Creating Great Sales Copy

What’s the difference between a good piece of direct mail and a “junk” piece?

Not all direct mail is junk mail. A clear message, with a good offer, sent to those who want to receive it is not junk mail. But there are some howlers out there that’s for sure.

Here is a quick list of things that make for a dreadful sales letter:

• Poor targeting that consigns the piece to the bin – immediately
• No copy on the envelope that encourages me to open it and read more
• Contains copy that only talks features and not benefits
• Copy that doesn’t follow the AIDCA principle (Attention, Interest, Desire, Conviction, Action)
• Doesn’t get to the main point within 3 paragraphs
• Littered with poor grammar and punctuation
• Line lengths that stretch from here to infinity
• No subheads to make me want to read on and on and on and….
• Printed in an unreadable typeface that’s so small I need a magnifying glass
• Type printed over a picture (with a drop shadow) because it looks “trendy”
• Doesn’t repeat the offer several times (because the writer assumes I’m an elephant and never forgets what I’ve just read)
• Doesn’t put explanatory captions under any pictures or illustrations (because the marketer knows what they are and assumes the reader is as knowledgeable as he is)

Stick to these and you won’t go far wrong