Postcard Design

Originally Posted by rbsremodeling

Mel you think it is reliable because you think it works for you. As a whole it seem like shooting a shotgun and hoping for a few hits.

If you show me numbers that relate to direct mail cost vs other means of advertising then we can talk that can response ain't gonna get it

Originally Posted by MEL

Direct Mail is a reliable lead source. The reason it is still used after a hundred years or more is because it works. Billions of dollars per year on invested in direct mail by companies that know they are getting a return on investment.

Are there some direct mail campaigns that are a total flop? Yes

Are there some direct mail campaigns that produce more profit than any other medium? Yes

There are lot variables that influence the outcome.

The List:
Who is on the list?
How did they qualify to be on the list?
How accurate are the names and addresses?

The Message
Does it sell to the prospects values?
Does it get attention?
Does it give them a reason to call you instead of a competitor?

On and on it goes.

What counts is yo\ur cost per sale compared to other mediums. A well run mail campaign could easily out perform a Google Adwords campaign for example.

I’m not saying you should choose one over the other. You should always have more that one way of bringing in business. You should always be refining your marketing to make it more effective.

Originally Posted by rbsremodeling

I could write an adwords campaign on Google with keywords that would cost me 5 cent a click and be more effective than mailings.

The cost per lead for mailings is probably 300% more than what adwords would cost me for a lead online.

Direct mailings to me are like yellow page ads its a dying form of advertising.

Originally Posted by rbsremodeling

I could write an adwords campaign on Google with keywords that would cost me 5 cent a click and be more effective than mailings.

The cost per lead for mailings is probably 300% more than what adwords would cost me for a lead online.

Direct mailings to me are like yellow page ads its a dying form of advertising.

Originally Posted by mike finley

just a couple of thoughts for you direct mail lovers.

#1 32 cents, 42 cents... Like contractors... You almost always will get what you pay for. Postcards/printing quality/mailing accuracy/customer service all will vary with the price you pay. Just like the lowest price contractor usually comes with a compromise, the lowest price postcard mailer usually comes with a compromise.

make damn sure you have them include your mailing address in whatever mailing you do. Don't just let them send you a copy of the postcard piece stuffed in a manilla evelope and mailed separetly to you, you want to see what your mailing looks like to your audience. You might be in for a big ass suprise when you get it. I've never seen a discount direct mail house with the lowest price without some compromise going along with it. Usually it's inconsistant printing, dark or muddy, washed out or off kilter.. Something. You will get what you pay for. If your buisness relies on a top quality image, be darn careful with what your printing looks like.

Secondly, there is no more expensive marketing medium then direct mail.

30-50 cents per view is a relatively large amount of money to spend to get infront of a lead, especially when the majority of people will toss out your piece and never look at it.

If you look around and start thinking differently you should be able to discoiver how to get your costs down to as low as 3-6 cents per person in other mediums or even if you aren't the top dog, end all marketing genius you should with some work be able to get yourself down to at least the 10-15 cent range.

Direct mail is what it is, it isn't cheap, but i think for some reason a lot of people think that it's a relatively inexpensive marketing method, it actually one of the most expensive going and only getting more expensive since you are a captive audience of the usps who's favorite method of dealing with waste and inefficiency is to simply raise the cost of a stamp every 6 months.

Originally Posted by Mike Finley

Let me put it more clearly : I'm talking about direct mail post cards.

When looking at direct mail post cards the - is one of the most expensive.

Why?

#1 Costs have been rising steadily year after year.



#2 You only need to look at your own mailbox to notice the raising level of 'noise' you are competing with. The stakes of the game to rise above the noise of all the other post cards bombarding a customer keep rising. 5 years ago you could send a 4x6 card which has the cheapest postage and stand out, then it took a 5.5 x 8 to stand out, now I'm getting multiple 8x12s ! And the postage keeps going up with the size.

Post card direct mail is not some great secret, everybody and their brother thinks they have found the holy grail by sending a post card.

#3 Easy doesn't equal effective. Let's face fact #3, just like the meteoric rise in popularity of online lead services, the easy factor had more to do with it then the effectiveness. As the effectiveness went down it was ignored just like postcard effectiveness is being ignore today. But the easy factor is a big part of it, like online lead services, all you had to do was sign up and give em a credit card. Online post card mailing houses are a dime a dozen today, making it easy. In house design, give em a credit card and away you go...

Easy doesn't necessarily equal effective. AND they are only getting more expensive and they are only getting less effective.

So the answer may not necessarily be in trying to shave the per mailing cost from 50 to 40 to 32 cents, but to instead look at something entirely different instead of being seduced by the hype of 'easy'.

Originally Posted by MEL

How do you track the effectiveness of your Adwords?

If thy say they found you through Google how do you know if it was from Adwords or from the organic search?

I am assuming that most of these leads would call you on the phone even though they found you online.

Originally Posted by kevjob

Hi Mel why don't you think it will profitable? I am always interested to hear everyones opinion.

Originally Posted by MEL

It won’t stand out from the rest of the advertisements they are bombarded with. Your competitors are sending similar cards. The only difference is the company name and logo.

It doesn’t differentiae you from competitors. There isn’t anything that would make them feel compelled to call you.

I took a look at your website. You have 10 reasons for hiring your company. Maybe you cold use some of those reasons on your card. Or maybe you could summarize the reasons somehow.

The discount offer might not mean much to the prospect. If you offer financing a financing offer may be more compelling. No payments for 6 months for example.

The list may not have prospects with a high probability of buying what you sell. How do you know that the list will have people on it that need a new bathroom? The list will influence the outcome more than any other factor.

If you get a response it will be because it was in the right place at the right time, sometimes that is all you need. That’s why you can’t judge the results from a one time mailing. Since your are sending a series of cards that will probably increase response.

The high cost of printing and postage may make it unprofitable. But if you get a few jobs from it and those jobs generate referrals it would be worth it.

I think you should definitely go ahead with a mailing and learn as much as you can. Keep making changes until you find something that works well.