HOW TO WIN IN DIRECT MAIL

A major advantage of selling through the mail is that, in most cases, there is less than a ten day turn-around from the time a sales letter is mailed, and the customer makes the purchase. This means a business can raise huge sums of cash in just a few days by sending the right sales letter to the right mailing list. Most direct mail letters can be used also as response packs for classified ads. After developing a response pack for a very successful classified ad we were running, we discovered that our 'response pack' letter could be mailed by itself to selected lists with impressive results. Getting started with a direct mail letter project is easy and relatively inexpensive. Taking into account printing costs, envelopes, and letters. And if those letters are for the right product with the right profit margin, the effort can be quite profitable.

The key to success in direct mail is...

1. Finding the right market to sell a product to, and...

2. Finding the right product to sell to people in the market you have selected.

Experts tell us that while the letter itself is important, having the right product for the right market is most important. If you have the right product, and offer it to the right market, you can be successful with a mediocre letter. But if you have the wrong product, or offer the right product to the wrong market, even the best copywriter in the world can't write a sales letter that will make the project a success.

With that in mind, we always use the following guidelines when we begin to develop a direct mail offer.

1. Find the right market. To us that means:
   • A. Finding a market of people who have already developed the habit of buying products through the mail. (I don't want to have to teach anyone new behavior patterns.)
   • B. Finding people who have money. Which means they have charge cards with plenty of credit still on them. (You can't sell to people who don't have money.)
   • C. Finding people who have recently purchased through the mail something similar to what we want to sell.
   • D. Finding a current mailing list for people identified in A, B, and C above.
2. Find the right product. To us that means:
   • A. A product that is unique and not readily available from other sources. (We don't want to have to compete with Walmart.)
   • B. A product that has a favorable price to cost ratio. (It must be profitable for us to sell.)
   • C. A product that is shippable.
   • D. And most important, a product that the people in our target market want.
3. Create the right offer and deliver it correctly. Which means:
   • A. Developing the offer with the target market in mind.
   • B. Taking steps to build credibility in the offer and product.
   • C. Providing the customer every opportunity and reason to purchase from us.
   • D. Delivering the offer in such a manner that it will get read and opened.