Making Direct Mail More Credible
Direct mail remains an integral part of many integrated marketing campaigns. According to Marketing Sherpa 76% of people trust the mail they receive. But will they trust any direct mail that you send? There are a number of ways to build credibility with your audience; below are five that will help you prove trustworthy with your audience.
Write Clear & Compelling Copy – be direct and specific with your messaging. Authentic copy resonates best with customers and prospects and helps to underscore your credibility. You will also want your information to be relatable and to get quickly to the point. People often skim the mail that they receive, preferring not to read through dense copy, so make sure to highlight the most important information with bullets or graphics.
Design – first impressions are important, so the mailer should be visually appealing, with a modern, high-quality, professional design including easy-to-read fonts and high resolution images, a careful layout, adequate white space, and thoughtful color choices. The lack of these elements, or the use of clip art or low-quality graphics could lead to the mistaken impression that your direct mail piece is junk mail.
Testimonials – include real, honest reviews from past customers. Use names, titles and company names, if possible. Word-of-mouth is a powerful motivator for those seeking truthful and honest opinions of a business. It’s especially valuable to have a number of personal accounts that illuminate different perspectives of working with your business.
Call to Action – make sure that you have clearly stated or illustrated the action you want to motivate readers to take after they review your mailer—don’t make them guess! As with all of your copy, be straightforward and precise. Whether inviting your reader to a website, landing page, or to call your business, you want customers to feel confident taking that next step.
External Validation – in addition to the use of testimonials, if you have statistics or third-party information that you can cite, be sure to do so. It helps to draw a line under how thoughtfully and carefully you take the messaging shared by your business. Use footnotes or other citations for articles, studies, data or other credible sources.
Conclusion
All integrated marketing is about persuading readers or viewers to your point of view—this is effectively done through direct mail following the above methods for reinforcing credibility. People buy or engage with those businesses and people that they trust. Now, more than ever, use your direct marketing efforts to underscore your credibility and trustworthiness.