WRITING A SALES LETTER WITH PERSONALITY

Do you worry that your advertising gets lost in the jumble of magazine columns? Have you ever wished that you could make a personal sales call to each of your potential clients?

We're writing to tell you that if you're dismissing direct mailings as "junk", you're missing the boat on some of the best marketing ideas of the last half century. The easy tips you read below might turn out to be the most important advertising advice you'll ever get.

Still reading? We thought so. Over the years marketers have turned the humble art of writing a sales letter into an art form (from which we've drawn liberally in the two paragraphs above). Direct mail is stealth marketing - we tend to dismiss it as clutter until we find ourselves (often to our own surprise) filling out an order form and pasting on a stamp.

The secret to direct mail is that it is a recognized shorthand for establishing a personal connection with your customers and future customers. Good direct mail is personal; it has a salutation and signature, sometimes a postscript. Like a good letter, it should be direct, informal, sometimes witty, sometimes serious.

There are two techniques for writing effective direct mail that unquestionably fall at the top of any list of tips:

• First, remember that your direct mail should follow the conventions of a personal letter. Your mailing is a substitute for calling on your customer in person. That means it should have voice and character. Usually it is best to use the styles and formats that by convention we associate with letters. Of course, your customers won't be fooled into thinking that they are the sole recipients of your mailing, but even the suggestion of an individual letter puts them into the open and interested frame of mind. Even more important than the format and typestyle is setting the tone with a voice that conveys your company's personality.
• Second, most successful mailing pitches consist of several parts. This is one case in which the old English 101 adage of "say what you will say, say it, and then say what you said" really does apply. A good direct mail package sets out a strong offer in the first paragraph, then elaborates on it. It should repeat the offer at the end, or even better, in a postscript or separate note that highlights your sales proposition in a "closer" targeted for customers who are considering your offer but need a second push.

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