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"Karen was exceptional. She nailed the key elements and concepts I'd like to see in the IDGA brochures. Thanks for bringing her in."

Michael Gallo,
Group Director, IDGA,
A Division of IQPC

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Direct Marketing

Catching the Consumer's Eye

One of the classic pieces of advice in direct mail is to "start with the end in mind."

Before you write a word of copy, decide what you want your recipient to do as a result of reading your message.

But when it comes to consumer marketing, I think this classic advice needs a little updating - these days you can't assume that the average person will read your message at all!

The idea should be to instead 1) Catch the consumer's eye - and 2) Get your message across FAST!

So when writing this "member-get-a-member" promotion for America Online, I put the entire call-to-action on the outside of the self-mailer in short, zippy sentences.

America Online

America Online Member-Get-A-Member Promotion
Long-Time Control Package

What did the self-mailer say inside? Who cares? For member-get-a-member approaches, there's no need to sell the reader, who is already using your product.

Instead, the focus needs to be on spurring them to take action - to forward your promotion to a friend for some kind of reward. (Of course, the reward of 10 free hours on AOL is kind of quaint since you can now try AOL free for 90 days!)

And again, as I mentioned in today's article on Event & Email Marketing, I've seen that neon colors - whether they appeal to your personal aesthetics or not - tend to increase response.

Want your next direct mail package to stand out - and stay out of your prospect's paper shredder? Contact Karen for some new concepts.



Karen's ClickZ Columns on B2B Email Marketing