If the goal of good direct marketing is to generate a measurable response, you wouldn't know it judging by the way some campaigns bury their call to action. Perhaps this sounds familiar: cover letters that drone on and on for a page or two about the benefits of the product or the free seminar or whatever, and then just before the close, almost as an afterthought, the writer slips in an 800 number to call.

Remember, the only objective of your direct mail is to get someone to respond, period. It matters not one whit what someone thinks of your product or service if they don't pick up the phone. Or send in the reply card. Or visit your web site. So don't be shy about your call to action. Mention it early and often. In a cover letter, we usually mention at least the offer and the 800 number by the third paragraph if not earlier, and then again before the close, and then again in the P.S.

But surely (you say), it doesn't make sense to give someone an 800 number if you haven't "sold" them yet. Keep in mind, however, that early in your copy, a call to action serves a dual purpose - it tells the reader what you want him to do, but it also gives him a reason to read further. Otherwise, you're asking someone to wade through an entire letter without any indication why he (or she) should bother. Deliver the payoff first, and that selling job will be a lot easier.