1. How do you advertise something very complex to big businesses?. What are the differences between selling to businesses rather than consumers? And how do you completely change minds - take a belief people hold - and explain why they are wrong? You need research, surprise - and very carefully organised copy with the right art direction.
2. How do you construct a letter to big businesses?. Do you vary the opening? Should you have a heading? If so, why? What typeface should you choose? What about layout? Should the copy be the same as you would use in an ad? If not, how much should you adapt it? When should you ask for a response?
3. How and why you should vary letters to different people in businesses. Why a very small change can be very important. How to lay out your headings - including a lesson I learned 41 years ago. And a beautifully designed piece of creative work aimed at the PA's of our prospects. Also some rather sad news about what happened to this work
4. The best job-seeking letter I ever received - from someone almost totally without experience. Why a very small change can be very important. How to lay out your headings - including a lesson I learned 41 years ago. And a beautifully designed piece of creative work aimed at the PA's of our prospects. Also some rather sad news about what happened to this work
5. How one letter turned utter disaster into a great triumph. The writer was up against it. He (and his organisation) looked like being humiliated. He had hardly any copywriting experience - he's just read some books. He went ahead and write a letter that succeeded against all odds. This will be particularly helpful if you run events.
Drayton,
Thank you for this series of videos. I was getting ready to ask you about B2B marketing but I still have a few questions, some about this specific promotion.
I’m pleased to see an expert advising writing to a number of different people as part of a campaign because it’s something I’ve intuitively done several times. I don’t think you explain why but I did it partly because I thought either position could read and respond to my letter and, of they weren’t ready to pick up the phone and call or prepared to email on their own initiative, one might raise it with the other.
Anyway, my questions regarding the specifics of these letters:
1) I find the font to be too small to read easily, and as the letters are written to senior people, they could be as old and vain as me. Would this font have been chosen deliberately to keep the letter at the 2 1/2 pages level rather than crossover to 4 pages (i.e. is there a subtle barrier in length) or because this didn’t go out, would it have been changed to something easier to read?
2) The letter is to be signed by George Leckie but it doesn’t give his position as CEO (but it does in the letter to the PA). Is this deliberate for some reason to create ambiguity because my instinct would have been to include his position to emphasise the seriousness of the message.
Question derived from this letter but of more general application.
3) The heading is a question i.e. Could I interest you in “a distinct competitive advantage in the 21st century?”
I’ve been warned against using questions that people can say yes or no to in particular, as it can lead to the message being rejected immediately and also warned against the use of questions as headlines as an inexperienced copywriter. I’d be interested in your thoughts about when to use questions and when to use statements in the heading.
I also notice the heading is in normal formatting, whereas many of the headlines I see have the first letter of each word capitalised. Are there times when one is more suitable than the other?
4) The amendment to the different letters was only in the opening. Ideally would you look to change more than this to reflect that the CEO and board directors are concerned with profitability and competitive advantage but, lower down the organisation, the person instrumental in the making the first contact is likely to have specific concerns.
General questions of using direct mail in B2B marketing
5) You’ve argued that you need to keep following up warm leads with repeat communications but should you have a sequence of letters with a cold list using similar or different appeals? What time gap is appropriate?
6) How do you feel about using lumpy mail with a relevant little trinket as an attention grabber in writing direct mail letters for B2B marketing? I’ve seen this recommended by American copywriters.
Sorry for so many questions but they are all linked to this month’s topic. It’s also related to a project I’m working on at the moment.
Thanks again for all this fascinating information.
Best regards
Paul Simister