Direct Mail

Creating Direct Mail That Sells With Headlines

Direct Mail Response

Creating direct mail that sells is your main objective

It is extremely important to get it right. There are several components in copywriting that can increase the success of your direct mail campaign. So much time is spent on design that many marketers rush the copy, this can be a disaster. In this post we will focus on the Headline.

Headline – You have a very short window of opportunity to grab attention. Your headline can make or break you mail results. How powerful was your last headline? Did it offer a benefit or reward to your prospects and customers?

Do you know the four functions of your headline? Your direct mail headline should get attention, qualify the prospect or customer, deliver a complete message and draw the reader into the body copy.

  1. Grab Attention – Appeal to the reader’s self-interest or give them news to grab attention. What kind of news could you give? Think about using words about your product or service such as new, discover, introducing, announcing or now to give your headline a news like feel. If you are able to use the word free in your headline do it! Everyone wants something for free. Some other good words to try are why, easy, last chance, guarantee, save and proven. Make sure your headline is related to the product or service you are selling.
  2. Qualify Your Prospect or Customer – Your headline should have specific appeal to your target audience. For instance if you are selling an age specific product or service include the age range in your headline. Anything you can think of that will specifically target people to self qualify for your offer will draw them in.
  3. Complete Message – Many times busy people will only read your headline. It is important that they understand what you are saying in full. Consider including not only the selling promise, but also your company name in the headline. A complete thought is more satisfying for the reader and makes it easy to understand your point.
  4. Draw to Body Copy – Creating a sense of curiosity is a good way to draw the reader into the copy from the headline. How can you build curiosity? The most common ways are with intrigue and humor. You can also ask a question. The words how to are very effective.

Remember as you are creating your headlines that you are trying to sell your product or service.

Your job is to persuade people to buy with your direct mail headline. Many times we want to try something new and be different, that is a good thing when you are still focused on the sale not on the creative alone. Your challenge is to create a headline that is persuasive, compelling and memorable to sell your product or service. Pictures that compliment your headline or help speak it without words are very important. Words when combined with images correctly create a powerful message. Are you ready to write your headline?

Need help? Contact us today! We are glad to help!

Next time we will talk about how to communicate and sell with your direct mail.