A direct mail campaign marketing letter can be a very powerful way to market your business or opportunity. It can also be a huge waste of time and money (postage and supplies) if it is not done correctly. Here are a few tips to keep in mind for writing an effective marketing letter:

Personalize when possible.

If you are sending out a letter, then you probably obtained a list from somewhere or perhaps you already have a large database of past customers or clients. In this case, take the extra effort to personalize each letter rather then sending out a blanket form letter. I would suggest putting your list into a program like Act! or Outlook or even just Excel. This will enable you to do a mail merge and print personalized letters fairly easily. If you don't know how to do this, then you should take the time to learn. It is definitely worth the effort.

Short and to the point.

Very few people will take the time to read a letter with a ton of words on it. Keep it short and use bullet points when possible. Long letters will overwhelm the reader and are ineffective. This goes for many types of advertising. See http://www.onlineprofitstrategy.com

Identify a need

You should have some idea of who your audience is. If you don't, then you may be wasting your efforts. If you know your audience, then you must clearly define a need that they have an propose a solution (that you can provide) for their need. But here's a big hint... the letter does not give them the solution, it only tells them that you have it. They need to contact you in order to get it. One good strategy here is to ask specific questions to which you already know the answer. For example, if you are a mortgage broker sending letter to people with adjustable rate mortgages, your letter may ask the question "Did you know that your house payment could increase drastically when your interest rate adjusts?" Of course you know the answer is yes, and so does your prospect! This type of question will get them to recognize the need to perhaps refinance with you because the answer "stings" a bit!

Make it easy for them to get automated information

A direct marketing campaign marketing letter could result in dozens of people wanting more information all at the same time. You can increase your odds of getting a response by providing an automated way for people to get more information. This could be a toll-free number with a recorded message that captures their number when they call or it could be a website landing page where they enter their name and email address to learn more. Either of these methods and improve results- especially if people know they can get more information without having to talk to a salesperson.

So here's the bottom line:

A direct marketing campaign letter can lead to a big boost in your business if it is written correctly. Because it is not a free method of marketing, you need to put careful thought into your words and into your demographic. Find the right demographic and the right letter and you can turn this simple idea into thousands of dollars!

As always, I wish you the best of success!