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A letter is a self-portrait of the sender in a direct mail campaign.
© 2001
Jeffrey Dobkin
A letter is the most effective you can be in marketing for 33 cents.
A
letter is the most effective you can be in marketing at any price. In direct
mail, your success may be just 33 cents away.
But is it really a letter? In truth, a letter is really a personal
communication you write to one or two people. When you send it to a few
hundred, a few thousand, or a few million people, it's an advertisement.
Specifically, what you see in most direct mail packages is a one-page, highly
stylized ad, designed to look like a letter. It's the hardest working part of
the package you mail. People look at the brochure, but they read the letter.
The letter is far more important than a brochure, and can be effective if
used just by itself.
Unless you are exceptionally long-winded like me, most commercial direct
mail letters should be typed on a single side of a standard 8-1/2" x 11" sheet
of paper, then folded copy-side out so it is seen as soon as the recipient opens
the envelope. If it requires more than one page, it's least expensive to use
the back of the sheet. Although this never looks as good as two pages printed
on the face only, its lower costs, and accompanying lower weight, may justify
this format. It should still be folded with the first side facing out.
If you find your letter is slightly too long for one page, let the right and
left margins out a total of perhaps 5 to 10 spaces. This will allow your typing
to go further out to the side edges of the paper. Additionally, extend your
letter almost to the paper's edge on the bottom. The longer line lengths and
more lines per page will allow more copy to fit on a single page. Before
printing the final copy, reduce the letter by 5% or 10% on a quality photocopy
machine, or ask your printer to shoot it down. This reduction will give your
letter slightly smaller type, and the added bonus of additional white space
around the top and sides. I sometimes reduce the size of a letter just to make
it appear shorter and easier to read. A 10% reduction on an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet
will reduce the live copy area just over 1", and bring the margins in almost 3/4
inch. Don't worry, it'll look just fine. In fact - it'll look better.
If the package requires long copy, my first choice is to use an 11" x 17"
sheet folded in half for a four-page letter. This is also the most effective
format for a three page letter, by leaving the back of the last page blank
(although being a believer in long copy, I never do). This larger layout allows
for plenty of selling copy and plenty of white space around it, which will
encourage additional readership.
Above all, the letter must look attractive. It should have lots of white
space making it look easy to read, even if it isn't. Frame your copy with a
broad white border. This "breathing area" makes it look more inviting.
Remember: if your letter looks like it's going to take a long time to read, it
gets tossed in the pile to be read sometime between later and never, and
eventually winds up getting thrown out. So Rule Number 1: it must look good, so
people will read it. Go figure.
Use typewriter-style type to make your letter look like it was just typed on
a typewriter. The size of the type in a letter is determined by the amount of
copy you have, and the amount of space it needs to fit. Courier is my favorite
typeface for letters and is used 12/12 (12 point type on 12 point leading)
because this face looks OK in a slightly larger size. It can be used 11/12,
11/11, and 10/11 if the copy is long, but the believability of "This just came
off my typewriter" falls off fast if used too small. American Typewriter
typestyle from ITC Corporation works OK for very commercial letters. Since
courier is such a wide face in terms of characters per inch, if a client hands
me his annual report and says "get this in the letter" I go to smaller width
faces such as my favorites, Bookman or Garamond, or the narrowest of all faces,
Times Roman. War and Peace will fit onto an oversized sheet if you use Times
Roman. Yep.
Make the first line short and compelling to read. Like this.
Here you can see the value of a line that stands alone. Since it's short
and set apart, everyone will read it. The first line of the letter is the ad
for your letter, it's the most important single line because it must interest
the reader enough to convince him to continue reading. That is the only
objective of the first line: keep the reader reading. Grab the reader and demand
he reads further. To do this, use an electrifying opening paragraph of one
line; maybe two lines, at most. A single line can be most electric. A single
line is too short to pass up. Inspire your reader at a glance to read the rest.
Indent the first line of all paragraphs five spaces, to start the eyeflow of
the reader. This also breaks up the copy from the monotony of squared-off
visual blocks of text. Set the paragraphs to rag right (ragged edge of type on
the right-hand side) to further break up the look of the block of copy. Never
justify the body of the letter.
To make the letter look less forbidding, faster and easier to read, make the
top line of each paragraph shorter on the right-hand side than the lines in the
rest of the paragraph. This rounds off the paragraphs and they appear shorter.
If it creates a bad break, poor copy flow, or awkward sentence ending, forget
it. Since we are dealing with letters as both copy and art consider each in
every change; notice and make a deliberate call where each line breaks on the
right hand side of the letter. I do.
Limit paragraph length to seven lines at most. If a paragraph runs longer
than seven lines, break it into two paragraphs. Artificially broken paragraphs
are OK; this isn't English class - it's real life.
Stagger paragraph lengths so they don't all look the same, keeping the copy
looking fresh and visually interesting. One short, two long, two long, one
short, etc. Vary the text block design to make it look inviting. No one wants
to read a wall of type where each paragraph looks exactly the same.
To further keep the letter visually stimulating, and to direct the eye of
the reader to the parts you wish him to see, underline one or two words or a
short phrase, in all but one or two of the paragraphs. Use bold in one or two
paragraphs. For words in a list, bold can be used more frequently. Use all
capital letters only once or twice on a page for a short phrase that really is
an attractive benefit.
To further break up the copy and keep it visually interesting, in the center
of the letter you can list bulleted information to catch and hold the reader's
attention. Bulleted copy:
* Directs the eyeflow to this area
* Draws attention to the important
parts
* Shows the strongest benefits
* Enhances the best offer
* Highlights the guarantee
* Pulls the eye to features you want them to
see
* Increases the response you want
If your heart is set on showing the features of your product, the way to
list them is in this brief, bulleted style.
Another visual trick in commercial direct mail letters is to use a shortened
paragraph:
You may also use a shortened paragraph in the center of the page to direct
the reader's eyes to the important points. Indent a paragraph on both sides with
wide margins, and justify the type to further set it apart from the rest of the
letter.
This paragraph can be of a smaller or different typeface. A paragraph like
this adds additional visual interest and brakes up the visual part of the
letter. When used with a smaller typeface it can also increase the amount of
copy you can get on a single page without making it looking crammed or
forbidding to read.
If it gives a clean impression, you can just use that old Smith-Corona
portable typewriter you have in your closet - I used one for years. (Wow,
remember them?) An IBM Selectric isn't a bad choice, either. Nowadays most
folks use a computer, I suspect. Don't get lost in all those fancy typefaces.
Just make it look like a letter. Use typewriter style type. Sorry, no
exceptions.
Begin your letter at the very top of the page. Way before the salutation,
your letter should start to sell the response. Remember the objective? To
further the impression the letter in direct mail is really a highly specific
stylized ad or brochure designed to look like a letter, use a letterhead with
your company logo. But since you can use this area more effectively for selling,
make the logo smaller as it is not a reader benefit. Reduce your letterhead so
it doesn't get in the way. Perhaps you can squish it over to the left, and drop
in some early sales copy on the right.
The copy at the top of the page, above the salutation and body of the
letter, can be set in any type style and any size type, since it's not really
viewed as part of the body of the letter. It can almost be an ad in itself, but
don't use a border which will take away from the intended image of the page,
"this is a letter." Keep the rest of the letter in traditional form and format.
Following the letterhead and its accompanying pre-selling copy, it's
best to show a date, even if it's just the month and year (September, 1999). If
you're unsure about your mailing date, leave this out. Once printed, a stale
date can sink a mailing like a stone, and waste every single sheet of paper it's
printed on. So think carefully about putting on a date.
As in any piece of art, each element of the design enhances or detracts from
the appearance, and in this case directly affects the response. The more
elements you consciously control, the less you leave to chance, the better the
letter will work for you. Once you have the winning designs, this will also
ensure your letters will be consistently effective.
When you are finished and happy with your letter's appearance, run your eye
down the right hand side and bring down any words that stick out too far into
the margin. If your letter is commercial-looking and not to personal, one or
two hand written marginal words or a short phrase can call attention to a strong
benefit. Hand underlining can also be effective if used sparingly.
Sign with a legible signature, even if your real signature isn't. Remember,
people are looking at your signature and you want to build credibility with it.
They don't care how you really sign documents, they want a name they can read.
It's a visual hook.
Don't forget to enhance your powerful PS by shortening the right hand margin
one inch. A hand written PS can work if it's very short, but if your
handwriting is less than perfect don't chance it.
Always keep in mind you are not writing a letter, you are writing copy and
inserting it into a piece of art. The objective of the art is to create an
attractive design that makes the copy appear easy to read. The objective of the
copy is to guide the reader through a set of benefits leading to a desire to
inquire (pick up the phone) or order the product. But, that's another article.
Jeffrey Dobkin, author of the incredible 400-page
marketing manual, How To Market A Product for Under $500 ($29.95), now has a
second book, Uncommon Marketing Techniques ($17.95) - 35 of his articles on
small business marketing, just like the one you just read. Both books are
available in finer bookstores nationwide, or directly from the publisher. You
never learned this stuff in college! Mr. Dobkin cuts right through the
theoretical crap and demonstrates practical how-to direct marketing techniques.
He is also a speaker, a direct mail copywriter, an expert in direct marketing
strategy, and a direct mail copy analyst. To place an order, or to speak with
Mr. Dobkin call 610/642-1000. Phone orders welcome - Visa, M/C, AMEX. From The
Danielle Adams Publishing Company, Box 100, Merion Station, PA 19066.
Satisfaction Always Guaranteed.
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