No call to action? Not for sale

You may have the slickest piece of marketing in the history of advertising. Clients, colleagues, and competitors alike “ooh” and “aah” over your brochure, catalog, or sales letter. But does this mean that you will receive as many orders as you want?

Not necessarily.

Because you may be forgetting something that is at the heart of direct mail marketing: the call to action. This is where you tell your readers what you want them to do.

So what do you want them to do? Make an order? Call for more information? Make an appointment with a sales representative? If you’re not sure, take some time to find out, and then let your readers know.

The easier you make it for your prospects and customers, the better response you’ll get. Include a toll-free number (24 hours a day, if possible), a fax number, and a mailing address. If your piece is postal mail, please include a BRE (Business Reply Envelope).

How do you get them to act? You can motivate your prospects to respond sooner rather than later by offering:

• a discount price
• a free update
• the last chance to buy before a scheduled price increase
• an additional gift with a “while supplies last” warning
• accessories included at no extra charge
• additional services at no extra charge
• membership in a continuity program

Whichever of these incentives you choose, specify the date the offer expires. And don’t make it too far into the future (preferably within a month) or people will forget.

Do you want to know a secret? The call to action is one of direct mail’s powerful advantages over traditional advertising, which focuses on entertaining and impressing people rather than generating sales. If you don’t have a call to action, you have no way of knowing if someone saw your ad or understood what you were selling.

So make sure you know what you want your prospects and customers to do, make it easy for them, and communicate it clearly. And watch your sales increase!