When it comes to low cost, high response, there are two strategies that seem to work in nearly any industry: letters and press releases.

Jeffrey Dobkin, author of Uncommon Marketing Techniques, contends that you can reach anyone with a letter — the president of a bank, a top executive of almost any corporation or the purchasing agent who buys your goods or services.

With the frequency of e-mail today, the written, personalized letter has become rare and, subsequently, more effective. Here are several things to remember when planning a letter campaign:

• Use a formal letter format with date, inside address and salutation such as “Dear Jim.” Avoid sending letters starting “Dear Customer” even though these may be cheaper and faster to do. Use mail merge to merge names and addresses and create a personalized letter.

• Outline your content before you begin. Or simply make a list of the main topics you want to cover and use it as a guide.

• Use a headline that describes the main benefit of the subject of the letter. Spend more time writing the headline than you do the letter because it probably will be read more than any other part of your correspondence.

• Carefully write the body of your letter, starting with the most important points. Include a call to action near the end of your letter. What do you want the reader to do after reading your letter? Call? Write? Visit your Web site?

• Sign the letter! Granted, if you're mailing thousands of letters, personally signing them won't be practical. But you can print your signature on the letter in a different color to make it look signed.

• Have the addresses printed directly on the envelope instead of using adhesive mailing labels. Letters are more likely to be opened if they look personalized.

“A press release,” Dobkin says, “is a one-page, double-spaced document about you, your firm, its products or services, with a compelling headline and a story written in a brief, pyramid-style (the important stuff at the top) news format.”

When I ask new clients if they have succeeded at a PR campaign, they often answer, “No, we haven't done anything with the press.” They are missing a great opportunity!

Distributing a press release to the publications that your customers read is one of the most effective strategies you can put in place. Your marketing message's credibility increases when it appears in an “objective” format. After all, “It must be true if it's in the paper.”

You can create your own press release or hire a professional to shoulder that responsibility. If you do it yourself, consider these tips:

• Include a summary statement above the headline so the editor can see at a glance the topic of the release.

• Always use a headline, putting the most important fact in it.

• Talk about three benefits of using your product or service or attending your event.

• If you're writing about an event, present the basic who, what, when, where facts.

• Use quotes from “officials” about the value of the event, product or service.

• Use a closing statement that describes your company and what you do.

• Send your press release to an individual at the publication, usually the editor.

If you would like to see a sample press release, e-mail your request to june@compelcom.com or fax it to 636/394-6979.

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© 2007 Penton Media, Inc.