Three Copy Tips That Can Boost Leads

By Hallie Mummert, editor in chief, Target Marketing

As a greater variety of business sectors incorporate direct marketing into their business activities, more two-step and even three-step campaigns are being conducted. Even though the name of the game in lead generation is to sell the response as opposed to the product or service, companies must ensure they don’t resort to hyperbole in place of good salesmanship that connects the challenge to the solution to the product or service.

Greenbrae, Calif.-based copywriter and direct marketing consultant Ivan Levison suggests marketers try the following ideas to drive more leads:

• Make full use of the letter’s subhead—Headlines tend to be succinct and dramatic to gain attention. Use the subhead to flesh out the offer a little more and keep prospects reading, Levison advises.
• Make the offer front and center—If you wait until the end of your letter to explain the offer, he points out, you could lose a great deal of prospects who are too rushed to weed through your prose to find the bottom line. Get the offer on the table early on in your copy.
• Use photos for credibility—If your offer is tangible, such as a whitepaper, educational DVD or samples kit, then include a photo of it on the letter, outer envelope, order card or anywhere else in the package that pushes the item. Photos can lend substance to copy, helping to assure prospects that the offer is for real.

Levison offered these tips in the March 2007 installment of his online column for Inside Direct Mail, a sister publication of Target Marketing.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Article provided by ©North American Publishing Company. All Rights reserved. This article originally appeared in TM Tipline, Target Marketing Magazine’s weekly e-mail newsletter offering practical tips and solutions for profitable direct marketing. To learn more, visit www.targetmarketing.com.