The letter of the law

With marketing, every client wants a profitable return on investment. So when Oxfordshire police embarked on a direct mail campaign to cut crime, they proved that using the letter of the law was a hands down-winner.

According to The Sun newspaper (August 13th 2009):

“The Vale of White Horse district in Oxfordshire has cut crime by 18 per cent in just five months. Cops target the 10 per cent of villains who commit most crimes in the area. They get cards with a cheeky verse reading:

As well as drastically cutting crime, detection has rocketed to 29 per cent, 10 per cent above average for the [Oxfordshire] force.”

These are truly impressive results, I think you’ll agree. And proof that even the hardest of nuts can be cracked with the right hammer (or marketing strategy).

This doesn’t mean any old letter will do. Too often clients make the mistake of thinking, “I can write that” and are then disappointed when results are poor. Writing for the direct response market is not rocket science – but like science it does follow rules. Certain principles have been tried, tested and proven to work. For example:

• Focus on the benefits for your customer – not on your achievements as a company
• Write short punchy lines – aim for around eight words per sentence
• Use language your customer uses – write as if you’re speaking face to face
• Make it personal – use “I” and “you”, not “we” and “they”
• Use fonts that are easy to read on paper – Times New Roman and Courier are good examples

Apply these simple rules to the next letter you write and see how many more customers you say ‘Allo, ‘allo, ‘allo to!