Eight Hot Spots for Direct Mail Typos

By Hallie Mummert,
editor in chief, Target Marketing

Where are the eight most likely places in a direct mail campaign for a typo to appear? According to Gayl Curtiss, managing director of The Hacker Group, a direct marketing agency in Bellevue, Wash., marketers should pay close attention to the following elements of their direct mail campaigns:

1. Phone numbers, both call and fax—it’s easy to transpose numbers.
2. The company’s name—anywhere it appears.
3. Signatory’s name—you often don’t have a proofing tool to verify the correct spelling.
4. Terms and conditions—proofers often don’t read them.
5. Address information—wherever it appears.
6. Headlines—they’re big and people blow right through them.
7. Letter set-up—vendors often retype perfect copy from laser mechanicals.
8. Highly technical terms—they often either don’t pass spell check or proofers don’t know they’re spelled incorrectly; for example, thunking (a computing term) often is changed to thinking … which is a typo!

Gayl Curtiss can be reached at gcurtiss@hackergroup.com.