Take a closer look at the latest insurance company mailing you received. These copywriters have long been the masters of making readers jump with warnings that could scare the premiums out of Superman. Don’t we all want to be covered before the next of life’s inevitable disasters strike? And who among us can’t be at least a little bit frightened into action by reminders of the deep, dark medical unknowns in our futures?

I recently received a Critical Home Insurance promotion from National Guardian Life Insurance of Madison, Wisconsin. The headline had what it took to stir me:

Lifelike art of a dejected homeowner sitting on the bare floor among the boxed-up belongings of her recently foreclosed house reinforced the message.

Suddenly I found myself thinking about my own health insurance plans. And what would happen to my home, my family, should I suffer some prolonged, catastrophic illness?

That’s effective, emotionally driven direct mail.

Consider the timing and tone of your emotional appeal.

On the negative side, a package arrived at my home on September 24, 2001 from the group “Feed the Children” headquartered in Oklahoma.

The canary yellow, “overnight delivery,” #10 window package had no return address—this was before the Anthrax terror, it should be mentioned—with the stamp-like copy, “Priority Delivery Requested,” across the back.

Still filled with anxiety and anger over the 9/11 attacks on America, I read the opening lines of the matching “Urgent Report” memo format letter from Larry Jones, president of the organization, and immediately became upset. It was addressed to my wife:

My immediate reaction was that someone was playing off my post-9/11 fears and taking advantage of the ongoing crisis situation in America. I felt uncomfortable, to say the least, angry to say the most.

I have since tried to contact “Feed The Children” to learn how this package performed. There’s been no response yet. If one of the other emotional drivers had been employed—guilt, perhaps—I’m confident this effort would have resulted in a higher response. It was simply too soon to be using the tragedy of September 11th as a lead-in.

An emotional copy platform using a driver like fear can move us to respond NOW or, in anger, walk to the nearest wastebasket.

Here’s a wonderfully gentle use of fear, that great emotional driver.

Are you familiar with the famous control package of The Wall Street Journal, “Two young men?” This mailing, written by Martin Conroy, uses fear like Monet used a brush—softly, but surely—in a package that tells the story of two gents who graduated at the same time from the same school.

The letter goes on to tell us how we can overcome this fear of not reaching our potential, and easily. Simply subscribe to and read The Wall Street Journal.

Why this approach worked...

It gives you something to think about rather than hitting you over the head. It sure worked subscription wonders at The Wall Street Journal and that’s why this classic should be considered must reading for any dm novice in your building. You might want to dig it out as a refresher for the old pros in your office, too.

How could such a simple mailing—it consisted of no more than a two-page letter and a Business Reply envelope—become such a clear-cut winner? It had so much going against it:

» The letter was not personalized. The salutation is “Dear Reader:”
» There was no premium offered.
» The offer was not that strong.

In fact, it was no more than a guarantee of the reader’s satisfaction and not even a 100% money-back promise, but a pledge to send a refund for the unused portion of the subscription.

This mailing broke all the rules and then became a longstanding control package by doing one thing very well …dramatically stirring the emotions of its recipients nationwide.

And your messages can do the same thing.

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