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Ways to Improve Outer Envelope Language
Format, the cover letter, the reply form, the
premiums and/or freemiums … all key components of a
direct mail package. But the most key component of
all, most likely? The outer envelope. Ethan Boldt
offers five approaches to getting your package opened
and read.
Here are five ways to make the language on that outer
even more effective at achieving its end goal:
getting the prospect to open the package.
1. Focus on the Outside
“Mailers may say differently, but they tend to focus
on what goes inside [the envelope]. But if you don’t
get them past the outer envelope, it doesn’t matter
how great your cover letter is,” asserts Pat
Friesen, copywriter and owner of Pat Friesen & Co.
in Kansas City, Kan.
Friesen is one of many copywriters who consider the
outer envelope message, or lack thereof, the
make-or-break point of a package. She mentions the
first three seconds that a prospect will look at and
feel an envelope, and how fundamental that
experience is to the package’s success—how it looks,
feels, and reads.
“All those things need to work together, even the
postage and the addressing,” comments Friesen, who
says effective outer envelopes are tailored to the
audience and the offer inside, as well as seek to
stand out from the competition in the mailbox.
2. Master the Process
The language used on the outer envelope begins with
the product and the audience, says Friesen, because
you must know the product and the benefits to the
audience you’re talking to.
“I tend to write my outer envelope last because I
usually find something in the brochure or letter
that is going to be the ‘A ha!’ that drives the
message on the outside, if I’m going to put one out
there,” she explains.
For Ruth K. Sheldon, copywriter and president of
Ruth K. Sheldon & Associates in New York, it’s a
similar gathering process until the moment of outer
inspiration strikes. “I dig to find the hook or the
irresistible [unique selling position] that can be
alluded to on the outer and used in the entire
package,” she reveals.
Along the way, she makes sure to factor emotion into
the outer equation, such as appealing to the big
emotions (i.e., greed, fear, envy).
“These powerful hooks have got to fit in with the
objective of the mailing, the positioning of the
product, and the overall objectives you’re trying to
achieve,” she says.
3. Use the Whole Package
Often, you may be well served by using the entire
outer, including its back. Friesen describes a
package for bison meat that was mailed to gourmet
food and beef eaters. When she spoke with her client
about why its current buyers were buying bison, the
answer was health reasons (it’s lower in
cholesterol).
“So I did something I rarely do; I pretty much
covered the envelope. I put a steak on the front
because this audience buys meat through the mail, so
they see that, and it will stop them. Above that, I
said, ‘Bison, better for you than beef’ and the way
the type ran was that ‘for you’ was smaller.
Meanwhile, the back of the outer had a comparison
chart. So we gave them a lot of information on the
outside,” describes Friesen, who reminds that when
you tease on the outside, you have to make sure to
deliver on the inside, or prospects will be
disappointed.
4. Employ Teasers That Target
Of course, teasers that don’t relate to the
audience, or name a specific concern of that
audience, are less effective. “In the alternative
health field, I’m seeing that very specific
headlines are pulling better than a strong, general
promise,” says Carline Cole, copywriter and owner of
Cole Marketing Solutions in Lawrenceville, Ga. She
mentions a package selling a COQ10 product whose
teaser, “The shocking truth about
cholesterol-lowering drugs,” significantly beat “Bye
bye bypass.”
Sometimes it’s simply a matter of pushing the right
button. “I keep trying to boil down my theme into a
sentence … phrase … or just one word. I’m also
thinking of key buttons to push to get them to open
the letter. Usually a bribe of free, valuable gifts
works,” comments Cole.
5. Make It Official
Then there is the anti-teaser outer, which is
gaining in popularity. “Today, packages are more
official-looking. There’s lots of bar coding and
official sounding language. The [outer envelope]
trend seems to be ‘less is more,’” says Sheldon, who
points to packages that look official and spark
curiosity.
Accordingly, Sheldon uses fewer words on the outer
these days. “I try to keep it lean and mean,” she
admits. Copy such as “Dated material enclosed” or
the use of expiration dates, are ways to do just
that.
With the average prospect more discerning and/or
savvy about the mail that gets into her mailbox,
many mailers are moving away from hype-based mail.
“Prospects are more sophisticated than ever and can
smell an ad a mile away. You DON’T want them to
think: ‘This is another AD!’ and get ready for the
toss,” relates Sheldon, who also is seeing more and
more outer envelope backs without copy that
reinforce the non-promotional, official aspect of
the package.
The “official” theme explains why more and more mail
comes from the president of such and such company,
or from the desk of a celebrity. “I think the
official theme connotes that something slightly
undesirable might happen if you don’t open the
envelope: You might miss out on important
information. You might miss a payment and be dunned.
You might miss a deadline,” says Sheldon.
Todd Lerner, copywriter and owner of Todd Lerner
Advertising in Farmington Hills, Mich., is in firm
agreement. “We favor teaserless outer envelopes.
They look more like a communication from a company
with whom the prospect already has a relationship,”
he concludes.
---Source:
Reprinted from Target Marketing Magazine September
12, 2007 (www.targetmarketingmag.com) as reported by
Ethan Boldt, editor.
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