Direct Mail Return Rates & Design Questions

Nathan

I was wondering how many of you guys use direct mail and what your % return was for the mailers?

ALSO, what message/design has worked the best for you? Coupon?

I'm about to have a 4x6" post card 2 sided full color design and I want to make sure I get everything right before I finalize the design and send them out.

I'm going to send about 8,000 of them to start off with and I'm hoping for about a 1% return rate... sound reasonable?

THANKS!

__________________
Nathan

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

Richard_GL

Nathan,
Have you talked to Mark Havens with the NAPP? He can guide you in the direct mail dept. www.thenapp.com

Sarah9910

I've heard to expect a 1/2% return rate...

Grumpy

A 1.5% return is the national average for targeted direct mail. The key to direct mail is to be consistent. A one time mailing will yield much less than even 1%. It takes at least 3 mailings to get a decent response.

Definetly get a postal bulk rate. I think I brought this up a fewa days ago and I got a really great response with alot of info.

Coupons tend to work more than anything else.

Nathan

Has anyone looked into the best day for a card to land? Not sure if it matters or not.

__________________
Nathan

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

Teetorbilt

I posted on this on another forum.
DIY targeting, following new and used home sales (public info) at a specific $ level, my returns hover around 60%, out of that about 80% become customers and from that each one generates at least one new customer and many lead to at least three.
I picked up two more today while on another job.
Presence works in many high-end neighborhoods.

Grumpy

Teetor are you saying if you send out 100 cards 60 people call you?

Teetorbilt

Yep! But I don't send out that many cards. I target new home buyers in a specific income range and do it weekly on my own. On a really active week I may send out 20 mailers, most weeks about 10. Cheaper than a newspaper ad and they go exactly where I want them to go.
Nobody is ever 100% happy with a new home and, if they have the money, they change it soon.
If I were in your business, I would go around the high-end sections and look for bad roofs. Write down the address and locate the owners through the bld. dept. or web site then send them a trifold of my company and a letter that indicated my observations of their roof. How many people pay attention to this? The number is probably very low. They come home tired and concentrate on getting their car into the garage while thinking about business or supper. If you point it out to them, they will look.

Grumpy

You couldn't believe how time consuming that would be?!

I looked into buying a new home owner subscription. I decided against it for financial reasons. I agree with yoru statement that new home owners want to change their houses.