Your Direct Mail Offer Drives Your Response

by Brandon Cornett

Quick. What's the value of the offer on your latest direct mail piece?

Struggling to answer? If so, you need to examine your offer. To be effective, your direct mail marketing program needs to offer something of value to the reader.

Direct mail is an exchange. You give the reader something, and they give you something (their attention, their contact information, their direct response...). But the key to this exchange is that the prospect knows the value of what he or she is getting. They need to know why it's worth their time to pay attention or respond.

So tell them the value of your offer ... in clear, specific terms.

• If you're offering a free introduction of some kind, put a price tag on it. "Sign up today and get one month of our service for free. That's a $24.99 value..."


• If you're offering a free report or white paper, express the value of it (either in dollar amounts or some other metric). "It took us six weeks to research, gather and verify this valuable information. But you can have it right now, for free! Just visit www..."

There are plenty of ways to show the value of an offer. And the more value you convey, the greater the response you'll enjoy!

Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com