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Turning graphics into money
GRAPHICS THAT HELP YOU SELL MUST DO TWO ESSENTIAL JOBS WITHOUT FAIL.
If you want to increase direct response conversions in print or on the web make your graphics work extra hard for you.
To do so they must...
1) STOP your prospect and rivet them to the spot by instantly resonating with who they are. GAIN ATTENTION BY ALL MEANS.
2) PUMP UP your prospects desire to read the rest of your sales message and make it easy for them to keep reading. Good design aids this and drives them into the copy.
Using the "greased shute" principle, imagine graphics as being the extra slippy grease you apply to your sales letter creating a super fast slide down to your order form. Use chunks of 'eye candy' to signpost the way like the flags downhill on a ski slope slalom. Key takeway: make it impossible for the eyes to look away or go back!
Actually, graphics for direct response perform an almost contradictory dual role here. They need to be professional enough to enhance visibility yet also intensify readership in such a way that in a sense your prospect shouldn't even notice the graphics are there.
Instead prospects should become so absorbed by the content of the fascinating package they are holding in their hands or reading on the internet that they become mesmerized by your copy and begin experiencing unstoppable momentum which takes them all the way to the order form.
Good Stuff Comes From Good Design - outpull all the rest
- Colour Psychology - colours affect emotions and emotions affect sales. CHOOSE YOURS CAREFULLY.
- Good graphics signpost an easy to follow navigation path through your text towards the order form.
- Good graphics help make your copy an easy, stimulating read. They won't order if they can't read it!
- Good layout makes your page inviting.
- Good graphics customise to your prospect. Depending on your target market, you need styles and colours to match. i.e. no garish style or dayglo colours for serious topics such as Financial Newsletters etc.
- Good design enhances trust in your company - bad design = bad company in prospects mind.
- Good graphics cause your products to become alive on the page - making them intensely desirable while strong bonus and premium product images leave them drooling over what they get for free.
- Good graphics make it easy to order - by expertly communicating how simple the purchase steps are.
- Direct response design is NOT ART - every single image and graphic is there to do a job and fuel the highest reponse and ROI possible. It may look good, but it's good for a reason.
Nowadays with such sweeping technological convergence (TV, Radio, Phone, Internet = WILL SOON ALL BE ONE) and internet dependency flooding every corner of human existence it's vital that you engage in as much "whole brain selling" as you can to engage the prospect's full sensory perception for every sales package you produce. 
Across all industries with the advent of web 2.0 and a veritable landslide of younger 'high interactivity', gamer savvy internet prospects, all copywriting and advertising needs to address the design driven environment that most of these younger prospects were raised in. Remember, they all have high speed internet access, they could all use PC's and the net when very young - some before they were even out of diapers.
Ignore their insatiable demand for high quality image driven mediums at your peril. It's crucial you use blocks of eye candy, fast moving storyboards of 'before and after' graphics, fascinating fact boxes, testimonial side bars stuffed with graphs and other visual proof elements to illustrate VISUALLY what you wish to say.
Miss this crowd visually and you miss them - period. Some are even middle aged now, yikes!
So to recap. The graphics should; be STUNNING ENOUGH TO STOP A PROSPECT, engage their interest and then direct their eyes into the copy. Nevertheless they must also be subtle enough not to alert the prospect into realising they are 'being sold'. All they should be vaguely aware of is a real nice reader experience and quiet sense of acceleration as they progress through your package. Embedded visual commands they receive throughout the copy will steadily lead them exactly where you wish them to go, down to your order form!
... And that in a nutshell is what using direct response design is all about. We hope it helps you in your quest for better response.
If you would like us to help you set up just such a slam dunk design for your next sales package then why not contact us today? We'd love to help you launch a package which always outpulls all the rest and turns graphics into money for you.
DESIGN COMMENTS...
Dave...
"Sorry for the delay. I have been away yesterday and just arrived. You have done a marvellous job. I like the write up, I like the picture, I like everything, I don't know which one to choose...
Let me have couple of days to mull over it and I will come back to you.
I am pretty excited by your work.
Thanks"
Harry.
NB: Above client sent postcard mailing to 1200 Salon Owners and sold... 3 IPL machines from the postcard campaign alone - (no direct mail letter to follow up). The average machine costs $20,000. All from a tiny postcard. When good design and solid copy come together it's a beautiful thing!
Here is the link
to the postcard that was mailed (Client chose "Win, Win" version. I think they'd have done even better with the other version but they are happy.)
To inquire about our direct response design services please contact us below...
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