How to write an effective direct mail letter

A little less than a century ago, Letter writing was an active and prominent means of communication. In fact, it was the norm.
Of course, it was quite difficult to leave an outstanding impression through letter-writing, since everyone was doing it. At the time, writing letters by hand was not much of a big deal as much as typing them with computers were. People would count themselves special to have letters that were typed on the computer and not handwritten or typewritten.

Fast forward to the present day, tweets, posts, and mails are the current trends. Typing and sending letters has become quite easy, so much so that the act of writing notes by hand is a culture that is fast becoming extinct.

Amid a truckload of tasks, freebies online, guerilla ads, E-fliers, and E-mails, no one really sees the need to sit down and handwrite letters or even read them, right? Little do you know, that the ‘insignificant’ archaic culture of handwritten notes can drive more business for you, and get your message the attention it deserves.

Handwritten letters will do you much good, especially while trying to communicate a thank-you message. First, the rarity of handwritten thank-you notes will help your letter stand out from the rest, and accentuate the sincerity of your gratitude. It doesn’t end there; Once you see a handwritten letter, what comes to mind is the deliberateness of the intent, and all of these are values your thank-you letter has to communicate to its recipient.

In a world where everyone is used to writing through E-mails, with the keyboard suggesting what your next word will be, it is difficult for recipients of your letters to feel your heart through the notes. This is where handwritten thank-you notes differ from typed letters.

Amid the hustle and bustle of the day, your direct mail pack has to convince your recipient as to why he should spend 10 minutes of his priceless time, going through your direct mail pack. Therefore, your conversation ought to begin on your envelope. Your letter must also take a cue from the message on the envelope and expound it in such a way that it holds the attention of the recipient till the final sign off; this would mean that you have to use powerful and persuasive words that will appeal to your recipients’ sentiments, such that your recipient can’t hold his smile, shock or affirmation back while reading your letter.

It is easy to say all of these and state the dos and don’ts, but the real task begins when you are left alone with a pen and a blank sheet of paper staring at you. So what do you do?

KEEP IT SIMPLE: You’re aiming for the heart of your recipient, so your first task is to communicate. Your recipient has to understand the exact message you are trying to pass across. The best way to do this is to keep your expressions simple. In fact, keep them at an eighth-grade level.

If you are not trying to advertise your vast use of vocabulary (and even if you are), there is no need to use six syllabled words or complex-compound sentences. If your recipient would see your heart and its contents, only your words can give him such ability.

PERSONALIZE YOUR LETTER: While sending a Thank-you note, let your use of pronouns suggests that you are not addressing the letter to “whom it may concern,” but particularly to your recipient. Use the words “I” and “YOU” abundantly, this makes the conversational effect in your letter come alive. These pronouns will be the difference between just another article that your recipient reads for the day, and a conversation that leaves you etched in his heart

BE CONCISE: Though it is advisable to keep your letter one-paged, the length of a note should be determined by the enormity of its message. However, you have to skip needless information and go straight to the point; this gives your recipient the impression that you’re sincere and just about gratitude.

Besides, the longer the content, the harder it gets to keep people’s attention. No one enjoys reading long content; therefore, keep it coordinated and concise.

In your thank-you note, focus more on what the recipient has done, and how you benefited from it. When your recipient sees the impact of his actions and your heart of gratitude, he will be inclined to do even better.

USE A GOOD FORMAT: Make sure you use legible writing that is neither too big nor too small. Keep your words and lines well spaced. Also, be generous with paragraphs. If possible, use bullet points, lists, tables, and charts too; this makes your letter easy to read, and its message; easy to process.

GIVE EXTRA INFORMATION: Apart from the major highlights of your letter, you can offer useful stuff. For your handwritten thank-you notes, you can also add the testimonies of co-beneficiaries or secondary beneficiaries. All of these helps to build a credible impression of you on the mind of the reader.

GIVE A CUE: In case the goal of your letter is persuasion, you should also incite a response from him. You can do this by dropping a business card or number for purchase or consultation. You should also add a deadline to speed up such responses.

LEVERAGE ON THE POSTSCRIPT: More often than not, recipients read the postscripts first to have an idea of the letter’s content, and to decide whether or not it is worth the read. Therefore, leverage on your postscript by using it as a compelling summary of your proposition.

Being conscious of applying all these rules can be cumbersome and frustrating, especially if the letter does not eventually come out as expected. Thus, save yourself the stress today and employ the expertise of a handwritten letter service like HandWrittenMail.
At HandWrittenMail, we offer the best-handwritten letters at affordable prices. Simply send the messages, ranging from “thank you” notes to product pitches, We got you covered.

Do well to reach out to us through E-mail, or phone numbers, and get the best-handwritten services today.