How To Write An Effective Offer

We are often told of the importance of a "headline" when creating a direct mail piece. The headline is what draws the reader in and encourages them to keep reading, so yes, it is extremely important to any marketing letter. However, there are many other important parts of a good marketing letter. One that you don't hear discussed as often, but it's critical, is the "offer."

A good offer can make all of the difference in the world in the overall results of your direct mail piece, or in any ad for that matter. There are specific items that should be included in an offer to increase its effectiveness. Try and include all of the following items in your offer for any of your marketing letters.

For instance, NEW is a power word and is an attention grabber when used in your offer. It could be a new product or a new service. Or, possibly just repackage something to make it new in comparison to how it's been presented in the past.

The price of an item or service is almost always important to the buyer. Everyone likes to think they are getting a good deal. If you can present the price as a special discount, or a sale price for a limited time it adds power to the offer.

You may be able to offer a bonus or a premium for those individuals that purchase your product or service. It creates value and could be the motivator that tips the offer in your favor.

Another highly effective tool for increasing the results of your offer is to include a gift for responding. Although similar to a bonus it can be something totally unrelated to your product or service. For instance, a clock, or a brief-case could be appealing. There are numerous sources of gifts that appear to have much greater value than what you actually pay for them.

Always include a time limit on the offer to create a sense of urgency and to stimulate a prompt response. If your offer lacks this critical component you will be reducing the response to what could otherwise be an excellent marketing piece.

Although you occasionally see an offer with some of the above mentioned items, you don't as often see an offer with all of them. However, why not make a check list and use all of them. You go to a lot of time and expense to send your customers and prospects an offer, why not make it as effective as possible. The best offer will include all five of these techniques.