The headline is one of the most important elements of your sales letter. A good headline can cause a reluctant recipient to read the letter, while a bad headline can cause the customer to trash the letter immediately. Coming up with a good headline is one of the most difficult but rewarding aspects of formulating your sales letter. Here are some guidelines to help give your customer a reason to read your letter:
- Make it relevant. This compels the recipient to read the sales letter.
- Keep it concise and memorable. Make it readable at a glance so customers who do not plan to read your sales letter will still read the headline.
- Consider a question. Asking a question forces the reader to participate in the sales letter. But be careful, the wrong question can turn readers off. Do not ask a question which can easily be answered yes or no.
- Present a stunning announcement. Something unexpected and surprising can catch your customer’s attention to read the rest of the letter.
- Promise a specific benefit. Instead of writing that the reader can save money, explain how he can save 45% on his heating bill.
- State an interesting prediction. People are interested in hearing predictions of things to come, especially if they fit with the reader’s expectations.
- Target a specific group. If you are mailing to a known group of people, use it in the headline. For example, “Special Offer to Corvette Owners.”
- Create word pictures. Using the right combination of words will illustrate your topic more vividly.
If you want help writing your next headline, give us a call. The U.S. Mailing House marketing team can review your direct mail piece and offer suggestions on how you might improve your copy while reducing your mailing cost. Best of all, it’s FREE.