Page 26 - 100 Great Copywriting Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)

by October 31st to claim your free pen.” To limit by quantity, you
could try “The first 100 people to reply will each get a free clock.” Or
“Reply today. If you’re one of the lucky 50, you’ll be spending a day
at a luxury health spa.”
Always repeat your offer. In a mailpack you’ve got the outer, the letter,
and the brochure and you may also have a reply envelope. These are
all opportunities to reinforce the message that they could get FREE
STUFF for replying. But couch the offer in varying language so you
don’t simply repeat yourself.
Consider putting your offer in your main headline. Lots of very
successful promotions lead on the offer; for example, a headline
might say “Get £10 of dry cleaning vouchers when you send us your
first suit.” Test your offers. Do people respond better to the offer of
free stuff when they order at full price, or do they like the idea of
a discount?
Whatever you decide to do, bear in mind that everyone likes getting
a good deal and everyone wants something for nothing.

In practice

• Make the offer fit the action required. Offering a gift worth £100

for a buying decision valued at £50 looks odd. Your respondent
is likely to think “What’s the catch?”

• If you’re offering a saving on the full price, try to express it as

both a percentage saving and a cash amount: different things
appeal to different people.

100 GREAT COPYWRITING IDEAS • 17