Make an Offer They Can’t Refuse

The offer is king. Never forget that the offer – the very thing we expect the prospect to say yes to – must be clear, cogent, viable, and appealing. This is true whether they are being asked to become a customer and/or refer business to you at the moment they review your mail piece or see your space ad. This article will guide you through the WHO, WHAT, WHY and HOW TO for developing a results-driven offer.

By Grant A. Johnson, Johnson Direct

DMP/WO (Direct Mail Piece Seeking Winning Offer)

Most marketers spend too little time on offers. Other than mailing lists, they are the most critical component to a successful direct mail campaign and the key to success in other media as well.

Instead, most marketers spend a disproportionate time on creative and formats. While design is important, it is not nearly as key to your success.

One of the best ways to develop offers is to know what you want to accomplish beforehand and brainstorm possible offer options around your objectives.

For instance, are you trying to drive leads or sales? What offers have worked or have stopped working? What offers are your competitors using? What is the offer you could never make – that would work?

If you have to choose between testing formats and offers, I’d recommend testing offers, however, most people do the opposite.

Keep it Simple

A detailed, complex offer can depress response. The reason isn’t because the prospect has read and rejected the offer, it is because the mail piece or space ad never passed the screening which occurs in split seconds. In fact, direct mail response is done more on impulse than on careful contemplation. We must imagine the client holding the mail piece over the trash bin …

• Stage One: The prospect’s first thought is simply, “should I read or open this?” In seconds, their mind is evaluating whether or not this mailing has any relevance to them, or any promise of meeting their needs and making their job easier.
• Stage Two: If the decision to open is made, it is a matter of seconds before they make the next critical decision, “should I read this any further?”
• Stage Three: If enticed to read further, the prospect then makes the ultimate decision: “Should I say yes?” This decision may lead to more time reading and evaluating the mail piece. However, it often leads to it being set aside.
• Stage Four: Timing, as acknowledged in the project brief, is crucial to the response in this program. Thus, on-going communication that stays fresh and is inviting to the key target group(s) is critical.

A mail piece must effectively, and immediately, convey the essence of its core offer, and keeping it simple and focused is the key. Other than lists, the offer is the most important piece to test.

“What’s in it for me?”…

The fact is, no prospect will “say yes” to any offer that doesn’t meet a basic need of their own. Whether these needs include protecting and providing for their clients, making their lives easier, making them money, or getting a really great deal, offers must be positioned to answer the basic question, “what’s in it for me”. Therefore, direct marketers must avoid the temptation to tell “all about us”, a tendency that can lead to complicated, ineffective campaigns.

Creating Your Offer Strategy

When possible, your mailings should incorporate a test of offers and offer positioning. For example, one version of the mailing would build on known winning approaches used in the past. A test offer would then be pitted against that approach, with a goal of increasing response.

Again, it is as necessary to put the time and effort into creating your viable offers as you do in building a qualified list. Testing several offers that are meaningful and relevant to your target audience will help you determine the winning offer.

Remember, your offer cannot fully succeed if you don’t create a fool-proof way for your target audience to respond to it. In fact, you may need to consider providing more than one way to respond. For example, provide a toll-free number in addition to a URL that brings up an online form within your Website. Better yet, to optimally track each and every response, provide a dedicated 800 number and microsite URL. Each and every response will then be recorded so that you can quickly fulfill and track each lead.

Learn how these strategies have worked for LDV, Inc.'s 2004 Ad Campaign.

100% Effort is Better than 75% Effort

While it is important to leverage all media into one cohesive program--and leverage the images and awareness they generate--it is just as critical to remember the basic realities of attempting to get the skeptical, busy, overwhelmed, disinterested business prospects to stop, read what you have to say, and consider saying “yes”.

Keep in mind that 40% of your success is predicated by the lists used, 25% on the offers made, 20% on the creative and 15% on other factors, including timing and relevance, among others.

A “Keep Handy” List of Potential Offers*

*From William A. Cohen’s book, Building a Mail Order Business (Wiley, 1996).

The Offer is MANDATORY

According to Ray Jutkins, direct marketer extrordinaire, "An offer is mandatory in direct response marketing. Not optional - mandatory."

Jutkins explains, " ... because your audience is not waiting for you to arrive. whatever your product/service, those that can buy what you sell are already happy with someone else. Without what you bring to their table. At least they think they're happy. Your first job is get them to consider you.

An offer is that ... a consideration. Nothing more. It S T O P S your marketplace long enough for you to close in.

An offer can be just about anything. Worked and presented in scores of different ways. For many reasons. i.e., there are almost no rules about an offer ... except you must have one. Still, there are several important ideas as you consider, create and present your offer."

We're happy to share with you Jutkins' 13 Thoughtful Questions About Your Marketing Offer (the most important things to know about direct marketing offers).

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