Internet Direct Mail Is Different: 14 Things To Remember
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Internet Direct Mail (IDM) and Traditional Direct Mail (TDM) both have the same goals in mind. They are to generate leads or orders.
However, marketers need to respect that online media and print media present different hurdles in achieving this goal. Some of these hurdles will require that copy be written differently for each media. And some not.
Here is a list of 14 things you should remember when writing copy for Internet Direct Mail. And how each one relates to Traditional Direct Mail.
1. FROM and SUBJECT are very important. During the anthrax scare in America, these two items became very important in TDM because any given envelope could contain a deadly poison. And while this fear has passed for TDM, it is still very present in IDM. That's because any given e-mail could contain a computer virus. Prospects are more apt to simply delete a message they are unsure of nowadays than risk opening it and ruining their computer.
Here are a couple of tips to solve this problem:
FROM line should display someone the readers will trust
for house lists, the prospect has presumably bought from the company before and would trust them. So include some company identifier: "FROM: Macromedia FLASH Team"
SUBJECT line should be treated like envelope teaser copy. You have to give the prospect some reason to open the e-mail to see what is inside. "SUBJECT: Try The New Update For Your Macromedia Product!"
2. Your first paragraph or two should contain a mini-version of your whole e-mail. So instead of carefully spreading out your 4 P's (Promise, Picture, Proof, Push) or AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action), you should try to get all these elements in early. Online users have little patience in general and they need to know your whole offer fast.
3. For readers willing to spend the time to read every word of your e-mail (God bless them), you can expand on your opening later. Just remember that less people will read right to the end than will scan your first couple of paragraphs. So include all your best stuff up front.
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