MarketingThinkbox.com

Direct marketing's birth occurred as early as the late 1800's. A man by the name of A. Montgomery Ward made a small investment and rented space on an 8 x 12 printed sheet ─ this was the first Montgomery Ward "catalogue." Sears & Roebuck followed suit with their direct mail catalog. Today there are thousands of specialty mail order houses around the country.

The headline of your advertisement (whether it’s a direct mail piece, newspaper, magazine, webpage, radio spot, or television ad) is the phrase or group of words that catches the reader’s or listener's attention.

If your headline doesn’t catch the reader’s attention, it has failed…and so have you. The headline is the most important part of the ad. It is 80% of your outreach effort.

As you read alarming news reports about finances and economics, your knee-jerk reaction may be to slash your marketing budget. Don’t do it! This is not the time to pull back on your marketing efforts. Successful marketing provides the life’s blood of your business: customers.