Do you know what a Johnson Box is? You’ll have definitely seen one, but may not realise it’s importance in direct mail.
A Johnson Box is the headline at the very top of a sales letter, above the salutation, that asks a question or leads with an offer.
Research has shown that the Johnson Box, and the P.S., are the two points of a sales letter a customer reads first. Sometimes they are the only two points a customer reads! So, the Johnson Box is a big responsibility for the writer of a sales letter. It’s important to write an effectively worded headline that propels the customer to read on.
So, today’s Fact is a chance to pause and pay homage to the late Frank H. Johnson, direct mail pioneer and creator of the Johnson Box. His technique has proved to be so popular that it has now become standard practice in direct mail. All hail Frank H. Johnson.
This week we were asked to do some...
Love how it’s called a Johnson Box. I remember when I started out, even at Uni, learning about this kind of thing whilst working in the Alumni office. And that the agency responsible for the telephone fundraising had you write on the outside of the envelope in your neatest handwriting – “First Class please”. And that this had a positive effect on the return rate and conversion of pledges to gifts.
Sometimes, it’s paying attention to the detail that matters