In Confessions of an Advertising Man, David Ogilvy, founder of the highly regarded advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather, wrote, “Ninety-nine percent of all advertising doesn’t sell a thing.” You don’t want your products to be in that 99%. How do you make sure you are in the coveted one percent?

You might say “personalization and relevance,” and it’s true. Personalization stops you, and relevance gets you reading further. But even the most personalized, relevant message won’t amount to much if it isn’t paired with good marketing copy. If the copy is not compelling, if it’s bland and uninformative, even the best personalization cannot carry the load. Your need good, solid marketing copy that is interesting, engaging, and compelling.

To make the most of your marketing efforts, here are some fundamental principles for great copywriting you can follow.

• Be imaginative. Break out of the mold. Look for different or unconventional ways to say the same thing.
• Be a salesman. Cute and clever doesn’t get you anywhere if it doesn’t sell anything. Be creative, but also be clear. Sell benefits. Give an overt call to action. Balance creativity and salesmanship.
• Talk about your customers first. As one marketing communications site puts it, “Self-interest is the best hook.” Talk about customers’ problems, customers’ challenges, and customers’ bottlenecks. Then talk about how your products and services solve them.
• Be honest. Part of building a brand is maintaining customer loyalty and trust. That starts with honesty about the products and services you sell.
• Hire a professional editor, even if only on a freelance basis. An employee who is “good at grammar” isn’t good enough. When it comes to marketing, there are rules for punctuation, capitalization, and usage that only professionals know.

Of course, there are other elements to great print marketing, as well. Good layout. Interesting graphics. Compelling offer. But great copy ties it all together.

Talk to us about turning these simple rules into a standout 1:1 print campaign that will motivate your customers to action.

There are lots of things that are better together. Abbott and Costello. Peanut butter and jelly. Converse and high socks. In the world of marketing, it’s print and email. Print is a powerful channel all on its own. Why would adding email to the mix make such a difference?
Let’s look at three reasons.

• It’s a sign of engagement. Not that providing the email address, in itself, makes the customer more engaged. It’s because these customers are more engaged that they are more likely to provide this information. Willingness to give an email address can be an indicator of engagement—and that’s really useful to know.

• Email providers are self-selecting themselves as more likely to buy. By providing their email addresses, customers are telling you that they want to hear from you. This makes them more open to your messaging and, therefore, more likely to make a purchase.

• Customers who provide their email addresses are more open to additional marketing “touches.” More touches means more results.

We see this two-step process approach generating results every day. By combining personalized printing with email and an online registration process, one association, for example, was able to triple the attendance at its annual summer conference. In another example, a software manufacturer sent a follow-up email to non-responders to a print campaign, personalized using the same rules as the print mailer, and sales of its targeted products jumped 81%.

Of course, this “one-two punch” is not the only element of a successful direct mail campaign. Still, it is a key aspect. It’s no wonder that direct mail with email follow-up has become almost the de facto standard in multichannel marketing today.

Why not talk to us about expanding your next campaign to include email?

As human beings, we are naturally drawn to color. When most mailings are in black-and-white, doing something as simple as adding color to the outside of your envelopes can make your envelope scream, “Open me!”

An early mail openability study conducted by NFO/Pitney Bowes found that mail recipients were more likely to open an envelope if it contained a teaser, especially a teaser printed in red. The value of color was reinforced by a later Leflein Associates study, which found that 69% of people are more likely to open a mail piece with color text and graphics on the front than they are when the envelope is plain.

Because adding color makes it more likely that recipients will open the envelope, making this investment for your next campaign can significantly boost your ROI.

Here are six places you can add color to your envelopes if you’re not already doing so:

• Add your company logo
• Use four-color marketing images
• Test bright banners and borders
• Play with fun, colorful backgrounds
• Add colorful indicia
• Test outlines of the state in which they live
• Use color everywhere — try a colored envelope itself!

When was the last time you added color to the outside of your envelopes? If the answer is not in a long time (or never), what are you waiting for? Let us help!

https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Pitney%20Bowes/NFO%20Study%20Reveals%20Types%20of%20Mail%20That%20Consumers%20Will%20Open.-a053025033
https://www.macpapers.com/usps/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/USPS-Infographic-final.pdf