Read almost any book on direct mail and it will tell you that every letter you send out should have a P.S. Why do the experts love the P.S.? Is what they say true? What should you say in your P.S.?

First, the last word is second

Read almost any book on direct mail and it will tell you that every letter you send out should have a P.S. Why do the experts love the P.S.? Is what they say true? What should you say in your P.S.?

First, the last word is second – in terms of units of a letter that are most frequently read. The headline or Johnson box is first, of course. Why is the P.S. second? Because after reading the head, recipients let their eyes fly down to the signature. And the P.S. is right under the signature. (Unfortunately, too many mailers don’t think a signature –not just a name and title – is necessary, so they can’t really benefit from the P.S.)

Second, the answer is “No, not every letter should have a P.S.” Be wary of a P.S. in communications to C-level executives. It may take away from the high tone the rest of your letter will undoubtedly have. Also steer clear of the P.S. in very short letters to anyone. After all, the P.S. is supposed to be an afterthought, and in composing a short letter you don’t have too much to think about. Those would be the only exceptions.

Now what should you say? There are two basic directions – 1) repeat your major benefit or offer (a variation of your headline or Johnson box copy) or 2) focus on a new benefit or sales point. In the days of longer letters, I always preferred the first direction. There was plenty of room in the body to talk about ancillary benefits and features. With today’s shorter letters, bringing up a second benefit in the P.S. is probably worth testing.

If you are making any kind of trial or no-obligation offer, that should be repeated in the P.S., as should any deadline dates. If you are personalizing the rest of the letter, you will get a lift in response by also personalizing the P.S.

The P.S. should be a maximum of 4-5 lines long. If you keep it to two lines, the P.S. can be handwritten (and printed in blue) and this can be very effective. If your P.S. is long, you may want to break it into a P.S. and P.P.S., using the first for the benefit copy, the second to re-state the offer.

P.S., here are some P.S’s we’ve used recently –

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Lee Marc Stein is an internationally known direct marketing consultant and copywriter. He has extensive experience in circulation, insurance and financial services, high tech, and b-t-b marketing. He works with direct response agencies in addition to having his own clients. Read more of Lee’s articles at www.leemarcstein.com.

Read almost any book on direct mail and it will tell you that every letter you send out should have a P.S. Why do the experts love the P.S.? Is what they say true? What should you say in your P.S.?

First, the last word is second