Direct Response Advertising

Summary - Direct response advertising is an instant response feedback, in which the customer response to the product or service could be measured. It can be broadly sub-divided into three categories: Direct mail promotions, website, and emails.

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Also, popular as “accountable advertising”, direct response advertising is no way similar to TV adverts or commercials. TV adverts or commercials promote a product or service with an aim to entertain people. By no way a TV advert can judge the people’s response on the product. This is where direct response advertising gains an upper hand. Direct response is any kind of advertising which gives a measurable response. It could be anything from a feedback coupon, a phone call, an opt-in mail, or a click on an e-mail link.

Direct response advertising gives an instant feedback advertising medium and not just a situation where you can just imagine that your product is being liked by the customers or not.

Direct response advertising can be broadly divided into three categories:

• Direct mail promotions

• Website

• Emails

Let us begin by discussing direct mail promotions. A direct mail promotion has following components. If any one of these components is missing, the essence of direct mail promotion is lost.

• An outer cover- It comes with a teaser or text so tempting that the customer is bound to open it and read inside.

• Sales letter- An effective sales letter with all necessary ingredients to convince the customer that your product or service is best for him or her.

• Buck slip- An incentive in shape of free gift to the customer for purchasing the product or service.

• Order form- For customer to fill in the details of order placed

Ready postal envelop- Which the customer can post directly without the hassle of getting it stamped.

Now let us discuss the important ingredients of an effective sales letter:

• Headline - A punch line that in one sentence conveys the essence of the sales letter

• Greeting - Addressing the prospect client

• Details – Details on what your product promise to provide customer.

• Picture - A graphical presentation of how your product or service will help to improve customer’s life.

• Proof of credibility - Facts and figures to support your promises about the product. Here you can use the name of satisfied customers as references or provide their testimonies.

• Unique Selling Point - Prove that your product is better than the rest.

• Closure statement - Summarize the benefits of using your product.

• Guarantee - Guarantee customer’s satisfaction and that the product is absolutely safe and effective

• Call to action- What the customer must do to buy your product or service.

• Prepare a killing sales letter using above discussed ingredients and get ready to go miles with your business.

Now lets discuss the second category of direct response advertising that is website.

A website is a platform that you can use to feature and list your product(s) and services. How effective can be a website as a direct response advertising medium depends entirely on how the web site is designed.

To attract customers to your website, it should be designed keeping in mind following points.

• Short, clear information- Do not provide unnecessary information or jargon. Customers are not there to read stories but to find out the benefits of the product or service. So avoid long texts, blocks of information and jargon.

• Make the content user centric- Emphasize on “you” and not “me”. Focus on what reader wants and not what you are.

• Make it easily accessible - Do not create unneeded links and descriptive pages. Make a clear and neat structure for your website. Make sure pages are well-organized with no spelling or punctuation errors. Present yourselves as pure professionals.

• Help - do not sell- Try to mould content to give it an informative tone as to how it can help you improving your lives. Do not provide sales pressure but provides solution to the customers problem. If the customer is convinced, he or she will automatically buy the product or service.

• Support by testimonies- Do not just create hype. Provide evidences and testimonies to support the effectiveness of your product.

Now last but not the least category of direct response advertising is emails.

Let’s see how you can use emails as an effective marketing weapon.

 Stick to these important basics to be rest assured that your mails would be opened, read well and carefully responded.

• Clear From Line - State clearly who you are. Provide your personal name wherever possible

• Subject line - An effective email should have a subject line clearly stating the purpose of your e-mail.

• Starting content- Arouse reader’s curiosity. If he or she gets curious in the beginning of the e-mail, the customer would surely read it till the end.

• Short - Provide short and meaningful sentences. Keep short paragraphs. Customers would not be interested in reading long stories.

• Properly formatted - Make it presentable with proper use of heading, subheading and bulleted lists.

Use these three mediums of direct response advertising and see your business grow by leaps and bounds. That’s a promise.