B2B Lead generating

Beepers · **B2B Lead generating -** 10-20-2006, 06:43 AM

Should a lead generating sales letter going business to business go out on paper with the company name at the top ? Then headline underneath...

Or is it straight headline into the body copy?

What does everyone else think?

Just I've got a client who is insisting on the company headed paper approach.

cheers mark

sheriw · **Go with the company header -** 10-20-2006, 02:06 PM

If the company has good brand recognition, you DEFINITELY want the company header on the letter. It will give it extra pulling power. Folks in the technology field will be more likely to read on, if the header is from Microsoft, Sun or Macromedia, for instance.

If there is no brand, you can still go there, since it could help establish branding and legitimacy. Most B2B letters do have at least a company logo at the top, or in the paper watermark.

Good luck with your project!

Sheri

Dale King · 11:16 PM

Quote:

Should a lead generating sales letter going business to business go out on paper with the company name at the top ? Then headline underneath...

Or is it straight headline into the body copy?

What does everyone else think?

Just I've got a client who is insisting on the company headed paper approach.

cheers mark

While you can go either way, Mark - I'm a firm believer, you should ALWAYS use a headline whenever possible, because that's your attention-getter.

That's what prevents your sales letter from possibly ending up in the trash.

So use both - letterhead and a headline.

Dale King

TechCopywriter · 10-21-2006, 09:56 AM

Im pulling this out of Bob Bly's Business to Business Direct Marketing book.

If your company is very well known and well respected, print the letter on your regular letterhead with your logo and name prominently displayed on page one.

If your company is not well known, put your name, logo, and address on the last page below the signature and P.S. The fist thing the reader sees should be the headline or salutation, not your logo.

Mr. Subtle · 10-21-2006, 01:51 PM

I've always liked the way Bottomline did it. They would always put their logo/address at the bottom center of the last page. It framed and ended the letter nicely.

If you're going to put a headline on a sales letter, I personally wouldn't use the client's logo/address at the top of the letter. It's sort of like putting the client's name at the top of a Yellow Pages ad or a print ad.

If you're going to write a sales letter without a headline...sort of like the WSJ letter, then of course you would want to put the company name/address at the top.

To me, if you're putting a headline on a direct mail letter, it's no longer a letter, but an ad. Since it's an ad, see the 2nd paragraph above.

Michel Fortin · 10-21-2006, 03:28 PM

Ditto here.

Same idea, header graphics on web salesletters depress response. Unless it's a image-centric header graphic. Because my test results show that header graphics with copy on them compete with the headline.

Same as would a logo at the top of a printed salesletter.