Notes from a dimly lit office.
Writing letters.
Say you get a letter. There’s a pretty stamp, a handwritten address, and the return is someone you know — a friend or relative. Inside, the first of a page or 2 starts with a dear you and includes a “this made me think of you,” a “remember that time when we” or perhaps a “guess what happened!” And there’s a reason: “Just keeping in touch,” “hope to visit soon,” “I wanted you to know.”
Through the information and anecdotes, you get it: authenticity, purpose, a letter from a real person that makes you feel like one, too.
In 1974, Martin Conroy wrote a direct mail letter for The Wall Street Journal that generated 55 percent of new subscriptions over the next 28 years. It’s a letter from a real person, and it comes across with authenticity and purpose. People felt it. They responded.
I think about direct mail letters to seniors that are authentic and purposeful. One-to-one, from a real person, to a real person. They start with “dear” and they mean it.
Saving theatres.
In small towns across the country, old movie theatres are new again — as centers for community life.
Loving colons.
Overlooked and misused, colons have launched a comeback. They’re the latest in punc chic.
Life goes on: So far.
Another famous advertisement in the form of a letter was “They Laughed When I Sat Down at the Piano, But When I Started to Play!– It’s one of the top 100 most successful ads. Aging services providers can tell their story in the form of a heart-felt letter.
Thanks for including the Martin Conroy letter as a sample. It helps to have a model to follow, to snap us out of marketer-speak and back into talking like real people!
Bruce and Melanie, thanks for adding your keen observations to the conversation. I agree with you: heart-felt stories and straight talk — people will listen to that.