OLD SCHOOL MARKETING THAT STILL WORKS

Mailshots used to be posted, and writing them was a skill because the words were all you had. Typewriters had one font. Golfball typewriters had the heady excitement of around fifty fonts in two different sizes (10 and 12 pt) but there was a catch … you had to change the golfball each time you changed font!

Today, mailings are as commonly sent by email as by post, and they offer the capacity to add visual power to your chosen narrative. So why do so many businesses get them so wrong, and how do some succeed in getting them right?

We’ve picked out the half-dozen reasons that businesses fail with mailings, and balance them with six simple ways to ensure your mail-shots succeed. It doesn’t matter if you’re posting them out, or emailing them, these dozen points will help your organisation develop mailing mastery and win a real return on mail-shots that benefits your bottom line.

The 6 most common mail-shot failures

1. Sending a great, well-designed mainsheet to somebody who has left the organisation, changed position or – worst of all – died.
2. You get seduced by a clever headline that fails to sell your product or service
3. Yours sales copy isn’t credible
4. You didn’t nail down the real benefits and features of your product or service, so your copywriter creates a wishy-washy mainsheet
5. You patronise, confuse or alienate people by using inappropriate language
6. You disappoint customers who’ve misunderstood your offering.

6 ways to succeed with mailings

1. Personalise your mail-shots. Get the right first name and family name for contacts, and then check regularly that those people still do the jobs they used to when you first made contact with them.
2. Pick a headline that is appropriate but attention grabbing and pair it with a brilliant image so that both words and pictures resonate with your readers
3. Focus on what your reader wants, not what you want. Write simply, persuasively and with clear attention to the benefits you offer – where possible let your current clients convince potential clients by adding reviews and testimonials to your copy
4. Make them an offer they can’t refuse – don’t forget to state why your offer is so great, make clear that there are guarantees to support it, and don’t forget that the offer is for them, not for you!
5. Tell readers simply, clearly and effectively what they need to do next, to take advantage of your mailing.
6. Use experts to help you – our designers work with copywriters to ensure you get compelling images with persuasive copy at a price you can afford.

Keen to become a digital brand? Call us on 0203 773 9137 or email info@creativeharmony.co.uk so we can help you become the social media success you deserve to be.