Direct Mail Sales Letters: Form and Substance

Abstract

Practitioners and consultants, who have developed much of the theory on the direct mail sales letter, emphasize one point: The reader must be enticed to read the letter. One way to entice the reader is to use an indirect arrangement of support: Invitation, Benefits and Proof, Acceptance, and Teaser. Other reader-directed principles are 1) create the look of a personalized letter and 2) employ strategies to promote readability.