Both examples follow the principles I outline in my "3 Steps to Incredible Response" webinar (and soon to be book). The mailings are personal, distinctive and they look "me to you." These are three strategies I believe everybody reading this article should be using in their marketing campaigns.

One of the examples is very good and the other borders on excellent and both should give you some new marketing ideas for your own marketing campaigns.

Let’s look at the one that is almost perfect in its execution, staring with the envelope it arrived in, which you can also pull some great marketing ideas from.

First off, this envelope is an “odd size.” It is 6.75 inches wide by 3.75 inches tall. Right off the bat, it stands out because of its unique, personal correspondence-sized format.

Combine that with a blue handwritten font and a return address and sender names and this envelope begs to be open.

I had no idea who Chris and Ryan were, but their address is local and this has all the indications of a personal piece of mail, which is great to pull some marketing ideas from because everyone is more likely to open something looking like personal mail.

Could they have done better by using a non-pre-sorted, first-class stamp? Probably. But the presorted first-class stamp is a decent alternative.

The marketing ideas you can pull from this envelope are...

• personal (addressed directly to me)
• distinctive (unique size and stamp)
• and has a “me to you” look (handwritten address and return info in blue)

Whoever put this together did a great job and they continued the smart marketing strategies inside where you can pull even more marketing ideas from…

The first thing that sticks out, and you should mark down with your other marketing ideas, is the personal-looking correspondence format of the letter. This piece has the look and feel of a personal letter being sent directly from Chris and Ryan using their own personal letterhead that is 6 inches wide and 9 inches long.

If you've ever pulled marketing ideas from very old letters, back in the day when people use to write letters (instead of texting, email, etc.), this personal letterhead format was used quite often. It is a very distinctive look that stands out from everything else in your mail and ironically is one I recently started using myself as you will see below in another example you can get great marketing ideas from.

One of the marketing ideas I'm pulling from this example is that I like the personal feel of the “From the desks of…” headline.

Then, using the same blue handwritten font, they write me a letter about my wife’s minivan. They know the exact model and year of the van and they use that data smartly.

• Letter is personal to me – smart.

• They have a August 31 deadline – smart.

• They use a P.S. – smart.

• And I especially like the circle CopyDoodle that calls attention to the call-to-action – very smart.

Overall, an excellent job (and if we still owned the van would inspire me to call).

The one area I could see improvement would be multiple ways to respond (call, email or fax) and I would have stressed the idea of contacting Chris or Ryan directly, instead of going into some generic call center. This call-to-action would have been more congruent with the feel of the piece.

Again, the marketing ideas you can pull from this mailing are:

- personal (uses my name, car model, etc.)
- distinctive (personal letterhead size)
- and has a “me to you” look (blue handwriting, CopyDoodle)

The format of this mailing is very smart and can be very effective, so make sure to save all of the marketing ideas you're pulling from it!

Just yesterday I had a consulting day with a successful info-marketer who was putting together a direct mail campaign for an upcoming event. I suggested this same exact format and marketing ideas to help her break through the clutter and get opened and as I mentioned, I recently started using this format myself and sending out a personal note to new CopyDoodles Access Club members.

Next week, I will share the other notable mailer I received from another local car dealer, which is also great for pulling more marketing ideas from. It’s pretty neat.

I would love to hear your thoughts about this particular marketing example and marketing ideas how you’ve used other similar personalized marketing styles in your marketing. So leave a comment below before next week's post (9/1) and in return, I will email you a PDF that contains the full-sized images of both marketing pieces above so you can print them out and swipe all the marketing ideas you need!

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He was excited that something as simple as adding a few handwritten CopyDoodles could bring new life (and response) to one of his existing direct response marketing campaigns. We discussed his direct response marketing and then he asked me what I thought was a very interesting question…

“Mike, if you could do only one thing in 2011 to create better-performing marketing, what would you do?”

And without even having to think about it, I answered, “Increase the 1:1 personalization of all my marketing efforts.”

Friends, I believe in this day and age of “too much noise” we don’t have to be searching out the latest and greatest shiny object to cure what ails our marketing.

Sure, things like social media and video marketing have their rightful place in our direct response marketing arsenal, but I believe THE MOST IMPORTANT marketing strategy we can all use is to increase the feeling that I am talking directly to you and only to you with information that is relevant to your business or life.

This is the power of personalized marketing and it’s more important than ever to be using these strategies as much as you can.

To give you some ideas on how you can increase the personalization of your marketing, here are 7 easy-to-implement personalized marketing strategies I recommend.

1) Personalize your story – Everybody knows that in order for people to do business with us, there’s a “know, like and trust” factor that comes into play. Depending on what you’re selling the degree varies, but regardless, it’s important for our prospects and customers to have an insider’s glimpse on why we do what we do.

How much of your life you want to broadcast is up to you, but sharing at some level is important. Sharing stories and things that have happened to you (that are relevant to your market) via direct response marketing, email marketing, social media, newsletters or even a Web TV show are important ways to help build the know, like and trust factor.

2) Personalize your copy writing – Today’s technology makes generic, “Dear Reader”-type marketing obsolete. At a minimum you can personalize your copy writing and direct response marketing pieces by simply dropping the recipient’s name in your copy, but there’s so much more you can do, including adding personalization to offers and guarantees.

You can personalize the copy of your offer in a way that makes it feel like I am the only one receiving the offer, by including specific copy based on my previous buying history or knowing something specific about me (e.g. the type of pet I own or the type of car I drive, etc.).

For example, if I was marketing dog food, which do you think will get more attention and more response?

“Dear Dog Owner, we can help keep your dog fit and trim with our natural dog food.”

or

“Dear Mike, we can help you keep your dog Zoe fit and trim with our natural dog food formulated exclusively for German Shepherds ages 2 – 8.”

Obviously the second example is much more relevant to me, since by using this type of direct response marketing technique, they are talking to me directly about my specific pet. This example includes four specific personalized elements that illustrate how you can increase the personalization of your copy. Of course this does put the burden of collecting and using this data on you, but once started, it’s not difficult.

3) Personalize with CopyDoodles – In this day and age where just about everything is computer generated, the use of CopyDoodles has a unique “pattern interrupt” effect on readers.

CopyDoodles create the effect the writer had some final important points to make after the copy was written and wanted to especially make sure the reader saw them. Used in the proper context, there’s nothing like CopyDoodles to convey the “me to you” connection.

Study any of the great copywriters and direct response marketing designers and they will all tell you the proper use of handwriting and doodles in your copy can increase readership and response.

4) Personalize with photos – Did you know readership and response studies have shown that photographs are one of the first things people look at when looking at any direct response marketing piece, advertisement, letter or marketing piece?

Photos are an important way to connect with others, not only to tell your story, but also to create more of a 1:1 connection to support the personalized copy. You can include fun and interesting photos of your workplace, employees, family, vacations, etc. in direct response marketing.  Again the goal is to create a connection with your market.

Going back to the dog food example… consider how much more powerful it would be to include a picture of a German Shepherd in the piece that was sent to me?

Whenever you use photos in your marketing, make sure you include a caption (studies have shown captions are the next thing readers look at after the photo) that has personalization in it.

5) Personalize with comics, cartoons and caricatures – The use of these unique graphics in direct response marketing is underutilized in most business owners marketing efforts and offer a unique opportunity to connect with people for many of the same reasons photographs do.

Comics, cartoons and caricatures can allow the smart marketer to create visual connections that simply cannot done any other way, including the use of humor, which is a powerful human connection.

You can put comics, cartoons and caricatures on your direct mail pieces, in your direct response marketing emails, on your web sites, wherever you want to create an emotional connection and don’t forget to use personalized elements in your captions!

6) Personalize with handwritten notes and thank you notes – Recently I wrote an article on my blog and created a video (www.mikecapuzzi.tv) about the power of handwritten thank you notes. For the sake of this article I am going to expand and include the use of handwritten notes as an important personalized direct response marketing technique.

Today, when everybody complains of receiving too much email, junk mail and irrelevant marketing and advertising messages, NOBODY is complaining of receiving too many handwritten notes or thank you notes. The use of handwritten notes (either real handwriting or simulated handwriting fonts) offers every business owner a unique opportunity to connect with their readers.

7) Personalize with PURLs – A lot of successful direct response marketing uses personalized URLs, which are a relatively new way for marketers to create unique, 1:1 messages and help drive people to personalized and customized web sites that have been created specifically for the individual reader.

An example of an effective PURL would be:

http://Julie-Doe.HasaGiftFromMike.com

This PURL arouses curiosity for Julie and with the proper motivation will get her to visit the PURL (in this case to see what the gift is I am giving her). Once she arrives at her site, I can now personalize the page using all of the strategies I described above.

I’ve used PURLs in my marketing since 2004 and they offer many unique benefits, including a relatively inexpensive way to create a very personalized, 1:1 message with your market.

Personalize and Profit!

If you would like know more about how I use personalized direct response marketing and about a brand new special software system I developed for my business, I invite you to download a free, 28-page report at http://www.MikeCapuzzi.com/personalize.pdf.

One important final note… there’s always a few critics who poo-poo the ideas and strategies I outline above. Their contention is that these are all thinly veiled techniques that reek of “fakeness.”

I want to make it clear that I am not supporting any strategy that is not congruent, meaningful, and real to your business and helping improve the lives and businesses of your market. These personalized marketing strategies must be used in ways that are real and authentic.

In order make the human connection personalized marketing offers you, it must not appear contrived. The goal is not to use personalized marketing for the sake of personalized marketing, but to make your marketing appear as real, natural and 1:1 as humanly possible!

If you would like to discover more ways that your marketing can stand out with the use of CopyDoodles and copy cosmetics, check out our Copy Boosting Profits Secrets Course and our CopyDoodles Best Practices Webinar Series!

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This article originally appeared on the NO B.S. Not So Daily E-Zine which publishes useful direct response marketing tips and business advice.

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My fax back was short and to the point… HELL YEAH!!!

I own the very first edition (1990) of The Ultimate Sales Letter and it was the book that introduced me to Dan Kennedy and his powerful marketing strategies.  To be asked personally by Dan to contribute to the 2011 edition of this book is an honor and shows how important Dan considers the topic of “copy cosmetics.”

As a matter of fact, back in May, I was the guest of Dan at his Business of Copywriting Academy where I discussed the topic of copy cosmetics and the critical relationship between HOW your copy looks and the response it gets.

Over the past few years, I’ve immersed myself in the study of copy cosmetic techniques and strategies.  One of these techniques includes the use of handwritten margin notes and doodles, which triggered the idea for CopyDoodles® first for my own client work and most recently for thousands of business owners around the world.

Copy cosmetics are an often overlooked, but critically important topic for any direct response marketer or copywriter.  Their proper use allows you to create attention-grabbing marketing that is easy (and fun) to read and makes an emotional connection with the reader.  Plus they set you apart from the 97% of marketers who don’t use them.

Plain Vanilla Letter

Letter Using Several Copy Cosmetic Strategies!

I’ve already started working on the chapter outline and I’ve identified 27 unique copy cosmetic strategies everybody should be using when crafting their copy (online or offline – it doesn’t matter).

Just today I was interviewed by restaurant marketing expert Rory Fatt, on how independent restaurant owners can use these techniques (if you would like a copy of this interview along with a cheat sheet of 27 techniques I will be writing about in the next edition of The Ultimate Sales Letter, simply share your copy cosmetic thoughts below and I will make sure we email it to you when it’s ready).

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With this in mind, I am launching a series of free, LIVE CopyDoodles® Success Strategies webinars where I will interview some of the best and most relevant marketers I know, who are creating extraordinary marketing with extraordinary results.

These are not going to be the typical “interview the guru” type webinars you are familiar with. Instead, my goal is to showcase everyday entrepreneurs who are getting big results with their marketing.

Each webinar will be jam-packed with useful content you can take to the bank!

The first webinar is on August 12, 2010 at 8:00 PM EDT and my special guest is Renegade Marketer, Michael McLean.

Click here to reserve your seat at the next CopyDoodles® Success Strategies webinar.

Michael is a former professional hockey coach and now runs a super-successful insurance agency in Canada. He is also the founder of Renegade Insurance Marketing where he helps hundreds of other insurance agency owners create more profitable marketing in their businesses with his Renegade Insurance Marketing program.

In 2009, Michael was awarded the 2009 Glazer-Kennedy Insider's Circle Marketer of the Year Award for his phenomenal marketing strategies and results.

Over the years, Michael has created some of the most attention-grabbing, outside-the-box marketing techniques I've ever seen and because of his impressive results and unique use of CopyDoodles, I've asked Michael to share some of his biggest tips and strategies for you.

Click here to reserve your seat at the next CopyDoodles® Success Strategies webinar.

You’re guaranteed to get some big, BOLD ideas from Michael and discover what's working now! On this webinar, Michael will be sharing:

• How he's used CopyDoodles to create BIG bumps in his direct mailings
• His unique techniques for using CopyDoodles to create personality in his printed newsletters
• How and why he uses CopyDoodles in his emails, web sites and squeeze pages
• H ow he "CopyDoodled" his recent television commercial campaign with a big bump in response!
• His philosophy on how to market with success in 2010 and beyond!

This webinar will be 100% content and one you won’t want to miss. Join Michael and me on Thursday, August 12, 2010.

Click here to reserve your seat at the next CopyDoodles® Success Strategies webinar.

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Back in April of 1998, marketing guru and master copywriter, Dan S. Kennedy wrote in his newsletter… “Cosmetics Matter!”

What Dan was referring to is one of the most often over-looked and misunderstood copywriting and direct marketing strategies, which concerns “the look” of your copywriting and marketing materials. Regardless if you are working on online or offline marketing, “how it looks is CRITICAL for maximum response.”

While you may not consider yourself a “copywriter” if you are putting words to paper or pixels with the intent of ultimately making money… YOU ARE A COPYWRITER and you should understand the importance of copy cosmetic techniques.

One important note.  Copy cosmetics do not replace the importance of traditional copywriting techniques, such as headline development, creating a compelling offer, etc.

Copy cosmetics enhance the foundation of good copywriting by making your copy visually more interesting and easier to read.

Copy cosmetics include techniques and strategies which:

•    Grab attention!
•    Promise an easy read
•    Convert readership into action
•    “Airs out”  your copy
•    Creates the look and feel of a personal, 1:1 message
•    Creates a “dual readership path” for skimmers

These strategies also allow you to differentiate yourself and standout from the majority of plain vanilla marketers and when used correctly create in increase in response.

So here’s some of my best copy cosmetic tips:

Use interesting photos and images whenever possible.  Typically, these are the first thing the eye is attracted to when glancing at a marketing piece.

-Always have a caption with your photo or image.  It’s logical if the image is the first thing looked at that a caption would be the second, therefore make sure you have a good caption with a strong benefit.

-Use sans-serif fonts for body copy online and serif fonts for body copy for printed materials.

-Vary font size throughout your copy (e.g. a headline at 48 points versus body copy at 12 points).

-Use underlining, boldfacing, simulated hi-lighting and fonts to recreate voice inflection in print.

-Use subheads to break up body copy and offer skimmers a quick readership path.

-Use CopyDoodles™ to simulate handwritten margin notes and doodles.

Remember these tips go along with well-written copy.  They do not replace it, but like a fine wine with a gourmet dinner, it will enhance and improve the overall copywriting design effort.

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The big lesson for today is understanding how to create marketing that crosses the goal line.  What I mean is, in many cases marketing will get somebody to a certain point in the process and then not create the final and necessary steps to score (a.k.a. get the prospect to take action).

Using a football metaphor, it’s similar to getting to the five yard line and then not being able to get a touchdown.  All the work to get them to a certain point has been done, but not the necessary final push to score.

In my pile of mail today, I received a direct mail advertisement that exemplifies this short-coming.  Let’s walk through both the letter and the envelope it came in. The blue notes are my notes to you to illustrate the good and bad points

When I received this direct mail advertisement envelope, it looked very personal (except for the indicia) which gave it away as business mail.  The direct mail advertisement was hand-written in real handwriting, taking it to the 5 yard line, but then the company used an indicia versus a live stamp, which prevented the score. Even though this was a mistake the marketer receives a B+ for effort.  Now let’s look at the letter.

This direct mail advertisement letter is a classic example of doing a few good things, but several really dumb things that negate all the good work.  First the good things:

• Personalization increases response and increases conversion.

• Hand-signed signature conveys a real “me to you” letter so it appears to be coming from a real person.

Unfortunately, that’s about it for good techniques.  Now for the bad…

• Logo at top of letter tells me right way this is not personal correspondence (I wonder why they can afford a color logo, but not “real” printing for the envelope?)

• Copy is very weak and is classic, corporate-style copy.  It’s all about them and not my pains and concerns.  When writing copy, always keep your prospect and his pains in mind.  Remember, your reader is always thinking W.I.I.F.M – “what’s in it for me?”

• This direct mail advertisement has no strong call to action.  No urgency.  All he is doing is warning me that he’s going to call.  It would have been much better if he gave me the opportunity to raise my hand and request information from him.

• Telling me to visit their Web site without giving me a reason to visit is worthless and a waste of prime copy real estate.

• Other side of the direct mail advertisement letter was completely blank and could have been used for testimonials, etc.

So there you have it.  A business to business direct mail advertisement letter that had the makings of a pretty decent direct mail package that fails to cross the goal line.

If you’re going to do the hard work of marketing your product or service, make sure you go follow through and create marketing that grabs attention and converts.

Remember, getting all the way to the five yard line, regardless of how you got there, doesn’t count for anything!

Click on the link to download a PDF of this direct mail advertisement envelope and letter example.

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Not familiar with GKIC-Philly?  GKIC-Philly is a group of over 180 business owners, sales and marketing professionals, entrepreneurs, and professional practice owners interested in learning more about the direct marketing strategies and techniques taught by marketing gurus, Dan Kennedy, Bill Glazer and Michael Capuzzi.

GKIC-Philly offers you a unique opportunity to learn about direct marketing that goes against traditional, big, dumb marketing you see around every day.  Our type of marketing is measurable, affordable, and effective and yet we are not right for everybody.

GKIC-Philly is a resource for entrepreneurs who believe in "outside-the-box" thinking and ideas.  We are completely different than business referral groups and nothing like your local Chamber of Commerce. 

We are 100% focused on learning about marketing that works.Learn more at http://gkic-philly.com

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