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Five Ways for the Letter to Overcome Short Attention Spans

January 2008 By Ethan Boldt

Heidi Wells, copywriter and owner of Direct Marketing Creative Services in Chicago, states that the long, drawn-out openings don’t belong in today’s mail piece. “In general, if a letter doesn’t get to the point right away, the target will tune out,” she explains.

4. Distinguish Between Soft and Hard Offers
Of course, length and content also depend on the offer. “For subscription marketing soft offers, we’ve had lots of success with single-page letters,” acknowledges Todd Lerner, copywriter/designer and owner of Todd Lerner Advertising in Farmington Hills, Mich. Because he figures the prospect is getting a free issue to check out, the letter can be kept short and sweet—with the letter imploring the prospect to simply return his enclosed card and experience the magazine for free, then briefly talking about the benefits and features of the publication.

For hard offers, it’s a different story for Lerner. “What seems to be working these days are official/transactional-type packages with no letter at all,” he shares. He does, however, like to add a personalized, letter-like paragraph or two onto the form when he can, and sometimes he’ll test a little memo insert.

Wells agrees with that approach. “For a well-known publication, a great offer is often all that’s needed to grab a reader’s attention. So a one-page letter/statement of benefits would suffice,” she says.

5. In Most Cases, Keep the Star in the Picture
“In direct mail, the letter is the star. The salesman who sits across from the prospect face to face to do the personal pitch. The voice. THE SELL. The other pieces inside the envelope are the supporting cast,” claims Greenawalt, who asserts that both magalogs and bookalogs are doing great right now.

If anything should hit the cutting-room floor, she votes for the brochure. “Some publishers have tested out of flyers and brochures with no drop in response. Newsletters have actually seen a lift (not to mention a lower package cost) by cutting the brochure.”
 

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