Thursday, November 29, 2007
Getting Readers to Page Two of Your Direct Mail Letter (Where to Page Break)
I recently received a fund raising letter from my son's college. It was well written and formatted, and if tuition wasn't due in another month, I may have even opened my wallet.
One common flow in this otherwise excellent appeal was how the reader was taken from the end of page one to the top of page two. The last paragraph on page one concluded at the end of the page and a new paragraph began at the top of page two. While visually attractive, this gives the reader an opportunity to stop reading at the bottom of the first page (just when the appeal is getting warmed up!).
One common flow in this otherwise excellent appeal was how the reader was taken from the end of page one to the top of page two. The last paragraph on page one concluded at the end of the page and a new paragraph began at the top of page two. While visually attractive, this gives the reader an opportunity to stop reading at the bottom of the first page (just when the appeal is getting warmed up!).
The better way to handle this issue is to break between pages in the middle of a paragraph and in the middle of a sentence.
Admittedly, starting a new page in the middle of a sentence and middle of a paragraph requires one to be aware of widows and orphans. Plus, the use of a parenthetical "continued on next page" phrase is still an option. However, the flow from page one to page two will be improved if readers realize they are "missing" the remainder of the last sentence on the first page of your letter.
Additional Resources
- 97 Tips to have a Successful Direct Mail Campaign (see tip #29)
- Designing Strong Direct Mail Letters (see tip #5)
- A Step-by-step Guide to Direct Mail Letters from direct-mail.org (see guideline #7, which they claim will impress your boss)
- Power Direct Marketing resources by the late Ray Jutkins
Labels: Direct Mail
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Posted by Warren Allan Johnson @ 8:00 PM | Permalink | |
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