Direct Mail -how To Make It Work

CornerstoneGC

Okay, I'm now starting to figure out this direct mail arena......get a bunch of postcards printed (from what I see here, most like Jumbo size) and a good list together....

Here's where the challenge comes in...

I just did a search in one of the areas near me, a 8 mile radius with average homeowner income of over $100K, living there as homeowners more than 2 yrs, and the list tells me it has over 9000 homes! Is this a little insane, this is just one community in one neighborhood! I thought direct mail was a reasonable way to advertise, but at printing costs and stamps, it's a $5K fiasco for just one area.

So here's my question to you all....how do you select your lists? Should I stick to maybe income of $100K-$200K and nothing more?

Also, any advice on what companies you have used for the Post Cards that have gotten you some positive response? I know there are TONS of them out there.....any advice on the layout, trigger lines, etc? Sorry, it's my first time. I have read all the previous posts here on Direct Mail and still have those questions.

I dont' know, I figured it doesn't hurt to ask you guys. I would think that if you know something that works, you might want to share it.

Thanks!
Sevi

Any Season

Sevi,

First of all, go with a verticle design card just to make yours different from all of the rest. Second, where do you live? I happen to live in a suburban area where it is cheaper for me to do full saturation mailing at a cheaper rate, but if you are in a city setting you need to narrow down your demographics beyond just income. Here's a suggestion:

Income: 100-250K
Homeowner: yes
Age: 35-65
Zip codes: higher income areas

ATH

You need to do some serious soul searching about who are your "best" clients. By that, I mean two things:

1. What are the characteristics of a client that provides you with your best jobs (most profitable, most enjoyable)?

2. What are the characteristics of the client that your marketing materials appeal to?

Here's our example for #2 -

My wife and I run our remodeling company. With the help of a former client (she has since moved to Rochester), we developed a message that focused on the fact that we were a couple. We decided that the message would be more effective with women than men, so we limited our demographics to women who were 35-55 (if memory serves).

Don't be afraid to try to think outside the box. Are many of your clients golfers? Do they tend to be pet owners (mostly dogs? cats? fish?)? Kids? No kids? For ideas, you can look at the types of categories many of the mailing list sites allow you to choose from. Maybe something will spark an idea.

Now comes the hard part. Once you start sending stuff out, you have to keep track of those demographics to refine your choices.

To keep costs down, I would recommend NOT getting stuff printed and affixing your own stamps. We use http://www.quantumdigital.com who prints our postcards and mails them out using bulk mail in lots as small as 20 postcards. You can upload your own mailing lists so that you can market to your current customers or purchase a list from someone else and use it with their service.

Good luck,

__________________
Wayne
Around the House
http://www.MyPowerCouple.com

morganexteriors

www.colonypress.com

nice postcards-
affordable prices.

--just give them an address of where you did a job, or a target area you'd like to hit, and they'll handle the rest.

www.morganexteriorsnh.com

SethHoldren

As far as "trigger lines" go, you can start by thinking in terms of calling your prospect to action.

Do not spend your valuable ad space talking about yourself or your company. Talk about the prospect from his perspective.

Get into the mind of your prospect. For example, what are the three biggest concerns your prospect is likely to have in choosing a remodeling company?

Then, resolve those three biggest concerns in your postcard. And tell your prospect what to do next, such as "call this number now," or whatever.

To increase response, include an offer of a valuable information product or a free no-pressure consultation. Include a bullet list of the features and benefits the prospect will get from your offer.

Such as:

• Cost feasibility analysis - find out if your project can be done realistically within your budget.
• Value engineering - get creative ideas of ways to save money on the front end with smart selections and design choices.
• Portrait of a remodel - an entertaining presentation explaining the most common headaches and nightmares that happen in most remodels, and how to deal with them so you can rest easy during your project.

You can take this list and expand it to suit your needs.

Always remember to talk about them, not yourself.

And last, but not least, TEST. (If you're using the phone, simply ask where they heard about you. Then jot it down on your little pocket notebook, or have your secretary jot down this info. Compile it later, and you know how well the mailing worked.)

Start with a sample of 100 to 500.

Measure your response rate.

Then you'll know whether it makes sense to spend thousands on this mailing.

If your ad doesn't test well, you can adjust and re-test.

Also, remember that it usually makes sense to send out a mailing in phases. Don't send 9,000 at once. What if you get a 10% response rate? Can your business handle that load all at once? Mine can't.

Send 500 per week. Then you can really tweak and test, and minimize your risk.

__________________
Website Critiques

The Construction Marketing Blog

Ed the Roofer

That is who I recommend also.

For Graphics Design, the most popular recommendation from this forum always winds up being Keith of KBK Graphics.

Vista Print is also a good low cost source of printing post cards.

Colony will do the design, print and mailing for you, plus they also do a job site radius mailer blast. Very reasonable prices and lots of sample on their website too.

I had a post on here about 6 months back that listed every mail house and printing house that I had saved from other peoples referrals.

Ed

__________________
Please Stay Tuned For A Very Important Message From Our Sponsor
http://www.rightwayroofingcompany.com/ www.rightwayroofingcompany.com
Roof Estimates, Roof Repairs, Roofers, Roof Leak Help, Elgin, Carpentersville, East Dundee, West Dundee, Sleepy Hollow, Algonquin, South Elgin, Huntley, Lake In The Hills, Illinois

Ed the Roofer

Here is that list of Direct Mail Company links.

Ed



http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/kuraoka/flyer.htm
http://smartleadsusa.com/jobsiteradiusmktg.html
http://www.directmail.com/
http://cgi.ebay.com/5000-4x6-Full-Color-Postcards-Printing-Design-2-Sided_W0QQitemZ120036744670QQihZ002QQcategoryZ4711 2QQcmdZViewItem
http://echo-media.com/mediacat.asp?mediatype=Newspapers
http://www.intelex.ca/templates.html
http://gotprint.net/gotprint/welcome.do
http://www.infousa.com/
http://www.kbkgraphics.com/
http://marketingbestpractices.typepad.com/marketing_best_practices_/
http://www.melissadata.com/lookups/index.htm
http://www.modernpostcard.com/
http://www.purepostcards.com/
http://smartleadsusa.com/radius-marketing.html
http://www.rayburnmarketing.com/
http://www.furninfo.com/absolutenm/templates/Article_Retailing.asp?articleid=3801&zoneid=5
http://www.speakenterprises.com/
http://www.supercheapsigns.com/priceit.php?category_id=1
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/kuraoka/help.htm#finder
http://www.vistaprint.com/vp/ns/default.aspx?GP=11%2F10%2F2007+12%3A28%3A32+AM
http://www.salesgenie.com/SalesGenie/Index.aspx?bas_vendor=99831
http://www.quantummail.com/html/wc.wc?QM%7EGoTo%7Eqm_test_spin_registration
http://www.colonypress.com/
http://www.colonypress.com/09packages.htm
http://gotprint.net/gotprint/welcome.do
http://www.newleadsusa.com/cgi-bin/abicgi/abicgi.pl?bas_session={bas_session}&bas_vendor=999 76&bas_type=lc&bas_page=999&bas_action=NlusaHome
http://www.oppknockspostcards.com/
http://www.yardsigns.com/
http://www.ecomhelp.com/KB/marketing/default.htm
http://www.oppknockspostcards.com/samples/index.html
http://forum.nrgmembers.com/
http://www.voiceshot.com/public/outboundcalls.asp
http://www.3000doorhangers.com/
http://www.mymms.com/business/?src=111980&sc_cid=B_UD_46_N00_MA8I0N00BUD46111
http://remodelingcommunications.com/

__________________
Please Stay Tuned For A Very Important Message From Our Sponsor
http://www.rightwayroofingcompany.com/ www.rightwayroofingcompany.com
Roof Estimates, Roof Repairs, Roofers, Roof Leak Help, Elgin, Carpentersville, East Dundee, West Dundee, Sleepy Hollow, Algonquin, South Elgin, Huntley, Lake In The Hills, Illinois

Falcone

Narrowing down the list to only people who have owned their home for 5+ years might be better if you're a remodeler. At least people who bought five years ago or more will have some equity.

SethHoldren

You da man, Ed.

That's a HUGE list.

Thanks.

__________________
Website Critiques

The Construction Marketing Blog

toddcla2002

Also...don't forget that repetition is key! repetition is key! repetition is key! I believe the statistic is that it takes seven exposures to a company before a sale is made on average. In direct mail when you have repetition your return goes up exponentially. I would narrow down that list so that you can afford to mail to that demographic at least three times. If you mail once you might as well just send that check straight to me and I'll figure out something better to do with it. Also try to keep in mind a lot of companies across the board (retail & service) are investing more money in advertising with things slowing down...there's a lot of competition in that mail box. You need to find something catchy and easy to read that gets them to the point....CALLING YOU. If you slipped this piece in with the huge pile of crap I get every day you have about 1/3 of a second of my attention before I decide to put your mailer in the recycling bin or in with all my bills to be looked at later. If it's not creative and catchy I'll probably recycle it first thing. If I have to read the whole thing to figure out what it is that you do .....not happening...RECYCLE. Make sure that you offer a DEAL!!! Not just a free estimate but like $### on any project booked but XX/XX/***X date! If not then there's no fire.....why should I call you? Anyways just my advice take it for what it's worth (a penny) and good luck marketing!

~todd

CornerstoneGC

Thanks guys!

I've been looking at different mail order sites, some seem to be outrageous in price....the one mentioned on this post, colonypost.com was actually very reasonable....so now it's on to working on the pics I want to put in.

Still thinking on a catchy line, hoping maybe you guys can give me some examples you have used that work. Should I put like "10% off your bathroom remodeling, offer ends 9/30/08" or what else?

Narrowing down the list, I've even norrowed not only by age, income, homeowner 5+years, $100-$250K income (which gave me a response of like 3000 leads in just one area), but I added to narrow by the people who are also subscribed to Home Improvement magazines...now I'm down to like 1300 people....still trying to cut lower.

Now, about repetition...repetition..repetition , how often to resend? When you resend again, do you change he layout and offer, or should you just keep the same identical card so that they recognize you from the last mail out?

Ed the Roofer

Save all of the Direct Mail pieces that you receive and see what catches your eye upon initial glance.

Coupon packs are cheaper that individual mailings.

Co-op mailings with another contractor related tradesman reduces the costs exponentially, but also dilutes your USP, (Unique Selling Proposition).

Newspaper inserts, flyer's left on doors while canvassing, RSVP mail card packs, Cork Boards at bank lobbies and grocery store entrances, etc...

See what others are doing in your area that stand out and get their Call To Attention message noticed.

See the samples on the Colony Press Website and they have hundreds of samples to look at.

If you get a mailing list yourself, choose the demographics to narrow it down to your selected ideal candidate profile and pay extra for the phone contact list and do follow up calls every day down the list.

Network with other supply houses and contractors in your area.

Always be passing out business cards. Make sure you meet 5-10 people per day that you can say Hi to and pass a card out which mentions what services you do.

Always be promoting.

Ed

__________________
Please Stay Tuned For A Very Important Message From Our Sponsor
http://www.rightwayroofingcompany.com/ www.rightwayroofingcompany.com
Roof Estimates, Roof Repairs, Roofers, Roof Leak Help, Elgin, Carpentersville, East Dundee, West Dundee, Sleepy Hollow, Algonquin, South Elgin, Huntley, Lake In The Hills, Illinois

toddcla2002

I would re-send every other week three times. So there would be a month and a half of solid exposure. It would cost more to get three different designs and printing three different times. It may have a better return if your message gets stronger each time. I'm not creative but maybe the point that you make on the front side of the mailer....the text gets progressively larger and bolder.....I don't know for sure.

Also check out www.modernpostcards.com I think you'll be happy with them. Good luck!

~todd

Ed the Roofer

That was one of the ones in my list.

Also, sign up for the e-mails from Joy Gendusa at Pure Postcards and learn about Direct Mail marketing.

Ed

__________________
Please Stay Tuned For A Very Important Message From Our Sponsor
http://www.rightwayroofingcompany.com/ www.rightwayroofingcompany.com
Roof Estimates, Roof Repairs, Roofers, Roof Leak Help, Elgin, Carpentersville, East Dundee, West Dundee, Sleepy Hollow, Algonquin, South Elgin, Huntley, Lake In The Hills, Illinois

Remodel Bud

[.....

Remodel Bud

.............

SethHoldren

This is great advice.

Make your ad stand out. Look at other mailings and other ads, and find a way to be completely different.

People's minds turn off when they see "advertisement" type content.

You could use a bright, vivid picture that attracts attention. Make it relevant, or at least tie it in to your message.

When in doubt, simplify rather than cluttering up the ad.

__________________
Website Critiques

The Construction Marketing Blog

Mellison

I use Postcard Mania for the following reasons:
One stop shopping (artwork, mailing list and mailing).
Attentive service.
Easy Easy Easy. They will walk through all the steps.
I was very pleased with the level of service I recieved from beginning to end.

Falcone

Another factor to use when narrowing down the list - age of home. You can say you only want homes built before, say, 1960.

How old are the homes you usually work on?

CornerstoneGC

Thanks everyone !!!!!

Ok, I have one other question: which of these two scenarios work better for direct mail

1. To market to homeowners 35-60 in older homes (let's say built before 1995) in a medium neighborhood (houses value 300K-700K)
OR
2. To market to homeowner 35-60 in newer homes (built recently after 2000) that maybe were built standard by the builders in their communities and now people might just want to upgrade. In these areas, you basically get a home standard from the builder with some cheaper tiles, basic paint, corian counters, etc because what they charge for the upgrades are very expensive and they don't really offer a wide selection. Also, for property tax purposes, I know homeowners rather close on their home at one value and then improve inside once the closing has been done.

So....what do you think?

Thanks again!
Sevi