Should your direct marketing copywriter be an expert in AP style (or some other style)?
Well, it won't hurt. And it's a sign that the writer subscribes to at least some kind of code, and that's a good thing.
But please, please don't universally enforce style guidelines -- whether they're AP, Chicago, Strunk & White, or your own corporate guidelines -- on direct marketing copy. In some cases, following those rules will diminish readability, undermine clarity, and sabotage your campaigns.
Case in point: Every. Period. Makes. Every. Reader. At. Least. Pause. And pausing (or, dread the throught, stopping reading altogether) is the LAST thing we want to happen. But some style guides demand that we place a period after every bullet in a series of bullets; others insist on semicolons.
Sorry, but stop action is the opposite of what we want in copy that's supposed to drive action. End the last bullet in a series with a period if you must, but leave the others alone. If you MUST include something, use an ellipsis (these keep the reader's eyes moving).
Here's another one: omitting the serial comma before a conjunction. My personal belief is that this is Just Wrong Anyway, but that's beside the point. Omitting that last comma saves column space in newspapers and magazines but it also reduces clarity except in the simplist of sentences. And when we're trying to educate and evoke action in one shot, we can't afford to sacrifice clarity.
It may be stylish to follow this or that code, but we must never forget: in direct marketing, it's not about style. It's about response rates. Save the style guide for your annual report and corporate brochure, and get your money's worth on your DM campaigns.
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