For direct mail copy to be persuasive, it should focus on the offer and the benefits and abide by the WIIFM principle (What’s In It For Me?). Any copy that doesn’t do that is usually irrelevant and non-essential and will distract your reader from your main selling message. Here are seven categories of non-essential copy that you should generally avoid. Backgrounding : This is giving information of how your product was discovered or developed. Unless it reinforces a product benefit or the overall sales message, it will simply divert the reader’s attention away from the offer.
Legitimating: Similar to backgrounding, this type of copy focuses on the company and how they are old, large, reliable or whatever. If you feel your readers may be suspicious or cautious and you need to provide this information, do it after the sales message has been made: “And here’s why you can have confidence in . . .”
Negative copy: As a general rule, copy that is entirely positive in tone will do better than copy that is negative, e.g., copy that points out how bad a competitor’s product is. Or copy that says: “These are tough times, so you want to make sure you get the most for your money”. Forget about the tough times and focus on “get the most . . .”
Overcoming objections: Remember the idea from an earlier column of “Writing to Responders”? Well, raising objections in your copy doesn’t do that. It talks more to people who may not have been likely responders and tries to turn them around. By doing so it may raise issues for the likely responders that they never had thought of, thereby turning them into doubters or non-responders.
Attention getting: This is a technique well suited to print and TV because you are competing with other ads and must fight to get the attention of your audience. But with the exception of the outer envelope, it is not appropriate for direct mail copy. Once a person has opened the envelope, you already have their attention so you don’t need screaming heads or visuals.
Humour: It can work but it must be used with care and skill. For one thing, what is funny to one person may not be to another. And just because something is entertaining does not mean that it will sell. DM copy is supposed to generate a response, not a chuckle. Think about it – how many TV ads have you seen that were really funny and entertaining, and at the end you say: “What were they advertising?”
Puffery: “Flattering, often exaggerated praise and publicity, especially when used for promotional purposes” is how my dictionary describes it. And unless you have solid, 100 percent believable proof that your claims are true, puffery will undermine your credibility. And even if your claim is true, if it’s not believable – or as copywriter HG Lewis says, if it doesn’t have verisimilitude – you best be careful how you use it.