In Direct Mail Marketing Copywriting, Specifics Outsell Generalities
Lilly Tomlin, the American comic, once said: When I was growing up, I wanted to be a somebody. Now I realize I should have been more specific.
In direct response advertising and direct mail selling, as in life, specifics sell. Generalities dont.
Consider, for example, a direct response ad that I have in front of me. I tore it from the May 2006 issue of Harpers Magazine last night.
This ad faces an almost impossible sales challenge:
- The product it promotes is the ROM, a Range of Motion exercise machine that retails for $14,615impossibly expensive
But I think the folks at ROMFAB in North Hollywood, California, know what they are doing. They are likely to sell plenty of these machines using their direct response ad because they pack it with specifics and not generalities. Consider . . .
Specific price: Not $14,599, but $14,615.
Specific workout: Exactly four minutes a day.
Specific thesis: Over 92% of people who own exercise equipment and 88% of people who own health club memberships do not exercise. Hence the appeal of their exercise machine that requires only four minutes a day.
Specific proof: Over 97% of people who rent the ROM for 30 days wind up buying it (so it must deliver on its promise of a complete workout in four minutes).
Specific credentials: Not award-winning, but Winner of the 1991 Popular Science Award for the Best of Whats New in Leisure Products. To be credible you must be specific.
More credentials: Manufactured in California since 1990.
Cost: Under 20 cents per use (the copy explains how they calculated that number).
Specific offer: Free DVD or video that demonstrates the product.
Specific call to action: Not Visit our website for more information, but Order a free DVD or video from www.FastExercise.com or call (818) 787-6460.
These specifics help ROMFAB sell an impossibly expensive exercise machine using direct response copy in a simple display ad. Notice that the offer is not to buy the machine, but to order the free video, then rent the machine. Thats the easier sell. When your product is costly and your sales proposition hard to believe, overcome objections with specifics, use an offer that moves the buyer off the inertia seat, and use a call to action that requires little commitment.
----
About the author
Alan Sharpe is a business-to-business direct mail copywriter and lead generation specialist who helps business owners and marketing managers generate leads, close sales and retain customers using business-to-business direct mail marketing. Learn more about his creative direct mail writing services and sign up for free weekly tips like this at http://www.sharpecopy.com.
2006 Sharpe Copy Inc. You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the "About the author" message).
Direct Marketing for Non-Profit Groups Considered
If you run a non-profit business then perhaps you should try direct marketing and direct-mail to get volunteers and increase ...
Direct Marketing Tools
In business, whenever you identify a new market that you know is going to be receptive and fruitful for your product and serv...
Direct Mail Marketing to Shape Public Opinion
Direct-mail marketing works for so many things and it works in nearly all types of businesses. Targeted direct-mail advertis...
Direct Mail Marketing and Direct Mail Strategies for Local Toy Stores
Local small business toy stores are under fire these days due to the ramp up of the number of toy isles in large box type sto...
Direct Mail Advertising Copywriting - Twelve Ways to Evaluate Direct Mail Copy
How can you know if your direct mail sales letter is ready to mail? Check it against these guidelines from Don Kanter, the US...
Direct Mail Marketing to Get a Job
Can you use direct mail marketing to get a job? Well consider if your will that most people already do, because they mail out...
How To Use Direct Mail Marketing To Your Advantage
Direct mail marketing has become more and more popular over the past couple of years. Companies have been searching for dire...
An Introduction to Direct Mail Marketing
Direct mail marketing is now being used by many large retailers like Macys or Wal-Mart in order to reach their customers. The...
Direct Mail and Direct Mail Marketing for Car Washes with Detail Shops
Do you own a carwash? Does your car wash have more customers at all times during the week? Do you have a detail shop on the p...
Direct Mail Marketing and Direct Mailing Strategies for Motorcycle Shops
Motorcycle Shops must sell motorcycles to insure their success. They must get new clients in, sell them bikes and treat them ...
Direct Mail Marketing and Direct Mail Strategies for Gift Basket Companies
Selling gift baskets is not easy and getting a gift basket company going is a marketing challenge in all regards. The challen...
Direct Marketing Associations
Direct marketing is the most dynamic solution today for sales promotion, lead generation, and traffic building, as well as ma...
Direct Mail and Direct Mail Marketing for Crisis Centers
Crisis Centers with special call in numbers can do wonders to help people with severe depression and such, and yet if those p...
Direct Mail Marketing and Direct Mail for Hobby Shops
Local Hobby Shops can do very well as a small business but to do a good business they need a strong customer base. How can a ...
Direct Mail Marketing to Target Teens
For those businesses which generally sell to teens direct mail marketing advertising actually works quite well. For instance ...
Direct Mail for Taxicab Companies
Taxicab companies must be sure to fill up those cabs so they can max out their ridership and expand to buy new cabs as well. ...
Direct Mail Marketing for the Car Washing Business
Direct mail marketing for a carwash business seems to be an excellent tool to increase the number of customers coming in. It...
Direct Mail and Direct Mail Marketing for Car Clubs
Are you a car club organization and trying to get more people to join? Usually car clubs grow due to word-of-mouth and yet y...
Direct Mail and Direct Mail Marketing for Tax Preparation Services
Low cost tax preparations services make their money on high volume business, but to achieve these high volumes they need two ...
Direct Mail Marketing for Regional Magazine Subscriptions
Direct-mail marketing advertising works very well for many types of businesses and there are many types of businesses that do...