Know-How Exchange : Strategy

I suggest you post a project if you want quality results.

I'd start the letter saying "we listened" and its return is due to customer request. Then re-highlight the products features and benefits.

Are you taking pre orders? if so state that next, with estimated ship dates. If not, just say the product will start shipping xdate and youll be sending an update or confirmation soon. And if they have any questions that should contact ...

Sell Well and Prosper tm

I agree with Phil that if you want to make money on this product, you should be willing to spend money to promote it.

When is the last time you really sat down and read a strictly informative letter? I don't know the last time I even opened one. If the customer doesn't even open the letter, then the postage, paper, time, etc. were all a complete waste. Some suggestions for improving direct mail response rates are:

1. If you send just a letter, make the envelope a bright color and/or a large size. You want it to really stand out amongst all the other mail. Put your letter in a pile of your own mail and see how it contrasts.

2. If you have the resources (time or money), have the addresses hand-written. If it looks personal, your clients will be far more likely to open it. (When is the last time you threw away a hand-written envelope without at least opening it?)

3. Write your headline in a bold or contrasting color on the outside of the envelope. Write it on the front and back - it's a 50/50 chance which way it lands on the clients table.

4. Send a card instead of a letter. Consider one that makes sound or a pop-up. If it's creative or funny, you have a better chance of the client hanging onto it for a while.

5. Consider sending a promotional item with the letter. The letter will get thrown away but promotional items are kept. Include the release date, web address & phone number in the imprint along with the product logo. (Ideas for this could be a calendar with the release date already written in and noted in red or an ear-shapped stress reliever.
(https://teamworld.logomall.com/ProductDetail/ProductDetail.aspx?Ntt=Ear+Sha...)

6. Include a sticker or a post-it note with the logo, release date, phone number & Web address that the client can attach to their own calendar or stick somewhere else as a reminder.

7. Use a box instead of an envelope. Boxes always get opened!


(If you want more ideas for promotional items that fit your event, feel free to contact me via my profile. I'd be happy to help!)

It sounds like you have more planned for the future and at this inception you only wish to inform previous customers that the discontinued "product" is back by popular demand.

I would write the letter around that fact, it is back by popular demand and where/how it is available. If your customers are physicians, I would suggest in-person sales calls to inform them of the availability as well as "sample" dropoffs to the physician's office.

And, as stated above, mark the outside of the envelope "Back by Demand" or "We Listened to Our Customers..." something to entice the customer to open the letter.

Marketing-Riot