How to Make Any Product Fascinating

It’s okay to admit that buyers don’t get as jazzed about cleaning supplies, light bulbs, and toilet plungers as they do video games and stiletto heels. If you have a “boring” product, how do you use your next direct mail, email, or multichannel campaign to get customers excited about what you have to offer? 

 

1. Create the narrative. Don’t let customers create the narrative around your product. Do it for them. Clearly define the product’s value. Does it save them $100 per year? Give busy executives back an hour of their precious time? Tell them why they can’t go another day without it.

 

2. Be a storyteller. Product specs are boring, but stories grab attention. Think about big home improvement stores like Lowe’s. Their ads don’t show lumber and nails. They show decks being built and yards being transformed. In other words, Lowe’s doesn’t sell lumber and mulch. It sells homeowner pride. What do you sell?

 

3. Bring the dazzle. Creative approaches can make anything fun. Even a tablecloth will come to life using specialty techniques like dimensional coatings or 3D techniques like embossing. House-shaped pop-up 3D mailers can turn even the opening of a new branch of an insurance company into a “can’t miss” event. 

 

4. Help them visualize. Images communicate complex concepts quickly. That’s why the soft, cuddly Snuggle bear and green Mucinex blob are so effective. These characters communicate ideas of softness and sticky goop in your lungs with speed and clarity that text alone cannot. 

 

5. Get personal. No matter what you are selling, buyers pay attention when they see themselves. Whether it’s their name, a reference to an issue they relate to, or the use of their sense of humor, once they see themselves in your ad, they’re hooked. Use data to understand your buyers, then get inside their heads and create messaging that draws them in. 

 

When it comes to print and multichannel marketing, there is no excuse to be boring. Use images, and tell a story. There is something genuinely fascinating about your products. Let’s find it!

Please give us a call at 440-946-0606 for more information.

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Design Your Direct Mail for “Wow!”

 What do all great direct mail pieces have in common? They engage people’s curiosity from the moment the mail piece gets into their hands. Here are five tips for capturing readers’ attention as soon as they open the mailbox. 

 

1. Know your corners. On a mail piece, the upper right-hand corner is where our eyes go first. Use this location to place teaser copy or compelling data such as “99% customer satisfaction rate!” It’s a secret that all highly effective catalogers know — and now you know it, too.

 

2. De-clutter. When the layout is cluttered, it’s hard for people to focus on any one thing. Use white space to draw the eye and make information easy to absorb. Instead of heavy blocks of text, use bulleted or numbered lists. 

 

3. Tap psychology. Have you ever heard of techniques such as the Zeigarnik Effect, Von Restorff Effect, or Noble Edge Effect? These techniques use brain science to capture attention and engage your audience. 

 

• The Zeigarnik Effect is when information is left unfinished. Leave people hanging, and they feel compelled to open... 
• The Van Restorff Effect is the use of content that is out of place to capture attention. Old Spice used this to significant effect with its “Smell Like a Man” campaign.
• The Noble Edge Effect taps people’s desire to be associated with positive social or environmental causes. 

 

4. Let customers sell for you. People trust other shoppers more than they do marketers, so use customer testimonials to let other buyers promote your product. Use QR Codes or AR to bring those endorsements to life by taking shoppers directly to mobile video. 

 

5. Create a great CTA. How many direct mail pieces have unfulfilled potential because someone forgot to include a call to action (CTA)? Don’t assume that readers will automatically know what you want them to do. Add urgency or additional value by giving a deadline, offering an extra discount for early response, or providing other motivators to encourage people to respond right away. 

 

Want more ideas for great direct mail design that gets results? Let’s talk.

Please give us a call at 440-946-0606 for more information.

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