What's Your Direct Mail Story?

The best mail pieces tell a great story! What story are you telling? Is it a good one?

Even if you don’t think so, stories matter and are critical to your response rate. Stories are powerful because they’re a form of communication that draws us in and pulls at our emotions. They create an authentic connection that our brains are hardwired to remember better and respond to.

People buy from companies they trust and like. Are you one of them? You can be when you get your story right. Most of the time the story is overlooked in direct mail messaging and creation. Check your mailbox for nonprofit appeals; they do a great job of telling stories.

So, before your next campaign consider how to craft your story. Start with the following questions:

1. Who: Who are you as a company to your customers and your employees?
2. How: How did your company come about? What problems were you trying to solve?
3. What: What do you do for your customers and employees?
4. Why: Why are you in business?
5. Targets: Who are the prospects and customers you are targeting? List out what they have in common and their differences.
6. Real: Is there a real client or employee who has a good story about your product or service and how it helped them?
7. Goal: What is the goal you seek with the story? To showcase why people should buy, to show how warm and friendly you are, or something else? A well-defined goal will give you the best results. How do you need to write your story to accomplish it?
8. Share: Have you gotten feedback on your story? Once you write the first draft of your story, give it to a select set of people outside your organization to critique it. They will find issues you never thought of and may have ideas to make it better.

Ok, now you are ready to get to the crafting part. Be prepared for this to take some time and to do several drafts before you are done. Revision is a critical part, so do not rush through it.

Your story must have the following components:

• A reason to get excited and interested in the story. A boring story will not work.
• Ask for participation in your story. You want your audience to really get into it. You can even have them respond to you via social media to keep the story going.
• Tell your story in a fun and different way so that it stands out. You can be funny, witty, and a little edgy so that people remember you.
• You need a beginning, middle, and end — as well as a problem and solution — that are well defined. When you leave something out of your story, it does not resonate with people.

Keep in mind that the story does not have to be long. In many cases, you may be using a postcard or mailer that has limited copy space. Your images and layout also help to tell your story, so make sure they don’t just catch attention but also integrate with your story. When you are able to convey an authentic, compelling story that connects you with your prospects and customers, your direct mail is more effective.

When you do not craft your own story, you get stuck with the one people give you based on your messages. Don’t let this happen. Take an active role in crafting your story and make it the best one ever. Keep in mind that you can create multiple stories to appeal to different targeted groups. One story does not fit all. You want your direct mail messaging to connect with people, and in order to do that you need to segment your data to reach the right people with the right stories.