One direct-marketing “expert,” unnamed here in order to protect the guilty, recently advised mail advertisers that letters and reply contents should be “short and a welcoming read.” Poppycock. Direct-mail copy should be long enough to get its job done — with not a word too much or too little. Renowned marketing consultant Robert W. Bly has developed a 10-step way, based on emotion and involvement, to help determine the effective copy length for any project. Emotion — The purc

Florida writer Robert Warren suggests five techniques that will help muscle up the effectiveness of your advertising copy: Shun word clutter If a word does not help produce the results you want, it hurts. Analyze your advertising copy word for word. Mercilessly — because any word that does not strengthen your writing weakens it, Warren says. Strip your copy down to its essential parts Try to reduce your entire message to a single sentence, Warren urges. It clarifies things fo

Direct-response expert Lee Marc Stein pinpoints eight common copy writing mistakes that hurt response: Neatness Writers of business-to-business and financial services mail often forget that people respond to advertising with both their heads and hearts, Stein says. A mailing package or a print ad is not simply a logical sales presentation. A 100% logical creative product lacks reader-engaging warmth and emotion and lacks interesting surprises that grab the reader’s attention.

Mail advertisers have achieved response lifts of 200% and more by using database-generated messages tailored to the history and interests of the recipient. Yet a recent study indicates that 82.9% of them at most use only moderate personalization in their direct mail. Only 17.1% of advertisers use extensive personalization. Like any development that involves changes in methods, however, personalization is facing the inertia of business as usual and the strangeness of a new tec

First, determine your objectives Effective use of personalized copy starts with the goals you are trying to achieve. Know your audience and what matters to it The best personalized copy for promotions hinge on specific knowledge of the targeted individual. Use proven layouts Many studies have shown which typographic and design techniques catch the reader’s attention and guide it to the points you want to make. A good place to start: David Ogilvy’s landmark book, “Confessions

Many years ago, Newsweek magazine was one of the first advertisers to send out a mailing featuring personalized (variable) printing. Its mailing addressed recipients with a variable fill that repeated the addressee’s name six or seven times in different areas of the mailing. Unfortunately, the Newsweek mailer often misspelled the recipient’s last name. Which effectively cancelled out the power of personalization to pull in orders. The lesson to be learned: technology does not