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Jerry Huntsinger, freelance writer

Here's How You Play the Game of Sudden Death

If your letter arrives in a carrier envelope with a window, teaser copy and nonprofit postage -- you have only five seconds to live.

 

            1... 2 ... 3 ... 4 ... 5.  You’re dead.

 

          That is, unless one of three things happens:

 

                   1)       The teaser copy intrigues the reader.

 

                   2)       The design of the package encourages          the reader to look inside.

 

                   3)       The reader has previous positive         experiences with letters from the     organization, and this conditioned reflex        gets the envelope opened.

 

          Then, inside, you have about three seconds to live.

 

             1 ... 2 ... 3.  

 

           If the eyes of the reader have not come to a stop at some visual graphic, or a headline,  you’re dead.

 

If your envelope arrives in the mailbox with a first class stamp, a personalized address and personalized letter – then, your package has about 10 seconds to live.

 

            1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 ... 5 ... 6 ... 7 ... 8 ... 9 ... 10.  You’re dead.

 

          The personalization gives the reader motivation to get hooked into eye contact with the top of the letter.  The reader’s name, at the top of the letter is a powerful device to get attention.

          So your letter won’t die as quickly as a non-personalized letter.

 

          A little frightening, isn’t it?  Let’s make it more complicated.

 

          Readership studies and eye movement studies show that, instead of reading the letter word for word, the eyes will scan through the letter and the person will often sit there and turn the letter over and go through the material until coming to the end of the letter and the P.S.

 

          After this tremendously rapid scanning process, the reader then may go back to the opening headline or paragraphs and start reading word for word.  If this occurs, you are a winner!  Your letter is going to be successful.

 

          Many readers, once they achieve visual contact, have a compulsive need to read every word.  However, naturally, even after they get started, if you force them to plow through seven-line paragraphs with no indentation, their compulsion will rapidly wane.

 

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