You know your target audience. You know the response you want to stimulate. And you know the kinds of metrics you hope to see as a result. These best practices will help you get there:

Copy

• Keep the message simple and strong. Use an active voice.
• Keep your target market in mind while writing the copy
• Use short and punchy headlines

• Don’t overuse exclamation marks, uppercase, bold letters and emoticons. Have a specific reason for using them

• Make your message scanable. Don’t overwhelm readers with long paragraphs and lots of copy

• Body font should be 12 point or higher (and if you’re using a Sans Serif font, increase leading)
• Use a punchy call to action

Graphics

Images and visuals are a critical part of marketing your product or service.

• Always use shots of people using the product/service instead of product shots alone. It makes an emotional connection with the target audience

• The larger the illustration, the better. They get more “sight time”

• Warm colors (yellow, red, orange, pink) pull more views than cool colors (green, blue, gray, beige)
• Use colors with care. Subtlety is your friend

Layout

Layout is critical. It can make or break direct marketing content.

• For magazine ads and postcard type mailings, the eye goes from right upper, to left middle, and ends at right lower. Design your piece with this flow in mind.

• It is best to follow a Picture, Headline, Body Text format (67% comprehension) over placing the Headline and/or Picture under or alongside the Body Copy (34% comprehension)

• For letters the eye starts upper left and zigzags to end at lower left. This is why a P.S. in a letter is so important

The devil is in the details. But details lead to marketing success.

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