What's In a Name?
Personalized mailings were all the rage in direct marketing... back in 1975.
They continue to be a staple today, online as well as off, based on the idea
that no sound is sweeter than that of your own name.
Given my one or two experiences with hand-shaking, name-abusing car salesman
over the years, I beg to differ. ("Larry, what can we do to get you behind
the wheel of this beauty today... Larry?")
That doesn't mean personalizing a theTRAFFICplan mailing doesn't work.
Only that the same principle that made it a good idea decades ago has matured
today. That is,using your prospect's name is a good beginning - but better is a stronger,
fuller profile of what the customer cares about.
Think Amazon remembering past purchases and suggesting new ones. Think
psychographic marketing, not just demographics. The baseline rule: The goal
of getting personal with your prospect is actually getting personal, not
just pretending to have a connection.
That said, one of the most popular pieces of copywriting advice you're likely
to hear is to write your sales pitches in the second person. This doesn't mean
developing a split personality at the keyboard. It means writing to the "you" - as
in, your reader.
Of course, arbitrarily stuffing "you" into every sentence is no better than
overplaying your reader's name. If it isn't genuine, it will irritate him.
The difference is often just a mindset. Really write to the "you" while you
picture him in your head, and all the phoniness falls away.
Larry Potter
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