I wanted a new outfit and shoes for a special evening out and happened upon a lovely pair of shoes, while out shopping. I wasn’t sure if they would go with a dress, I was hoping to buy, down the road and proceeded to explain my predicament to the shop assistant.

To my utmost surprise, she suggested I take the shoes and go see if they went with the dress I wanted; if not, there was no harm done. I could keep them for a day or two, to be sure they went well with the dress then return them for purchase or return.

I was so impressed with her brilliant idea, entrepreneurial spirit and ease in ‘thinking outside of the box’, I gladly agreed to her fantastic idea; gave her my ‘B’ permit, or green card and promptly left the shop with a brand new pair of sparkly, two inch, sling-backs, I’d NOT purchased for the sole reason; to see if they went with a dress I had my eye on, a few shops down the road.

This kind of shopping experience is not ‘normal’ practice.

But why not?

Why don’t more businesses allow customers to check and see if their product is a good fit before purchase? Fear perhaps? Lack of trust? Concentrating on instant gratification and not the lifetime value of the customer?

Since that amazing experience, not only did I buy those shoes but have since purchased further items for myself and my husband also.

My lifetime value for that shoe shop, is endless.

Simply because an astute shop assistant was wise enough to see beyond the cash register, to ensure a customer had a lovely evening out in her newly acquired sparkly, black, sling-back shoes.

It’s a well known fact in business to business circles; direct mail campaigns aren’t pulling in the results they used to. Now more than ever, direct marketers have to figure out more inventive ways to get their envelopes opened.

When a prospect picks up your envelope, together with his other post, he spends less than three seconds assessing whether or not to open it. Naturally, this problem means that direct marketers are tempted to “spill the beans” on the envelope; pushing their features and benefits, even the offer. This is a big mistake.

The envelope has one role and one role only; to carry the items it contains within it to the person to whom the envelope is addressed. That’s it. The resulting fact has forced copywriters to dream up inventive ways to tease, and entice prospects to open the envelope, and read the sales copy within.

Facing that same dilemma, one company decided to conduct a number of B to B and B to C envelope tests, to discover which pulled in the better result. Envelopes with teaser copy and offers on the outside or envelopes with nothing but the return addressed on the back.

What they discovered:

They discovered that when the reader couldn’t determine what the offer inside was, they felt they were missing out on something great, and were more inclined to open the envelope. They felt these feelings more acutely, if the envelope was sent by a brand they knew very well or had a good long standing reputation with. The reader also wanted to know the offer first before deciding whether or not to reject it.

There are some fantastic lessons to be learned here, namely…

Simple is Best

No copy on the envelope. You may not be a big brand name but it’s never a good idea to spell out your offer to a list who doesn’t know you – yet. It’s like asking a girl to marry you on your first date. You’d never do that. Timing is everything in relationships. It’s no different in direct mail. When building that all important long term relationship – easy does it, is key.

Make it Personal

You know how you feel when you receive a letter that is addressed, “To the Owner” or “To Whom it May Concern”. If you send similar envelopes to your prospects, you can guess how they’ll feel. Go the extra mile to find out your prospect’s name, title, and make sure both are spelled correctly.

Address their Names by Hand

If you take the time to hand write their names, then some of your list will take the time to open your envelope, and read what’s inside. Nothing makes a bigger or better impression then handwritten notes, and envelopes. It’s these personal touches that add style, and class to any envelope, and indeed to any company. By deciding to write their names by hand, you put your company at a higher level then the rest, and guarantee long term faithful clients.

Put your Logo on the Envelope

If you’re marketing to a list that knows you very well, and is, as far as you know, very happy with your service. Then put your logo on the front top left hand corner of your envelope or discreetly on the back flap.

Then, they’re more likely to open your envelope because, like the company in the example, they could be missing out on something great, and want to read about it before making the decision to disregard it.

Test, Test, Test

Before embarking on any campaign, it’s important to test your envelope, and everything on your envelope until you’re sure you have the right combination that will go a long way to enticing your prospect to open it.

If you want to create attention grabbing headlines then you have to practice until you know instinctively when you’ve written a winner. The best way to do that is to test, test and test your headlines again on your prospects, and they will let you know whether or not you have a winning headline on your hands.

What will go a long way in making your headlines tight is asking yourself some strong questions, and they are:

Will this headline drive my prospects to buy now or never?

The most important thing you must achieve in your headline copy – is to give your prospect every possible reason to want your product now!. You could say things like – ‘while stocks last’ or ‘offer ends today’ etc.

Read lots of direct-mail campaigns that come through your door, and especially those that drove you to buy straight away – study their headline copy. You’ll be amazed how simple they are, but discover very quickly how hard they are to emulate.

Is my product valuable to the prospect?

Assuming that you already know, hand on heart that your product or service is something the public really wants or needs, then expressing this in your headline copy should be a piece of cake.

Does my header make the product stand out from the rest?

This is where your headline should outline the uniqueness of the product or service; miss this bit and your headline will fail.

Is my headline specific and clear enough or is it trying to say too much?

Being ambiguous is not an option or cramming too much information is not good either. It’s vital to be clear, concise and specific throughout your copy but especially in your headline. It’s here that the prospect gets their first taste of your offer. So hit’em with it!

My headline has a job to do – is it doing it?

If you put the four key techniques into place, as I suggest you do, then your headline will be pulling double duty. First grabbing their attention, secondly selecting them.

As your headline copy will be saying something meaningful to one person but at the same time, having the opposite effect on someone else. Thus selecting those eager to buy prospects you really want.

It’s interesting to note; prospects read headers five times as much as they read the whole copy, which means for every dollar the advertiser spends, 80 cents of his advertising dollar is spent on the header.

According to world famous copywriter David Ogilvy, the headline is the most important part of an advertisement.

So based on that logic and compelling evidence, it would stand to reason that you spend 80% of your time crafting that perfect header. It would be time well spent.

That’s just how important the headline is.

In this article, Tim Underwood explains how to:

* Compile a list of questions you need to answer
* Test one variable at a time and make certain you can isolate it
* Identify the success metric that is the most relevant to your test

Knowing how to test email campaigns will go much smoother after
you’ve read his tips.

Chris Baggott, Co-founder and CEO of Compendium Blogware,
starts the groundwork by finding five outstanding
corporate blogs that hit the ’sweet spot’, in as far as,
clearly articulating the goals of their respective
organisations is concerned.

But what I’ve found, is blogs that offer top quality
FREE content, i.e lots of free ‘how to’ advice and
training that resonates with the reader; encourages
feedback and comments; NOT talk about themselves
and how good THEY think THEY are, are the best.