© Tony Attwood 2006.   The extracts from sales letters that are reprinted here must not be re-used in any form without permission of the copyright owner.

 

In a sales letter the only thing that is more important than the PS is the headline.   

The headline grabs attention, and makes the reader think, yes I want to read this. So the reader starts reading – but what then?  

Most people who get attracted by the headline then read the opening line or so of the direct mail piece, and then start skipping as they feel the urge to get to the end and find out what all this is about.  Of course if you tell them what it is all about in the opening sentence (that is, by saying to them THIS IS MY PRODUCT – BUY IT NOW) then they will have a good reason to stop reading at that point.  But let’s assume you don’t do that.  

But where this sort of error is avoided and the letter really is of interest to the reader, the reader will start skipping, typically reading the first few words of each paragraph.  

As a result of this, the context and substance of the letter gradually gets more and more lost, and eventually the reader thinks, “what on earth is all this about?”  

So the reader skips to the end, and perhaps finds a PS.   If not, the reader gives up, and all is lost, but if there is a PS the reader will quite likely read it.  

The three types of PS  

Now there are three types of PS  

a)      the PS that repeats what was said before – as in “Don’t forget, we have limited stock so order now!!!”   This really doesn’t do or say much and is unlikely to stimulate a re-reading.  

b)      the PS that just gives a phone number – as in, “If you would like to know any more about this work, please do not hesitate to call me on 01536 399 000”.  Yes well, if I was excited I would be looking for the phone number on the headed paper anyway, so not much new here.  

c)      the PS that throws you back into the letter.
 

This final type of PS is the big challenge, and there are many ways of meeting this challenge.   One is the PS that reads:

PS: Of course it is just possible there is another reason why you haven’t asked for our free inspection copy of this book.   If you don’t feel inclined to request a copy today could I ask you to let me know why?   

That is an interesting challenge because if you have just flipped through to that point you might just think – “why didn’t I ask for this?”   Or you might feel inclined to say “I’ll tell them what I think of them…” but then have to go back and remind yourself what it is all about.  

Here’s a different one:  

A completely different approach comes with stressing a bonus...  

PS: All copies of the report come with a free CD which you can copy into any word processor and so change it as you wish.  It also includes a complete set of policies for you to slot in your own business’ name and then use as your own.  

What is happening here is that extra benefits that look good are being added without quite telling us what the product was – you need to go back and find that.  In fact this last example is one that had a dramatic effect on a mailing.  Two versions of the promotion were produced, one with the PS and one without, and each mailed to 250 test addresses out of a total list of 25,000.  The one without the PS got zero sales, the one with the PS got 2%.  This was enough to warrant a complete run of the 25000 strong mailing list and generated a profit of over £20000 – a profit that would have been lost had version A been used.  

The PS that makes no sense  

Finally we come to the more enigmatic PS’s.  I have wondered from time to time whether I actually invented this notion myself – the PS that really has very little to do with the entire piece, but which makes the reader really take notice, simply because it makes so little sense.  I don’t recall seeing others before I came on the scene – maybe this is my contribution to literature.  

One of my earliest attempts was…  

PS:  And you know, she never did.  

Not only did sales go up, but a lot of people enquired as to what on earth I was talking about.  

This led on to  

I actually meant this as a spoof on the day time TV adverts in which the elderly viewer is assured that no salesman will call.   But my readership took this as something to do with the four horsemen of the apocalypse.   The joke ran for nearly a year and got sillier as it went, as in this example...  

PS:  You can read more about life at the Toppled Bollard at www.toppled.info   You can buy mailing lists on line at www.hamilton-house.com    You can get blown about on a windy day at the end of Southend Pier, and you can talk about how to get higher response rates in direct mail by calling us on 01536 399 000.    No horseman will call.   

In the end I got fed up with it.   Then regular recipients of the Hamilton House sales letter started to write in and complain that I had dropped the horsemen and not given any explanation.  

What it is worth remembering is that this is direct mail we are talking about – junk mail that you throw in the bin – and people are writing to me about the detail of my PS.   Makes you think.    

Tony Attwood  

PS:  I don’t suggest that you go charging into bizarre PS’s especially if you are writing dead straight sales letters – but if there is a little joke somewhere in what you write, the PS can add to the fun.   Otherwise, I would suggest you write a PS which is in category c) – it throws you back in.  Doesn’t it?