Create Curiosity

Think for a moment of how the mail looks when it arrives at your home or office. It will be oriented with the addresses all facing you and sorted from smallest to largest. Keep this in mind when you are designing your direct mail piece and improve the chances that your mailer will stand out from the rest of the mail.

If an envelope is being printed with a return address and a postal indicia, then it costs nothing extra to have teaser copy printed at the same time. Teaser copy is anything - a picture, an image, text or a combination - that piques the reader's curiosity or arouses interest.

Here are a few tips for writing good teaser copy:

• Be honest; don't mislead the reader. Make sure the teaser copy on the outside relates to what's inside. Misleading the reader solely for the purpose of getting him to open the envelope can backfire.
• Urge action. Create a sense of urgency in responding by providing a call to action with a limit (either time or number).
• Write a benefit statement. Answer the question "what's in it for me" in the teaser copy.
• Be sure the words and pictures work together. If using graphics or a photograph to illustrate the teaser copy, be sure one explains the other. Otherwise you risk confusing the reader.