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Facing spiraling postal costs and impatient prospects, many direct mailers are rushing to cut the letter down and, sometimes, altogether. Fortunately, Peggy Greenawalt keeps a cool head.
Part of that has to do with her 25 years of direct marketing experience, and the rest is explained by her in-depth involvement with the three bigs in direct mail: creative strategy, copy and design. Greenawalt began her career as a copywriter at Wunderman, and now she’s president and creative director of the direct marketing agency Tomarkin/Greenawalt in Hartsdale, N.Y., where she mostly works with publishers like Hearst, Time-Life, Condé Nast and Rodale Press.
Here, she weighs in on the long copy vs. short copy debate.
Ethan Boldt: Some say that because attention spans are shrinking, the letter should, too. And you?
Peggy Greenawalt: If superb copywriters can’t make four pages fascinating enough to read, how on earth can we hope that there is a future for magazines, books, this publication or, for that matter, civilization?
EB: You’ve mentioned that magalogs and bookalogs are doing great right now. That long copy is working. Why?
PG: In the case of publishing, they are the closest selling vehicle to the magazines and books that we hope the public will want to buy from us. But, for many products, they give us plenty of opportunity to build romance, intrigue and excitement. [They’re] an opportunity to add value with a freemium. And, just maybe, our readers actually do like to read a well-written story.
EB: Can you give a couple of examples for those clients in which long copy made for successful packages/tests?
PG: I am sorry to report that the magazine industry has become addicted to voucher/statement of benefit packages. Not new news. Not much copy to test there. In my opinion, these tricky “Hmm, did I order this?” packages, along with giveaway low prices and agents, actually steal value from our products at a time when we need to add value to compete.
Successful long copy tests? My client Oxmoor House is perhaps the most dedicated to thorough testing of any I work with. We test packages of differing sizes: bookalogs, slimalogs and magalogs with various letter treatments, wraps and inserts. There is no question that, for their products, long copy is more effective. When was the last time you drooled over a restaurant menu that offered simply fish, chicken or beef? Bring on the fresh wasabi, parsnip puree and glazed walnuts.
EB: How do recent postal-rate changes affect the ability to employ long copy, if at all?
PG: It does, of course. Profitability can’t be ignored. But many first-time mailings are unprofitable until long-term customer value is calculated.
EB: Similarly, what do you say when letters are getting replaced by self-mailers and brochures?
PG: This has been tested since Lester Wunderman first coined the term direct marketing. Self-mailers are not as effective as letter packages. The outer entices. Brochure demonstrates. Letter sells. That’s not to say other formats should not be tested and used. When a product is so well-known that it reaches commodity level, it makes sense to save money and cut back on the romance.
EB: Other formats that work for longer copy?
PG: Eight-page letters have been known to work for products that require building excitement. In regard to four-page letters, I prefer the booklet format, but it hasn’t been tested that I know of. From a creative standpoint, it makes sense. When the prospect fully opens the letter, he or she can’t avoid seeing a whole spread of persuasive copy.
EB: When writing that long letter, what are a few keys to making it as effective as possible?
PG: Make it easy to skim through. Underlines. Bold and italic words. Bold and all-caps lead-ins. Indented paragraphs. Short phrases. They all pop. Ample leading helps readability. Handwritten margin notes are great. Avoid long words, long sentences, long line lengths and long paragraphs. In a letter, I type two spaces after a period the way business letters used to be formatted when typewriters were used.
EB: Anything else you want to say that relates to long copy and direct mail in general?
PG: Let’s get general. (Something we avoid in direct marketing.) Anyone can scatter shoot to a wide audience. If you can afford the waste and your product isn’t specific to a special audience, go broad. But direct mail and a great database expert can give you precision targeting. A better chance to strike it right. Skilled marketing, better prospects and less waste. I like that.
This article is adapted from the Straight Talk interview that was published in the March 2008 issue of Inside Direct Mail, a sister publication to Target Marketing magazine. To learn more about Inside Direct Mail, visit www.insidedirectmail.com
Part of that has to do with her 25 years of direct marketing experience, and the rest is explained by her in-depth involvement with the three bigs in direct mail: creative strategy, copy and design. Greenawalt began her career as a copywriter at Wunderman, and now she’s president and creative director of the direct marketing agency Tomarkin/Greenawalt in Hartsdale, N.Y., where she mostly works with publishers like Hearst, Time-Life, Condé Nast and Rodale Press.
Here, she weighs in on the long copy vs. short copy debate.
Ethan Boldt: Some say that because attention spans are shrinking, the letter should, too. And you?
Peggy Greenawalt: If superb copywriters can’t make four pages fascinating enough to read, how on earth can we hope that there is a future for magazines, books, this publication or, for that matter, civilization?
EB: You’ve mentioned that magalogs and bookalogs are doing great right now. That long copy is working. Why?
PG: In the case of publishing, they are the closest selling vehicle to the magazines and books that we hope the public will want to buy from us. But, for many products, they give us plenty of opportunity to build romance, intrigue and excitement. [They’re] an opportunity to add value with a freemium. And, just maybe, our readers actually do like to read a well-written story.
EB: Can you give a couple of examples for those clients in which long copy made for successful packages/tests?
PG: I am sorry to report that the magazine industry has become addicted to voucher/statement of benefit packages. Not new news. Not much copy to test there. In my opinion, these tricky “Hmm, did I order this?” packages, along with giveaway low prices and agents, actually steal value from our products at a time when we need to add value to compete.
Successful long copy tests? My client Oxmoor House is perhaps the most dedicated to thorough testing of any I work with. We test packages of differing sizes: bookalogs, slimalogs and magalogs with various letter treatments, wraps and inserts. There is no question that, for their products, long copy is more effective. When was the last time you drooled over a restaurant menu that offered simply fish, chicken or beef? Bring on the fresh wasabi, parsnip puree and glazed walnuts.
EB: How do recent postal-rate changes affect the ability to employ long copy, if at all?
PG: It does, of course. Profitability can’t be ignored. But many first-time mailings are unprofitable until long-term customer value is calculated.
EB: Similarly, what do you say when letters are getting replaced by self-mailers and brochures?
PG: This has been tested since Lester Wunderman first coined the term direct marketing. Self-mailers are not as effective as letter packages. The outer entices. Brochure demonstrates. Letter sells. That’s not to say other formats should not be tested and used. When a product is so well-known that it reaches commodity level, it makes sense to save money and cut back on the romance.
EB: Other formats that work for longer copy?
PG: Eight-page letters have been known to work for products that require building excitement. In regard to four-page letters, I prefer the booklet format, but it hasn’t been tested that I know of. From a creative standpoint, it makes sense. When the prospect fully opens the letter, he or she can’t avoid seeing a whole spread of persuasive copy.
EB: When writing that long letter, what are a few keys to making it as effective as possible?
PG: Make it easy to skim through. Underlines. Bold and italic words. Bold and all-caps lead-ins. Indented paragraphs. Short phrases. They all pop. Ample leading helps readability. Handwritten margin notes are great. Avoid long words, long sentences, long line lengths and long paragraphs. In a letter, I type two spaces after a period the way business letters used to be formatted when typewriters were used.
EB: Anything else you want to say that relates to long copy and direct mail in general?
PG: Let’s get general. (Something we avoid in direct marketing.) Anyone can scatter shoot to a wide audience. If you can afford the waste and your product isn’t specific to a special audience, go broad. But direct mail and a great database expert can give you precision targeting. A better chance to strike it right. Skilled marketing, better prospects and less waste. I like that.
This article is adapted from the Straight Talk interview that was published in the March 2008 issue of Inside Direct Mail, a sister publication to Target Marketing magazine. To learn more about Inside Direct Mail, visit www.insidedirectmail.com
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