How To Use Tear Sheets In Your Direct Mail Campaigns

By Joanna Martin

Are you using tear sheets in your direct mail campaigns? Maybe I should re-phrase the question… do you know what tear sheets are and how much impact they can have on getting your speaking business ‘out there’?

When I talk about tear sheets, I am often met with a lot of blank faces… many people aren’t aware of the term, although once explained, can often recognize that they have seen them used by other marketers.

A tear sheet is a single page document that is designed to look like a page that has been torn from a magazine… an article or feature on you and your business that has been published.

You send the tear sheet out to people with just a post-it note on the front that says “Hi, I thought you might be interested in this, J.”

The awesome part is that they don’t know where it came from, but it’s an article that promotes you and your website that looks like it’s come out of a magazine. It’s intriguing and people will look at it and think, “Wow, that’s really interesting.” Then go and check out your website.

If you have addresses for people in your community, you might want to send tear sheets to people who maybe haven’t bought before. But tear sheets are a really great, soft way to introduce yourself to a list that you’ve built yourself out of the Yellow Pages or somewhere similar.

You’re not spamming them… you’re sending them something of value. And there’s a good chance they’ll be impressed enough to go and check you out of their own accord.

Do you get me?

A quick heads up, I don’t sign off the post-it “J” because my name is Jo… the initial ‘J’ is the most common… there are more names beginning with J than any other. So, the person who receives the tear sheet is likely going to know lots of people whose names begin with J rather than just one or two.

That’s good huh?

Of course, if you really have had an informative feature written about you in a magazine, you can use that for your tear sheet campaign… but I’ll assume you haven’t and share a few ways to create a great tear sheet mailer that’ll help you get the best results.

Have it professionally copy written;

You want your tear sheet to look like it has been torn from a credible publication so a flimsily written feature just won’t work here. Invest in a professional copywriter who knows how to write a good feature.

Professional design:

For the same reason, it needs to look like a ‘real’ publication so have a designer professionally lay it out so it gives the right impression… it’s not something you can knock up in Word if you want people to take it seriously

Decide on the context?

Is it intended to be a serious piece that promotes you and evidences your credibility or do you want to grab attention with an outlandish headline and an outrageous story that will make people sit up and notice? Get clarity on this first before you brief your copywriter and designer so the copy and design is in line with the context and intention for the campaign.

Other uses for tear sheets:

As well as using them on their own, you can also send your tear sheet as an inclusion with any physical products you mail out, hand them out at exhibitions or workshops or display on your website.

I think tear sheets are a fun way to market your business as they are much less ‘cold’ than the traditional forms of direct mail. I invite you today to think about whether you could use tear sheets in your marketing as a way to get in front of prospects and grow your community.

Are you already using tear sheets? It would be great to hear how you have, or would like to, use them in your marketing? Leave me a comment and I’d love to see examples of your tear sheets if you’d like add a link too?