The Benefits Of Direct Response Copywriting Campaigns.
By Miguel Alvarez
Not all promotions for your new web site necessarily take place online. Some off-line promotion may also be necessary. This means having your business cards with your URL printed on them, advertising with flyers and also perhaps taking an advertisement out in the Yellow Pages or the local newspapers.
However, there is another form of offline advertising called the direct response campaign. Traditionally means sending out printed brochures or flyers by snail mail although lately direct response copy writing sometimes also refers to advertisements sent out by email.
The drawback of both electronic and printed direct response campaigns is it can be an expensive way of advertising your business. The first expense is acquiring leads for your business. Acquiring direct leads (targeted email addresses or addresses) for a print campaign can range from $500 to the thousands depending on how many addresses you buy and how valuable the list is considered to be.
Beware of purchasing cheap leads for a direct response email marketing campaign. Often these leads bounce back or are not targeted at all. The cheapest leads available are garnered from individuals who give their email address to massive web sites who then resell the email addresses in bulk. If you are going to go to the trouble of sending out a direct marketing campaign, make sure it is targeted to the right individuals.
If you do decide to try out a direct response mailing campaign you are first going to need to ask yourself a couple of questions. Your goals with regards to what you expect to achieve with this campaign are going to affect everything from how much you spend on a mailing list to the copywriting. Take the time to define your objectives. Ask yourself “Do I want to sell merchandises, subscriptions or merchandise.” Narrow it down to one thing because direct mail copywriting is the fine art of selling directly from the page! If you are not focused you really do risk losing the sale as your reader is overwhelmed by different offers.
It is very important to decide who your potential customers before you write your ads. Effective direct response print ads are not written for just anyone. They make their strongest appeal to those individuals who are most likely to buy. As part of direct response copywriting involves making an inquiry of the person who reads it, you need to decide how qualified you want the copy to be.
To conceptualize the point of your direct response copywriting ad it might be a good idea to distill what you have to offer down to one positive point. Discover what the ultimate benefit would be to anyone responding to your mail inquiry. What is it about your service that makes it unique? Is there anything about the delivery of the product that makes it exclusive – such as quick turnaround or a personalized approach? Is there anything that you can guarantee about the product to make it even more desirable such as delivery in 24 hours or a discount if the prospect responds to the offer before a certain date?
Often, the most effective direct response copywriting advertisements begin with a catchy “lead-in.” This lead in is usually used in a header. Classic examples of catchy lead ins are “Be a model (or just look like one!)” and “I liked the company so much, I bought the business!”
The secret to getting your prospects to read your mail or email is the “startle factor.” You need to surprise them with a catch phrase that is an “eye brow raiser” which is advertising world jargon for a lead-in that makes them notice.
Your lead-in should also contain some kind of promise that is about the reader. Not about you or the company. The reader. This is part of making an emotional connection to the potential customer. An example is “Tastes so good, no one you made it from a mix!”
Once you have figured out what your promise to your customers will be, you then need to back it up with proof. This proof is usually contained in the sub-heading beneath the lead in and in the contents of the first paragraph. Testimonials, case histories, and guarantees placed within the body of the first couple of paragraphs can help considerably in making the offer credible.
The next most important component of your direct mail advertisement would be the requesting of a response from the reader. You can do this simply through the copywriting, but it is also effective to offer the reader some kind of incentive to respond to your ad now by giving them a free 1-800 number, a URL with a password or a free coupon for a discount on what you have to offer.
Your direct response copywriting is also greatly enhanced by a professional looking lay out and design. Make sure that your logo is prominent on the page and that any imagery you use directly relates to the promise you are making.
Don’t clutter up the page with tons of photos or graphics of big red arrows or anything else that might confuse your customer. When laying out the actual content of the copywriting, however, feel free to use colored text, bolding, underlining, stroke-outs and italics to emphasize certain phrases and words.
If you follow these basic guidelines you have a much better chance of creating direct response copywriting that results in a boom in sales.
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