Seven Key Copy Drivers for Direct Mail Success

The following is the "Ask The DM Experts" column from the September 2010 issue of CADM's hard-copy newsletter, adMarks, written by Professor Susan K. Jones of Ferris State University. Only current CADM members receive adMarks, so please consider joining via this link!

Q. With all the talk about USPS money problems and the supposed demise of direct mail, I need reassurance that this classic direct marketing medium should still be part of my marketing mix. Can you help?

A. Who better to call upon for this answer than Denny Hatch, author of a new book called The Secrets of Emotional, Hot-Button Copywriting. Denny also is a regular columnist for Target Marketing magazine, and editor of the e-newsletter Business Common Sense. In the introduction to his book, Denny pulls no punches with his answer to the question, “Why bother with direct mail in this digital age?” He says:

“Direct mail goes back 800 years, to June 10, 1194, when Chartres Cathedral burned to the ground. Bishop Regnault de Mouçon wrote letters to all the rich aristocracy in France, Spain, and England asking for help to rebuild Chartres. This was the first recorded direct mail campaign, and was hugely successful, as any visitor to Chartres today will tell you.

“Since then a vast canon of direct mail know-how has been built up – the art, science and arithmetic of intimate, one-to-one communications that enable marketers to change behavior over long distances. All of it is directly applicable to the Internet.

“Put another way, one reason for the dot-com bust of 2000 that caused $5 trillion to evaporate was that the smartypants 20-something geeks that set up the systems and protocols of the Internet did not know squat about direct marketing, tapping human emotions, nor how to monetize a business model.”

So there! Denny goes on in his book to provide a list of seven “key copy drivers” that make people act in response to direct mail solicitations. These were identified by Swedish direct marketing genius Axel Andersson, and Seattle guru, Bob Hacker, who told Denny, “If your copy isn't dripping with one or more of these, tear it up and start over.” Here is the list of seven “drivers,” with examples from Denny’s archives of how each can be turned into a copy appeal.

1. Fear – That you’re missing out, that you’re being kept in the dark, that there’s a threat to you or your family, that you may be in financial jeopardy.
2. Greed – Ways to get, win, or save money, achieve the American Dream, get in on the ground floor.
3. Guilt – Assuage your guilt by helping hungry, lonely, or oppressed people, providing peace of mind for yourself and your family, saving innocent creatures.
4. Anger – Turn your anger into action against political opponents, oppressors of animals and people, defilers of the environment.
5. Exclusivity – Be among the few who measure up, be in elite company, be among the first, be accepted for membership.
6. Salvation – Get cash to bail you out, find a lucrative and intriguing vocation, gain skills for success, get help from an expert.
7. Flattery – Acquire, join, or do something that bespeaks your elite status, take advantage of something you’ve earned.

Now that you know the seven “drivers,” Denny offers some additional advice for putting them into action. He suggests that you become a true expert in the thing you are selling, then make a list of its features (product attributes) and rank their importance. Next, turn these features into benefits – the answer to the buyer’s question, “What’s in it for me?” Then determine the Unique Selling Proposition (USP) for your product or service –the one thing about it that is both wanted by your target market and available exclusively from you.

When you start to write direct mail copy, Denny suggests that you “liberally sprinkle” it with the “12 most powerful, most evocative words in the English language”:

You
Save
Money

Easy

Guarantee
Health
Results
New
Love
Discovery
Proven
Safety
…and to make it a baker’s dozen, he adds what the late Richard Benson called the “magic word” – FREE.

For more of Denny Hatch’s direct mail wisdom, get hold of your own copy of The Secrets of Emotional, Hot-Button Copywriting. Contact Denny at dennyhatch@yahoo.com.

"Ask the DM Experts” is a monthly adMarks feature. Professor Susan K. Jones draws on the knowledge of CADM members and other authorities to answer your questions – so tell her what you want to ask the experts! Send your questions to CADM: E-mail: info@cadm.org.