5 Steps to Marketing for Optimal Response
I typically focus on email marketing, since it is cost effective, it has a viral quality, and VerticalResponse happens to offer a great email solution for startups, but the following suggestions can apply to direct mail projects as well.
When designing your email campaign or your promotion mailing, from copy to layout, consider how your recipient will interact with it and where their eye will go first. In an email marketing campaign it looks like something like this:
1) From Label & Subject Line: This should be your company name, no exception. Then you only have 45-50 characters of visible space for your subject line or the teaser message on a postcard and envelope of a direct mail piece. Use them wisely in order to get your recipient to open the email. Don’t bother repeating your company name in the subject line or you will be wasting space. Subject lines need to sell the value of your email message and its offer.
2) Headlines: Use a great headline that is action oriented and supports the decision they’ve already made by clicking to open. Can’t decide between 2 subject lines. Send a test of each subject line to 10% of your list and use the winner to send to the remaining 80% of your list. VerticalResponse and probably some other Email Service Providers, make this easy to do.
3) Copy: Break up your copy into sections and use bullets for online readability. People receive so many messages these days that they typically scan emails to quickly determine the value and relevancy in a matter of seconds. While reading an email they may be asking themselves, why is this important? what do I get? and how do I respond? Make sure you can answer those questions yourself, quickly, before you hit send.
4) Offers: Make sure you include an offer that provides something for the recipient to learn, gain or enjoy. That’s my test for a foolproof offer!
5) Call to Action: Make it easy for recipients to respond. Don’t hide your response link at the bottom or two pages in to a letter mailing; provide it in 2-3 places within your email. Repetition is important in any direct marketing communication.
That’s your email from top to bottom, for a better response.
April 29th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Thank you very much. We find that our customers appreciate it when when we occasionally send a newsletter with tips or advice ONLY, and we skip the sales pitch.
April 29th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
I couldn’t agree more, you need to balance value with sales promotion. But regardless of your content always include at least a few links back to your site for the latest information or greater detail on the subject that you wrote about but were unable to fit in an email. At VerticalResponse we often use our newsletter to drive traffic to our blog. For example, when we offer 10 tips to learn X in an email newsletter. We may include 3 in the actual email newsletter and then a link for the full story on our site.
May 1st, 2009 at 3:49 am
I learn a lot from your post. This is very helpful to all those who are starting an online business.
November 17th, 2009 at 6:30 am
[...] Startupnation recently posted an article talking about making your responses to your marketing as optimal as they can be. Remember to pick a marketing strategy that has a viral quality to it, something like emails or your typical promotion mailings. [...]