Direct mail letters, when done right, are not cheap.
That doesn’t mean you should abandon the idea of using a professional copywriter and go for the DIY method.
Why?
Well, what you come up with is unlikely to work. Here’s why.
Why direct mail DIY is a bad idea
It’s unlikely your company is a one-trick pony.
You probably have numerous products and services that you want to promote and what better way to do that than by direct mail.
After contacting a few copywriters, you’ve been quoted anything from £500 to £1500 per letter, which to you seems ludicrous. After all, how hard can it be to write a letter?
Plus, every writer you spoke to said each letter should concentrate on one aspect of your service.
In your mind, they’re just saying that to get more money out of you because you have three services you want to highlight.
But you know better, right?
You don’t need separate letters for everything.
You can get everything you want to say in one letter saving time and money.
Oh boy. You’re about to waste your time and money.
After spending weeks writing and re-writing (see, it’s not as easy as you think, is it?) you come up with something that you think works. Your letter is about three pages long and covers three different services.
Your focus is all about your company and the features of your offerings. At no point do you show the reader how they will benefit. And, to top it all, you’ve used loads of bold print, exclamation marks, and colours because that’s what everyone else did in the blog posts you read about ‘how to write a sales letter.’
I hate to say it, but you’re going to get diddly-squat for your efforts.
Professional direct mail letters
Unlike you, the owner of the business next door hired a professional copywriter to create her sales letters.
After a few meetings, they came up with a plan of action, creating a series of three letters that addressed three different services. As a result, her mailing list could be divided up to make sure only relevant services were sent to each customer.
The letters addressed the reader directly and showed how, as a company, they could make that customer’s life easier. It focused on the benefits of the service rather than the features. Plus, being only one side of A4 long, it was a quick and easy read.
Yes, she invested a lot of money into the project, but as a result, she has seen a three-fold return on investment because her campaign was targeted and gave the reader what they wanted.
Two points are one too many
Every sales letter should have only one focus. Any more than that and your message becomes diluted and messy.
Direct mail is unlike any other form of letter writing. It is a powerful sales tool that should be written with care and experience.
Yes, professional writers don’t come cheap, but neither to solicitors, builders, or plumbers.
You’ve spent far too long building your business to send out an amateurish sales letter that could harm your reputation.
Sally Ormond is a professional copywriter who has been writing direct mail for her global clients for over a decade. Call her on +44(0) 1449 779605 for a chat.