True or False? Direct Mail Package Elements such as Brochures, Letters and Response Forms Should Duplicate the Information.

Written By Ted Grigg

The correct answer to the question posed in the headline is counter intuitive.

The idea of duplicating information within a direct mail package ties in directly with the concept of short copy versus long copy. It requires much more space and copy to duplicate information in the package elements.

First of all, bear in mind that my response does not come from what you or I think we do as individuals to respond to offers. The trick to finding the truth is to omit this subjective thinking and replace it with the information coming out of controlled direct mail tests. In other words, analyze test results to find the correct answer.

Why is this so?

Because what people do and what people say they do are often two opposing things. In other words, what we think we respond to and how we actually respond often contradict each other. The truth often conflicts with our own marketing instincts.

One might ask why direct marketers often take up extra space by repeating the same information in nearly every mail component? Well for one, test results show that response increases when repeating information. And secondly, people do not read direct mail so much as scan it.

The answer to this question, therefore, is TRUE.

Provide the key information in each piece. Repeat the offer in the letter, the brochure and the response form. Repeat the key benefits using a combination of emotional appeal as well as evidence the product delivers on the promise. Make guarantees in every piece if possible.

Repeating the information takes a lot of copy. And anticipating the objections raised by your audience as a whole also requires a great deal of copy space.

Remember that you will not have a second chance to fill in the blanks. The respondent has only your written communication upon which to make the decision to respond or not. Many times, respondents will save only one piece -- such as the response form with the intent of calling you later. So be sure to remind them of the reasons they saved your form in the first place. It will improve your response rate.

Have you tested this in the past? What did you find?

Ted Grigg

Ted Grigg is a direct response strategist who helps growth-focused companies reduce risk by identifying weak assumptions before they become costly mistakes.

Over the course of his career, Ted has evaluated several hundred million dollars in direct response testing across direct mail, digital, print, television, telephone, and other channels. His work combines direct response strategy, acquisition economics, customer analysis, creative evaluation, offer development, and disciplined testing.

Ted has worked on both the client and agency sides of the business. That experience gives him a practical understanding of the pressures facing executives, marketing teams, agencies, and service providers—and of the problems that arise when activity, media volume, or creative preference replaces a clear economic objective.

His consulting work helps organizations examine such questions as:

  • Are acquisition goals economically realistic?

  • Is the allowable Cost Per Sale supported by customer value?

  • Are targeting, offers, creative, media, and response paths working together?

  • Are tests structured to produce reliable business decisions?

  • Are unproven assumptions being treated as facts?

  • Is the organization measuring sales outcomes rather than convenient proxies?

Ted’s experience includes the development of direct mail and multichannel acquisition programs for insurance, healthcare, financial services, technology, nonprofit, manufacturing, retail, transportation, communications, government, and business-to-business organizations.

For a national direct-to-consumer insurance company, he developed a direct mail format that defeated established controls and helped expand the productive use of compiled prospect lists from less than 10 percent to more than 30 percent of total direct mail circulation within one year. He also planned Medicare lead-generation programs for more than 60 regional and national HMO and PPO organizations, with some programs exceeding sales projections by as much as 60 percent.

Ted founded Wyse Direct, a direct marketing division of Wyse Advertising in Cleveland, where he developed acquisition programs and helped launch a new technology product for Seiko Instruments by generating a predictable flow of qualified sales leads for its national sales organization. As vice president of new business development for the Grizzard Agency, he helped broaden the agency’s strategic capabilities and pursue new commercial and fundraising opportunities.

He is the author of The HMO/PPO Marketing Plan—A Step-by-Step Guide, published by Executive Enterprises, and has written numerous articles and conducted webinars on direct response strategy, testing, creative development, and marketing economics.

Ted earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Abilene Christian University and completed two years of graduate study at Texas Tech University. He is the founder of DMCG, LLC.

http://www.dmcgresults.com
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