What Makes a Good Teaser...and Do They Really Work?

I see many people saying teasers are old-school and scream “direct mail”. Often, that's true. But that doesn't mean you can breathe a sigh of relief and ignore the teaser-writing portion of your mailing campaign. Direct mail, like most things, is cyclical, and while the current wisdom is that a blank envelope beats a teasered one, that may change.

And in my experience, a strong, intriguing teaser can beat out a blank outer envelope.

That said, it’s not easy to write a strong, intriguing teaser. Like writing good headlines, or coming up with a killer title for your book, writing teasers is an art.

What’s in a Teaser?

Your teaser should sum up the essence of your package without “giving away the store.” Imagine receiving an envelope in the mail that said, “Here is a letter with a really sad story that will also ask you for money.” Would you open it? Or would you toss it in the recycling without a second thought?

A teaser that tells the donor too much about what’s inside won’t get the envelope opened – and if your donor doesn’t open the envelope, they’re probably not going to respond to that piece of mail. Likewise, a teaser that is too up front about the ask inside the package probably won’t be effective, either.

Donors want to hear your story before you ask them for money. If you make your case compellingly – in your teaser, in the letter, and on the reply form – they will be excited to give.

So, ideally, your teaser will generate an emotional response, and make your donor ask some key questions – questions that you’ve answered in the letter inside the envelope.

How Can I Write a Good Teaser?

Spend some time with this task. Don’t just relegate it to the last five minutes before you send your instructions to the designer. Sit down with your letter copy, a notepad and a pen. Pull out a few key phrases from your letter – a call to action, a particularly outrageous or heart-warming quote, a moving story. See if you can re-work them slightly to make an energetic and impassioned teaser.

Run it by other people – those who have read your letter, and those who haven’t. Ask them if it makes them want to know more. For those that have read the letter, ask them if you’ve answered the questions raised by the teaser in your letter.

Also consider a small over-window teaser that calls attention to the donor’s name. Donors love to see their name, so anything you can do to highlight it – in a positive way! – will help your fundraising. Try “Special Report Prepared for:” or “Time-Sensitive Material enclosed for:” or another appropriate variation.

What If It’s Just Not Working?

With some letters, coming up with a fantastic teaser is going to be a near-impossible task. If that happens, it might be time to re-think your approach.

Perhaps this hard-to-tease mailing deserves a more personalized approach, with the name of the letter-signer in the cornercard (where you write your return address when you’re sending someone a letter) and no teaser at all. Use a closed envelope, if you can afford it, for a personal touch…and often an even better open-rate.

If you can afford it, TEST a Teaser vs. No Teaser envelope. Test it more than once. If you're getting consistent results, you can probably choose a direction and go with it. But you'll want to test it again next year because you never know when the trends will change!

How do you feel about teasers? Love ‘em? Hate ‘em? Tell me below!