8 replies to this topic

[SRT5939]

Do you guys find Direct mail worth the money?

I find local newspapers are the best bang for the buck. I have never tried direct mail and am considering trying it.

What do you guys think?

[rdrdr90]

John-  I have run mail campaigns for the last 15 years.  Here's the deal, if you get the right zip codes, ie QUALIFIED for what you are looking for,and can have a unique message/look, you will be lucky to avg 1.5-2% response rate.  That has been my experience.  Perhaps it is higher in different businesses, however that has been my avg.  Also, you never know what campaign will work and what won't...there is almost no rhyme or reason.  My advice would be, if you do it, do at LEAST 6 mailings over a staggered amount of time.

 

Good luck!

[Drp6982]

Most of my advertising is via direct mail (Based on SIC code) because I am not open to the public. I run a wholesale to the trade business and have to be select on how I advertise.

 

 

I do direct mail or designer driven magazine ads

[HEMI2NV]

no mail here...only online and word of mouth/face to face 

[BAYBANDIT]

NEWSPAPER AND TV IF YOU CAN DO IT! REPETITION IS KEY. 

[Drp6982]

John, if you want to try something I would recommend you do a mailer on a "Private Sale" night.

 

We have thrown a few after hours, wine, cheese, food nights. Have had some of my vendors pay for most of it. Arrange special one time pricing for the night and hold the cost with a deposit. I have had very nice success doing this and really bumped up the sales and cash flow #s....

[NO COMPROMISE]

I agree 1.5% on direct mail is typical. For your product you might consider a local home improvement show where you can show your products and make contact with a large number of people who are interested in making home improvements.

 

We used to pay a $ 50 finders fee to anyone ( typically reps of other compatible products ) who referred their customer to us and we made a sale. It was a prepaid postcard they would fill out and drop in the mail. This worked well for us.

[SRT5939]

John, if you want to try something I would recommend you do a mailer on a "Private Sale" night.

 

We have thrown a few after hours, wine, cheese, food nights. Have had some of my vendors pay for most of it. Arrange special one time pricing for the night and hold the cost with a deposit. I have had very nice success doing this and really bumped up the sales and cash flow #s....

I like that idea.

I am on TV and I rotate county's at the right time of year based on spending habits of income levels. I have learned over the years that different income levels spend at different times of the year. However I think TV is to costly and gets little return for the money. The one thing it does well is make my name known even if they aren't buying they have heard of me.

the usps has a nice site for setting up direct mail and zip code info on the residents. I just want some feed back before I go and spend 5 or 10k more

I agree 1.5% on direct mail is typical. For your product you might consider a local home improvement show where you can show your products and make contact with a large number of people who are interested in making home improvements.

 

We used to pay a $ 50 finders fee to anyone ( typically reps of other compatible products ) who referred their customer to us and we made a sale. It was a prepaid postcard they would fill out and drop in the mail. This worked well for us.

Jim we did that for 20 years. I've had enough, that takes lots of man hours and to much hard work.

[Drp6982]

I like that idea.

I am on TV and I rotate county's at the right time of year based on spending habits of income levels. I have learned over the years that different income levels spend at different times of the year. However I think TV is to costly and gets little return for the money. The one thing it does well is make my name known even if they aren't buying they have heard of me.

the usps has a nice site for setting up direct mail and zip code info on the residents. I just want some feed back before I go and spend 5 or 10k more

Jim we did that for 20 years. I've had enough, that takes lots of man hours and to much hard work.

 

 

Well, my first private sale resulted in about 1 months worth of business in one night. Grant it, not all the deals could be fully closed but people gave me deposits without having jobs measured or sometimes without even having a product picked out. They had up to 30 days to finalize orders to get the exclusive pricing. Besides the sales aspect it brought a lot of attention to my company. If you do good business with a certain distributor or two, hit them up. A lot of the time they are more then happy to help chip in with costs and exclusive sale prices

 

Not to mention, to have an invitation only night time event brings a certain aire to it and makes people think they are getting in on something exclusive