The theory of Direct Mail: headlines

If you are looking to grab attention from the first, you have a choice – do you do it graphically or in text?

In the introductory article I discussed grabby images and grabby text and pointed out why grabby text works while grabby images don’t. Unfortunately this seems to be a rather contentious statement to people who are brought up on the belief that one should always use pictures in advertising, so it is worth considering a little further.

Because Frederick R Barnard wrote in the magazine Printer’s Ink (8 December 1921) “A picture is worth 10,000 words” a large number of direct mailers tend to assume that the solution must be to grab attention graphically. (I could divert into a wider discussion of the dangers of taking old sayings and treating them as a literal truth, but it’s getting late and I want this up on the website tomorrow so I will stay with the main theme).

Barnard was trying to convince firms to advertise on American trams (“streetcars”). He did this with the 10,000 words phrase, a picture of a boy with a big smile and the citation “CHINESE PROVERB”.

Now what we have to recognize is two facts. Firstly Barnard did not use pictures as the dominant aspect of his own advert – most of the advertisement consisted of words. Secondly, this was an advert that could be used in public transport, and there is a huge difference in the amount of introductory time people spend reading adverts on public transport and the amount of introductory time they spend looking at adverts in direct mail. (Introductory time in direct mail terms is invariably under five seconds, after which most people throw the mail away. Introductory time on public transport can be much longer.)

Because of this there might be an argument that a picture has a place in a public transport advert – because the traveller has enough time to take the picture in and process it. But this still doesn’t mean a picture is worth 10,000 words (and nor does it mean that this phrase is a Chinese proverb.)

If you want to see the difference between the length of time it takes a graphic to register on your brain as opposed to some text, look out of the window and take a glance at a passing truck. If it has on its side a graphic and some text you will find yourself much more able to retain the text than the image. What’s more there is every chance that the text will be highly complex in nature.

The fact is that we can take in and consider the meaning of a 20 word headline within about 3 seconds – plenty of time to hit the unsuspecting recipient of our direct mail. Which is why Frederick Barnard used the phrase about a picture and 10,000 words in his Printers Ink advert. He didn’t use a picture of a tram.

In short, don’t try to grab attention with a graphic. Deliver a punch straight off with a really attention-grabbing headline, a headline that makes the reader carry on.

Don’t devise a picture, and don’t write some trivial headline than anyone else could write, which simply announces your product or service. Write something new, different, attractive, penetrating, thrilling, and invigorating. Get the readers past the 5 second barrier, and then they will stay with you.

This article is written by Tony Attwood, Chairman of Hamilton House Mailings Ltd. If you would like to discuss the writing or design of your mailing campaign, or indeed a single mailshot, with Tony, without cost or obligation, just call 01536 399 000, or email Creative@hamilton-house.com You can also send Tony a copy of your latest advert and he will call you back with his thoughts on how your response rate could be raised - again without cost or obligation.