Robert Collier had an old adage that went something like this.
No one knows a winner until it mails.
However, the trained eye can almost always pinpoint a dud.
Gaspump Revenge is definitely a winner — I received the fifth or so mailing of it last week.
Here’s the brief bit on winning ad appeals, where I first mentioned it.
Unlike alternative health or self-help, financial direct mail advertising is no cake walk because of how quickly it changes.
Today’s control can become laughably out of date in short order.
When you see a package like Gaspump Revenge mailing again and again (it’s a 16-megabyte PDF to download), you should read it cover-to-cover and try to understand why.
Then, find ways to improve it.
As good as this package is, it would be even better if it pursued a dual revenge track — revenge for the mugging you get each time you fill up at the gas station… and revenge for the pittance of a dividend you’re paid by “Big Oil.”
Moreover, the theme of revenge and anger could be greatly expanded in this piece.
Winning DM like this always has wonderful claims backed up by stellar proof elements.
But you have to keep asking yourself: “how does my prospect feel when she’s reading this?”
If you want her to feel a sense of revenge or the desire to get back at the Exxons and BPs of the world, then think in terms of agitating her throughout the piece.
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