Consider These 9 Things Before You Hire Your Next Direct Mail Copywriter.
- ptb475
- Aug 12, 2023
- 5 min read
Copy is King.
Especially in Direct Mail Marketing.
From the teaser copy on the envelope to the P.S., the words on the page can make, or break, your entire campaign.
These words will come from the mind, pen, and keyboard of a professional direct response copywriter.
With so much counting on these words, you need to make sure you have the very best copywriter onboard to carry this heavy load.
This is no time to go “bargain hunting” to find someone who will only charge a few pennies to write the copy that will generate thousands (maybe hundreds of thousands) of dollars in revenue for you.
So… what are the qualities you should look for in your next copywriter?
Here’s a quick checklist.
1. Does your Direct Mail Copywriter Understand your Customers?
The copywriter must identify and be empathetic with your target audience.
Your customers have challenges, and your products or services are the solutions they need.
Your copywriter must understand those challenges and be able to speak to them directly.
2. Does your Direct Mail Copywriter Understand your Business?
The copywriter must understand what you do, how you do it, and why you do it.
They do not have to be an expert on your business – your customers are not experts on your business, they seek your help with their challenges. So do not expect the copywriter to know every bolt, every flange.
Specific experience with your product or service is helpful, but truly great copywriters are like great actors: they can play comedy as well as drama.
Expect the copywriter to know what you want to achieve. The customer will always ask, “What’s in it for me?” Your copywriter must create the perfect reply.
3. Look at the CTAs of your Copywriter
Carefully read the samples from the copywriter. Read the “call-to-action” in their copy.
Do they give clear instructions on what to do? Do they tell the reader how to complete a form, what is expected to happen, and what their response will get for them?
If your Direct Mail campaign features a mail-in response device, does the CTA clearly direct the reader on how to complete the form, and what to do with it after completion?
Experienced direct mail copywriters understand the extreme importance of the call to action. Although it might be just a few words, the phrasing is critical to your direct mail campaign success.
Make sure they do not just do lip service to the importance of the CTA; make sure they practice what they preach.
4. Does the Copywriter Sell Benefits?
People buy solutions, not products.
They have a need. They face a challenge. They want answers.
Your copywriter must show that their work not only talks ab out what your product is, but what it gives to the reader.
Many experienced Direct Mail copywriters work off the formula that for every feature of a product (color, size, weight, etc.) there must be three benefits they can write about.
You list the features of your product and have the copywriter work with you to explore all the benefits of each of the features. That creates a library of benefits the copywriter can draw from to create your best campaign.
5. Active Voice, Present Tense
Look at the sample copy provided by the Direct Mail copywriter and decide whether it is in active voice and present tense.
For example: “I am hoping that you are reading this letter in the hopes of becoming a better mom.”
That sentence should be: “I hope you read this letter so you can become a better mom.”
See the difference? Hear the difference?
“I am hoping” becomes “I hope.” It is more concise and straight to the point.
6. The Opening Line.
Shakespeare, a pretty fair writer in his day, liked to open every act with a bang.
That may be the blast from a cannon (a literal bang) or an actor standing center stage and shouting, “Hark, I hear the cannon’s roar.”
He did this to get the audience’s attention.
Your Direct Mail copywriter must do the same.
Your reader has many things to do every day. Reading letters is probably not in the Top Ten.
Yes, they will skim the sales letter, but you must grab their attention with a bang!
(Extra hint here: Have you tried using a Johnson Box in your Direct Mail sales letter? They work because they are 100% attention-grabbers.)
7. The Storyteller’s Tale.
There are many ways to tell a story. The pyramid, the inverted pyramid, the monomyth, the “false start”…
A great Direct Mail copywriter knows various ways to tell your story, but also knows what the best way is to tell your story.
Read over some of the samples your next Direct Mail copywriter to see if they just use the same technique repeatedly, or if they can adapt their format to perfectly fit the story that they need to tell.
7. Readability Grade Level.
Have you ever heard of the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level?
Don’t worry… it’s not the most familiar thing in marketing.
But it is very important.
Flesch-Kincaid is a formula that examines copy. It calculates, using sentence length, number of paragraphs, number of syllables, and various other factors to generate a score.
That score, from 0.1 to 25.0, shows how many years of education the reader needs to have in order to read the copy once – and only once – and be able to understand what it means.
For example, the New York Times scores about a 6.0, while the online version of BBC News scores about a 10.0.
So, if you know WHO you write to, you will need to know your Grade Level.
When writing to seniors, you might want to keep your level to about a 5.5, but when writing to computer experts, you might want to reach as high as 11 or 12.
(Yes, I know that score is less education than the reader probably has. But you do not write for the highest level, you write for the highest comprehension level.)
For Direct Mail letters, your copywriter should use short paragraphs with headings, and feature short, punchy bullet points for scan readers.
8. Is there Passion in your Copywriter?
Passion shows in copywriting.
When a copywriter is not passionate about the job at hand and focuses only on the paycheck or the addition to their portfolio, the work suffers.
If their work samples display too much jargon, all they want to do is impress with junk, not impress with ideas.
9. P.S.: Don’t forget the P.S.
The first thing a prospect or customer looks at in a direct mail package is the address area.
Do you have the correct name and address listed?
There is nothing the copywriter can do about this element.
But there is a LOT the copywriter can do about the second most looked at element: the P.S.
A great P.S. will double-down on a previously mentioned super-benefit (such as the great guarantee you offer) or mentions something super-important (such as a time limit on the sale) or reminds the reader of something you forgot (with “Hey, I forgot to mention we’re running short of these items, so you better act fast!”)
Look over those samples. Check out the use of the P.S. and make sure it’s doing its job.
It is easy to find a cheap copywriter.
What’s not so easy is finding a good copywriter, especially for a Direct Mail campaign.
But with this checklist, you have the tools you need to separate the wheat from the chaff.
And one last thing…
Don’t skimp on the fee. You get what you pay for, and a great copywriter earns that greater fee through the revenue their copy generates.
If you’re worried about that fee, see if the writer is open to a royalty deal. Offer a smaller up-front amount, and a royalty, such a percentage of the gross revenue, or, my preferred method, a flat fee for every sale. (For many of my clients, I like a smaller upfront fee, and payment per transaction my copy creates. It’s a great deal for both parties.)
If you would like to know more about Direct Mail copywriting, feel free to reach out to me. I am more than happy to share the wisdom and experience I gathered over my 35+ years as a Direct Mail Copywriter with you.
Peter T. Britton,
Resultant
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