Automate your campaign, not your text

Using an automated direct mail campaign is a great way to track every mail and every response. But entrusting your text to the IT company that automates your campaign may mean you send out gibberish to thousands of prospects. Here are some painfully clear examples.

This is part of a direct mail sent out in time to cash in on the Christmas spending boom. Unfortunately, you have to read it twice just to understand what it’s trying to tell you – and who reads direct mails twice?

"You may be excused to believe that Christmas has come early - but it is a fact, [company name removed], is giving [product name removed] free of charge to all it's loyal customers. It has never been cheaper and easier to start a small business, from home, office or mobile."

Don’t ask a programmer to write compelling text
The take out from this is simple: don’t ask the person who codes your automail to write your text. While the coder may be excellent in developing automated emails and intuitive response tracking systems, she most likely isn’t a great writer. And the result can be drivel that damages your reputation. It may look like this:

"Having the latest small business news is not only nice but essential in these testing times. [website removed].co.uk are doing it for you, all you have to do go and read it. - Now you are up-to-date."

Or this:

"As 2009 nears, we all are looking for our next New Years promise we can break in the first two weeks of 2009. Here is a way to keep your promise, outsource your bookkeeping to us and keep your books up-to-date and you in control. You make the promise, we keep it - easy."

Direct mails work – if you don’t ruin them
It’s funny really. We all hate direct mails and treat many of them like spam. But they still work, because every now and again a direct mail hits our inbox or doorstep just at the moment we’re thinking of buying.

But for the direct mail to work, it’s got to be well-written. It’s got to speak to you like a normal person. And it has to clearly lay-out the benefits of the product or service on offer. 

---

We can help
There are hundreds of tips on the web on writing direct mails – but if you don’t have the time to plough through them, give Eye for Image a call. We’d be happy to give you some advice. We’d also be happy to write your direct mails for you – and we promise not to include any gibberish.

And if you still aren’t convinced, here’s one final thought:

"As always - happy entrepreneuring - we are here for you 24 hours a day, everyday."