Six
ways to guarantee direct mail success
by
Ivan Levison
Some years ago, I bought a pair
of charcoal gray Monsanto socks. On the sticky label that holds
the socks together was a little guarantee written in tiny type
below the company name. It informed me that if, at the end of
a year, my socks had worn out, I could return them, along with
the receipt, for a brand new pair.
Obviously, they believed in their
product and their heart was in the right place. But who, I thought,
would be compulsive enough to save their receipt, keep track
of that particular pair of socks, reexamine them after a year,
pack them up, and mail them off?
What really troubled me was the
thought of the poor, queasy mailroom clerk who had to open all
those pungent parcels. Can you imagine sitting there, day after
day, opening packages containing nothing but year-old pairs
of festering socks? Not a pretty picture.
I don't know how many extra pairs
of socks Monsanto was able to sell using this specific guarantee,
but I do know that guarantees are essential to direct mail success.
They help overcome the skepticism and inertia that are our mortal
enemies.
Here are six practical ideas that
can help make your next direct mail package a winner. I guarantee
it!
1. Don't simply call it
a "Guarantee."
That's flat and boring. If you're the copywriter, give your
guarantee a little personality or individuality. Call it an
"Iron-clad, no- questions-asked guarantee." Or a "No-risk
(really!) guarantee." Or a "30-day Unconditional Guarantee."
Anything to brighten it up a little bit.
2. Make the guarantee as
strong as possible.
If you can live with a 30-day guarantee, why not consider going
out to 45 days or 60 days? It definitely is worth testing. If
you have few problems with returns, make the guarantee stronger
and stronger.
3. Be clear. Be honest.
Your guarantee should spell things out in simple terms and should
never scare people away with legalistic clauses or "fine
print." You know those T.V. commercials that local car
dealers run? The ones with the eight sentences of unreadable
type that flash on the screen for a nanosecond at the end? We
want our guarantee to do just the opposite and make an unqualified
promise of satisfaction.
4. Use a border around
the guarantee.
Never, ever bury a guarantee in body copy! That's a great way
to lose one of the most compelling elements of your mailing.
The guarantee should float as a separate element surrounded
by a corny border, or at the least, a one-point ruled line.
You want your guarantee to jump out and get read. Many companies
ignore this rule and miss out. Don't let yours be one of them!
5. Try to offer more than
one guarantee.
Sometimes you can split a guarantee into several guarantees
and thereby add value. For example, I wrote an ad for an Advanced
Micro Devices chip that included a triple guarantee! The first
offered a 30-day moneyback refund. The second offered a lifetime
product performance guarantee. The third was a moneyback software
compatibility guarantee. Now THAT’S an offer that overcomes
sales resistance! In fact, I got a nice letter from Glen Burchers,
the AMD Marketing Manager, who wrote to tell me that "in
terms of reader response, this ad has been the most successful
that AMD has ever run."
6. Include the guarantee
on the reply device.
Don't forget to make sure that your terrific guarantee is repeated
on your Business Reply Card, coupon, brochure, wherever. Again,
many companies fail to make the most of their guarantee, which
is a pity.
