Live From DM Days 2009: Tips From a Direct Mail Master

Say one thing for David Avrick: His ideas on direct mail are backed up by 40 years of tough experience.

Take his belief that “free should be free.” He determined this after running a free-with-purchase offer.

“The FTC came in and said free means unconditional,” he said during a session at DM Days 2009.

Avrick fought it. He collected supermarket products like a free toothbrush taped to the toothpaste that the consumer had to buy, and he won the argument. But he now seems to agree with the FTC.

Then there’s his suggestion that mailings contain only one offer. He recently tested this, placing two inserts in package inserts. Response went up, but “we paid twice as much for printing and one cannibalized the other.”

Here are some other classic tips from the veteran:

*State the benefit. Mailers are “constantly hiding the benefit,” Avrick said. “It’s like a joke, with the punch line at the end. You have seconds to grab their attention.”

*The benefit has to be real. “Ninety percent of all magazine offers say, ‘Save 67% off the cover price,’ or ‘Save $20 off the cover price,” Avrick said. “I always wondered: Is that the reason I’m subscribing to this magazine—to save $6? If there’s no benefit, why don’t you just shut it down?”

He continued: “Start with the strongest benefit, then keep them coming until you get the reader to the response device.”

*Back up what you say. “Who says I can lose 30 pounds in 30 days?” Avrick asked. “Is it a person saying that? A lab test saying that? A claim without support is somewhat like not a claim at all.

*Have a Unique Selling Proposition, or USP. “That’s not a slogan, it’s a single succinct state that differentiates you from your competition,” he said.

*Always call for action. “The catalogs you get will have 800 numbers on the bottom of every page,” he says. “But that isn’t the same as saying, ‘Pick up the phone call today. It’s not the same as saying call now so the color of your choice is in stock.” We need to encourage action. And we can’t be subtle.”

*Avoid self mailers—they never work. The best way to sell is to have a conversation either in person or by phone. But a letter will suffice—as long as it answers questions and deals with objections.

*Never open a letter with a question. “You don’t know the answer you’re going to get,” Avrick said. “’You want $10,000” No, I want a million dollars.’” Worse, “Readers leave the page because they’re thinking about the answer,” he continued. “I don’t let them think about anything—I grab them and drag them along from the initial headline to the order form.”

*There’s no such thing as long copy—only boring copy. “If I want to lose weight, you can’t tell me enough of how your product is going to do that for me,” Avrick said.

*Premiums work as long as they don’t come back to bite you like travel certificates often do.

*Personalization always work. “I love seeing my name in print,” Avrick said. “It’s my name.”

*Don’t be cute or funny or use double entendres. “No two people will agree as to what’s funny,” Avrick said. “I love Don Rickles—I think he’s hysterical. Most people I know think he’s a pig.”

*People love fat envelopes.

*Address consumers as “you.”

He concluded: “The DMA has 100 books on writing copy. I don’t recommend that you purchase them. Read books on salesmanship.”

Maybe Mr. Avrick should write a book.

(Ray Schultz is the former editorial director of the Chief Marketer Network.)