How to Make Direct Mail Sizzle from Seniorleads.com?

With direct marketing, you can immediately see your return on investment. You invest a dollar and you immediately known if you're getting a response. There are no wasting thousands of dollars and then praying for a result. You get the result immediately. Professionals new to marketing make the mistake of taking their cues from big business to so-called marketing experts. Don’t market or advertise your services as big businesses do as your context is not the same. The main issues focus on the difference between “push and pull” and “branding.”rnCommon to All Direct Marketing HeadlinernIf you want to get great results, you need to start with a great headline (for email, the subject line). I would recommend that you study books on copywriting or hire a copywriter. Great headlines are not intuitive. To write great headlines, you need to study a large number of great headlines to get the gestalt. Once you have it, you have it forever. Let me provide an example. I sent out an email today to Financial Advisors. The subject line: "New Research – Group of Advisors Earning 5 Times More"rnThe title is compelling as it raises an extreme degree of curiosity and desire to not be left behind.rnEven a phone call has a headline designed to capture the attention and curiosity of the recipient. While shocking, most phone calls open with an introduction such as,"Mrs. Jones, this is Bob Haward from the XYZ company. How are you today?" Do you think this opening generates attention and curiosity? Or does it generate loathing and impatience of receiving a cold call? What if you opened every call so that if the recipient had interest, you immediately captured their interest and curiosity. In our business of helping financial advisors, we know that their big concern is finding new clients. So, we open the call, "Joe? I understand you have an interest in meeting new clients. Is that still the case?" Do you think this headline captures recipients' interest?rnYou see, branding yourself is unimportant. What's is most important is having the answer to every prospect's question, "what's in it for me?" When you have that answer, your name, identity, and reputation are secondary. You need a great headline everywhere you market: • At the top of a letter (called a Johnson box) • In your print advertisementrn• In your Google AdWordsrn• As the email subject linern• At the beginning of a phone script EnvelopernWould you like to get 100% of your direct mail pieces opened? Then put NOTHING on the envelope that reveals the content. The next time you look at your mail, if you find an envelope addressed to you, from a name you do not know but a local address, would you open it? Of course! The curiosity factor is high and there is a risk in tossing the mail unopened should it be important. So many direct mailers make the mistake of telling the recipient the contents and never get their mail opened.rnFor example, when the envelope says "bundle phone and Internet for 30% off," do I need to open the envelope? There is no risk in me tossing it unopened. The ignorance of some direct mailers is shocking. Body CopyrnWhether email, direct mail or a phone call, the body copy is the substance of the message. It springboards from the headline to: • retain interestrn• clarify and deepen the problemrn• suggest a solution The body copy is intriguing so that the recipient reads (or listens) to the entire message. Again, you must know copywriting to craft these words. Although I have studied several books to become a good copywriter, the one "must read" is Jeffrey Lant's Cash Copy. Call to Action The call to action, to be successful must obey some rules.rnFirst, it must be low risk or low cost. Years ago, I sold an $897 product by first sending the prospect a 15-page sales letter. I do not recall having anyone send us a check. They always called first, spoke to our staff and then ordered. We knew they would call if interested.rnYou cannot ask someone to come to your office for a financial review. They view it as high risk to disclose their personal financial information to a stranger. When marketing online, ask only for name and email. People view too much risk in providing name, address, phone, and email unless you have created trust by repeated contact. Direct Response RadiornRadio can be inexpensive in a smaller market. Using radio as a medium makes your business seem big. Use it to have people phone for something: • reserve a seat at a seminarrn• order a free reportrn• order a free samplern• enter a contest You get the benefit of branding yourself and simultaneously gathering Financial Planning Leads of interested prospects. Direct Response TVrnCable TV is the land of the infomercial. Producing the infomercial is the expensive part. You can often buy remnants of cable TV time inexpensively. TV of course is best when you need to demonstrate products and show their amazing benefits.rnBecause the price of the product is low, the risk is low. People are not worried that they spend $19.95 and the product turns out to be junk. On top of that, you guarantee the product for 60 days! Think about all the infomercials you have ever seen. Whole a few were for known brands (Bow flex, NordicTrack, etc.), most offers worked even from unknown companies. And those companies that are well known in their field are known to you through their infomercials. As stated before, direct response marketing also provides branding benefit.rnFor information visit our website:https://seniorleads.comrn