3 top tips for writing better direct mail pieces
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Here are 3 tried and tested tips for making your direct mail pieces and marketing emails more readable and compelling.
1/ Write as you would speak
First off, forget most of what you learned in English classes at school and, for that matter, university or college. Now I’m not suggesting that you resort to bad grammar or sloppy English, but what I am saying is that you should forget the stiff, formal prose so loved by many academics. If, for example, you were ever chided at school for the crime of beginning your sentences with the words: ‘but’, ‘and’ or ‘because’, now’s the time to reintroduce them back into your marketing vocabulary – good copywriters do it all the time.
If you were ever reprimanded for using contractions, e.g. it’s, isn’t, that’s, we’re, you’re, wasn’t, now’s, they’ve, we’ve, etc, etc, forget it. The fact is that all of the above constructions make for more readable, warmer and naturally flowing prose. Write as if you were chatting to someone over a drink at the bar. Keep your writing simple and straightforward.
2/ Read everything out loud
By far the most effective way of discovering whether your copy flows well is to read it out loud – even if it means inviting sniggers and sideways looks from your office colleagues. Most people read through what they’ve written to check for mistakes, but they do it silently.
By reading your work out loud you’ll immediately identify any trouble spots, ambiguities and places where a reader would be likely to stumble. If you don’t already do this, make it a golden rule. You’ll be amazed at what it reveals, and it will make you a better copywriter overnight.
3/ Break up your copy with subheads
Your challenge as a copywriter is to inspire readers to read your copy through to the end, or at the very least to digest enough of your message to take forward action. To this end, the purpose of your first sentence is to make people want to read the second sentence. And the purpose of the second sentence is to make people read the third sentence, and so on. A great device for achieving this is to use plenty of compelling subheads.
Subheads help break up your copy into manageable, bite-sized chunks. Some readers find long passages of unbroken prose off-putting. Subheads also function as mini-headlines. They reinforce your message and provide a pointer to the next paragraph. A subhead should include a complete selling message in its own right. This way people who only briefly scan your mailer or email can still be sold to. Here’s a real-life B2B example (de-branded):
Introducing xyz software
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Gain a complete 360 degree view of your network inventory
Which of your machines have the right spec to run new applications or operating systems updates? Which machines are beyond their working life and need replacing? Xyz gives you the answer.
Find out how much of your software is actually being used
In all likelihood, you are paying licence fees for software that you don’t even use. After installing xyz, users identify an average of £300 in software savings per desktop.
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