A client and I got into a wrangle recently when he asked me to write a “CEO letter” to other top execs who would be joining him at an event, and the result was not what he expected. Here’s what I responded by way of explanation:
There’s been a fair amount of discussion and research on this topic in the DM community, as you might expect, and I’ve myself written a number of “C level” or “CEO” letters over the years. I think there is universal agreement the most important characteristic is BREVITY. An efficient CEO is not going to get down in the weeds of an issue because of an unsolicited letter. What you need to do is instantly establish relevance, describe an action which is quick and easy to take—eg NOT “I am going to take time to research this company because they have provided me with some interesting stats and education” but rather “I am going to ask my marketing director to include this company on his short list to check out”—and then get out.
As for tonality, the most important element is showing the reader you respect his or her time as a fellow CEO and makes clear the offer of a personal demo. The tonality consists in being brief, terse and to the point much as if you would be talking to him or her in person.
Do you write letters to high level executives in your own marketing? What works best—brief and to the point, or laced with personal elements? (That’s what my client was expecting, I think.) Inquiring minds (mine, anyway) want to know!
Otis — I, too, have written a fair amount to C-level, both business and nonprofit lead-generation. I agree with your position, with some add’l thoughts:
— Yes, brief and to the point, but not terse or telegraphic. Conversational, as if face-to-face. (Might include personal elements. What’s the relationship between recipient and signer?)
— Be clear from the start that you’re asking something very incremental. Not a sale, but a consideration. A personal demo might not be incremental enough, but I don’t know the context or details here. Even “ask your marketing director” might be too strong a call to action at C-level
– Every C-level program I’ve worked on has had multiple targets: CEO, CIO, CFO etc. I’d can’t imagine where I’d write to CEO only. Consider multiple to titles relevant to goals, including “cc” one to the other. Letters to marketing director and CEO cc’d?
— Consider a gatekeeper communication. Mail or at least email.
Thanks Dan! I like your next-to-last point in particular. If the CFO, CMO etc knows the CEO is already involved in some kind of marketing dialog with the sender (and the writer can be intentionally vague about the extent of that dialog… eg “I’ve been corresponding with John Smith, your CEO, about this” ) they’re much likely to pay attention.