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Neglect the Envelope and Your Direct Response Could Get No Response So, you spend hours and hours getting your direct response letter just right. You’ve mastered the conversational tone. Your message is clear. You’ve highlighted the benefits just right. And you’ve got a great call to action. Let’s face it. Your letter is as perfect as it can possibly be.
Now maybe you’ve rented a mailing list or maybe you’ve created your own list one name at a time. How you got your mailing list doesn’t really matter. You carefully address each one, run it through your postage meter, and send it to your 1,000 names. Then you sit back and wait for the 1 to 3% response rate you’re expecting.
You figure that mailing, which cost you a little over $1,000 should bring you 100 to 300 responses. And at an average price of $50 a pop for your invention, you figure your direct response venture should bring in between $5,000 and $15,000. Not bad for a thousand bucks.
But…there’s just one little detail you’ve forgotten about. Or maybe you didn’t forget. Maybe you simply didn’t know about it. That little detail is the envelope.
In its defense, it seems rather insignificant, doesn’t it? I mean, it’s not the message. It’s merely the holder of that brilliant message you’ve slaved over for the last week or two. So, why should you care about an insignificant envelope?
For one very important reason—that insignificant envelope can make or break your direct response campaign all by itself. If you’re skeptical, think back to all the “junk mail” you’ve received lately. Which ones do you open, and which do you throw away?
If you want your message to be read, you want to make the envelope irresistible. Otherwise it goes in the garbage, and you might as well light a match to that $1,000 investment and kiss all your hard copywriting work good-bye.
If you haven’t noticed before today, it might be a good idea to start because, if you’re going to use direct response, you might want to make it a practice to keep them all, good and bad. Keep the good for their ideas and keep the bad so you know what not to do.
Anyway the point is, you likely keep those that interest you for one reason or another. If you do start collecting direct response material, you’ll soon notice patterns in those you’re finding interesting enough to open.
Here’s a few things about the direct response I tend to notice:
A color other than white so it stands out from the crowd
A message on the outside that hints at what’s inside, or is a teaser of some type
Addressed to my name rather than “Dear Occupant”
Addressed in handwriting rather than typed
A real postage stamp
Unusual sizes
A return address in the top left corner instead of a business logo
Something more than just a letter inside (AKA “lumpy” mail)
A free offer
A drawing or cartoon, especially if my name is used in it
I’d be willing to bet that if you start keeping track of envelopes you open and those you throw in the garbage, you’ll be able to add to this list of mine. And I’d bet you’ll learn a whole lot about how to improve your envelope so they’re opened, so your direct response message has a far better chance of being read instead of getting tossed in the trash.
If you’ve had a better than average response and you think it’s because of your envelope design, I’d like to know about it. Please email me a copy of your design, and I’ll put it on my web site free of charge.
By Eve Jackson
http://www.detailssbs.com/dmservices.php
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