Last thoughts on your mail campaign

As you know I’ve been talking about writing mail shots and campaigns recently. But before you hit send, or slip your beautifully written letter into its envelope, here’s a few remaining points to think about:

• Have you got any information (or can you get some) about the best time to send for your industry and sector? Think about the time and the day, and where you are in the year. Think about your own habits. In late July, do you have a tendency to put stuff off until September because of the holidays? And then does that “stuff” have a tendency to get forgotten?
• When do you get the best response from your readers and when did you last check your stats? Looking carefully at the details like what days you got your best open rates on and which mailshots got the most click throughs provides valuable insights and helps you to start building a picture.
• And what if you’re sending a printed campaign? Think carefully about your envelope size, colour and shape. What sort of mail do you open and what do you automatically bin? I open hand written stuff with no sender details…curiosity just gets the better of me but if I know who has sent it, I often just bin it. That’s just me though and you need to work out what you or your people do.
• Can you write something on the envelope which might tempt people to read, or include something within, something a little bit bulky?
• Perhaps most importantly, have you worked out how and when you will follow up? One mail shot is rarely if ever enough. On the other hand, you do not want to bombard your reader with constant mail. Unfortunately, there isn’t a one size fits all answer to this and you need to weigh up all sorts of factors such as your own resources, your reader’s tolerance, the nature of your communication and your industry. We’ve all been on the receiving end of a campaign so be a bit conscious as you plan yours of what’s acceptable and what isn’t.

Now that piece of writing you were drafting

The one we spoke about last week. How’s it going? Is it written? If it is, great, now it’s time to edit. Allow plenty of time.

Read it out loud to see if it flows well and makes sense. Do you need to reorganise it into a more logical order?

Check for jargon and long sentences. Have you used overcomplicated words which you could simplify? Will it be easy to understand as a reader if you know nothing at all about the subject? Have you used clichés or too many adverbs and adjectives?

Have you used sub headings and does it sound natural? Check, double check and re-check for typos.

Leave it 2 days and then re-check it again.  You are now ready to send or publish!

See you next week, when I’ll be back in blightie.

Lucy