packages. He
also is a marketing analyst for direct marketing packages, ads,
catalogs, and campaigns. To place an order, or to speak with Mr.
Dobkin call 610/642-1000. Visit him online at
www.dobkin.com.
If you said in your ad you’re giving away
a brochure, people think "so what - everybody gives away
their brochure." It’s true - just go into any car dealership
and if you have a wood burning stove you can come home with enough
brochures to keep your house heated for an Alaskan winter.
With a little bit of forethought you can transform
your brochure into an informative booklet. At worst, design your
brochure to fold in half - making an 8-1/2" x 11" sheet
into a 5-1/2" x 8-1/2" four pager you can safely call
a "booklet." That same single sheet paper when it was
unfolded paper was once called a flyer, or called a brochure when
it was folded in thirds, is now folded in half and voila, now
you have an "incredibly valuable booklet." For additional
credibility, add one more sheet folded the same way and nested
inside. Now, you definitely have a booklet, and no one can argue.
Create "Drive-Them-Nuts"
Content
The drive to make readers call can come from 2 directions:
pitching content or title. Both are similar - your assignment
is to create the most compelling set of words to make the reader
call. It sounds so simple, doesn’t it?
When creating content for your literature, can you
think of 10 questions that everyone in your market will drive
40 miles to get the answers to? Write them down, then use the
top 3 or 4 in your ad. I’m talking questions so penetrating
that if the reader throws out the magazine, he’ll wake up
in the middle of the night, go downstairs and dig it out of the
trash so he can call you first thing in the morning to get your
booklet. Now, that’s the kind of burning questions we’re
looking for.
Examples of questions: "Find out 3 ways to
get home with an 8-foot table and a 6-foot car trunk. Call now
for our FREE Booklet on Car Tricks” Our FREE Booklet also
includes “Flat tire and no spare? How to get home safely."
Plus, "The four ways gas stations cheat almost every customer
at the pump - and how to avoid them!"
Stop Them Cold with
a Promise, or an "I-Can’t-Believe-It" Title
The best way to make the phone ring is to paralyze
people… with the title of a booklet that sounds so good
they can't possibly pass it up. It’s the title of the booklet
that drives the reader crazy and makes sure he calls. A promise
of information so outstanding the reader just has to know it.
"What to do: Flat tire and no spare? Call for our free booklet
'How to get home quickly and safely.' It’s FREE!" There
is only one rule: your booklet title has to be great enough to
make the phone ring consistently. Nope, not just “good”
- it has to be great.
Using Titles to Limit
Response to More Qualified Prospects
Tired of sending literature to everyone, and their
mothers? Booklet titles can almost hand pick which readers will
respond, thereby setting thresholds of prospect qualifications.
The booklet title can throw a loose or tight qualification net,
whatever you like, or whatever the product calls for. If your
product is widely used, has good margins and your literature is
a hard-hitting direct mail piece that pulls a 25% response, throw
a loose net and invite everyone to call. Raise the bar if your
product has low margins, your literature is expensive and your
market limited to a few at the top.
An offer for a free booklet on how to install a
new roof is only of interest to people needing new roofs. So is
a FREE booklet on "6 Major Considerations before You Buy
a New Roof!" or "Selecting, Grading and Pricing a Shingle
Roof for Your Home." Voila - instant qualification. When
the phone rings, the caller is looking for a new roof. A FREE
booklet on how to pack valuables for moving? You guessed it -
this free booklet is fascinating, but only to people thinking
about moving. Save on literature costs by restricting your marketing
message to the really interested, and your most likely purchasing
candidates.
By the way - see the difference in reading: I’ve
used the word FREE in this last paragraph four times, two in all
capital letters and two in lower case. Notice how differently
they are read? The "FREE" in capitals yells at you -
it commands attention and makes you stop and notice it. The "free"
in lower case blends into the rest of the copy and lets you continue
to read without even a pause.
A Simple Way to Create
Great Booklet Titles
The question finally arises, "“Jeff,
how do I consistently think up these compelling booklet titles?"
You're not going to like this: you follow the Jeff Dobkin hundred-to-one
rule: "Write 100 titles, then go back and pick out your best
one." Yep. Same with intriguing questions about the content:
write 100 questions, go back and pick out your best 3. Hey, I
didn’t say it would be easy, I just said it would be simple.
It’s simple, and effective.
Yes, it’s a little more work writing 100 titles,
but the real question is this: Do you want the absolute best return
on your advertising dollar? Is the objective of your ad to compel
the most people you possibly can to pick up the phone and call?
Offering a FREE Booklet can do just that. And it’s cheaper
to spend the extra hour or two writing a better booklet title
than placing ads and getting only half the response you could
be receiving. Isn’t it?
This article is © Patentcafe.com
Jeff Dobkin is the author of
How To Market a Product for Under
$500 and
Uncommon Marketing Techniques. He is also
a speaker, writes response-driven sales letters, engaging web content,
persuasive catalog copy; and exceptional direct mail packages. He
also is a marketing analyst for direct marketing packages, ads,
catalogs, and campaigns. To place an order, or to speak with Mr.
Dobkin call 610/642-1000. Visit him online at
www.dobkin.com.
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