Does Anyone Do Direct Mail Marketing?

[thinkandgrowrich]

I have thought about doing this for awhile, I've read that it can still be the most potent form of marketing if done right.

Anyone have any experience?

 

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[AubreyJ]

I have thought about doing this for awhile, I've read that it can still be the most potent form of marketing if done right.

Anyone have any experience?

I have for the franchise I own- and it has never worked in my experience. Facebook/Social media are much more effective in my opinion- and you can really see how your adds are performing, while with Direct Mail you don't know if they even looked at your material - they could have just tossed it in the trash without looking at it (which is what I do 99% of the time with direct mail).

 

[Kung Fu Steve]

I have thought about doing this for awhile, I've read that it can still be the most potent form of marketing if done right.

Anyone have any experience?

What's your business?

 

[Kung Fu Steve]

I have for the franchise I own- and it has never worked in my experience. Facebook/Social media are much more effective in my opinion- and you can really see how your adds are performing, while with Direct Mail you don't know if they even looked at your material - they could have just tossed it in the trash without looking at it (which is what I do 99% of the time with direct mail).

That's what we call a dud

 

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[thinkandgrowrich]

I have for the franchise I own- and it has never worked in my experience. Facebook/Social media are much more effective in my opinion- and you can really see how your adds are performing, while with Direct Mail you don't know if they even looked at your material - they could have just tossed it in the trash without looking at it (which is what I do 99% of the time with direct mail).

if you're selling a product or service through the mail you can implement a system to track your results.

Based on what you mentioned, it sounds like you are talking about just stuffing a flyer into a mailbox lol.

 

[thinkandgrowrich]

What's your business?

can't say lol, but its service based.

I was thinking about mailing people letters in order to get them to do business with me

 

[AubreyJ]

if you're selling a product or service through the mail you can implement a system to track your results.

Based on what you mentioned, it sounds like you are talking about just stuffing a flyer into a mailbox lol.

That is not what I am talking about.

BUT if a direct mail flyer/offer is never used than how can you track it?

There are a lot of things that can happen with a direct mail flyer:

A) it can be thrown away without being looked at once
B) it can be reviewed- the customer isn't interested so it's tossed
c) it can be saved for later- the customer likes it, but isn't interested in it just yet
D) it's claimed in which case you can track it

You can't track it if they didn't use it- so how are you supposed to know what happened to it once it got the customer. Having the customer read your direct mail flyer is vastly different than having someone just throw it away without looking at it first.

All of this is why I will choose media ads over direct mail every single time, whether it be for my online business or my Brick and mortar one.

 

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[thinkandgrowrich]

That is not what I am talking about.

BUT if a direct mail flyer/offer is never used than how can you track it?

There are a lot of things that can happen with a direct mail flyer:

A) it can be thrown away without being looked at once
B) it can be reviewed- the customer isn't interested so it's tossed
c) it can be saved for later- the customer likes it, but isn't interested in it just yet
D) it's claimed in which case you can track it

You can't track it if they didn't use it- so how are you supposed to know what happened to it once it got the customer. Having the customer read your direct mail flyer is vastly different than having someone just throw it away without looking at it first.

All of this is why I will choose media ads over direct mail every single time, whether it be for my online business or my Brick and mortar one.

Direct Mail Marketing has been proven to work, that's why many top marketers and consultants still use it and recommend it (depending on the business).

There are ways to track it, you can put a coupon or tell your client to mention it when they call you for a free sample or guide, and so on and so forth.

If you're selling a service worth $500, and you send out 2,000 pieces of mail (at about $1 a piece), you only need to convert 5 people in order to make a profit. That's only a .25% success rate. If you're advertising locally this can be very effective.

 

[Kung Fu Steve]

can't say lol, but its service based.

I was thinking about mailing people letters in order to get them to do business with me

good luck!

 

[AubreyJ]

Direct Mail Marketing has been proven to work, that's why many top marketers and consultants still use it and recommend it (depending on the business).

There are ways to track it, you can put a coupon or tell your client to mention it when they call you for a free sample or guide, and so on and so forth.

If you're selling a service worth $500, and you send out 2,000 pieces of mail (at about $1 a piece), you only need to convert 5 people in order to make a profit. That's only a .25% success rate. If you're advertising locally this can be very effective.

I am not doubting that this method can be effective. You asked if anyone had experience with this- so I told you MY experience.

 

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[MitchC]

I am not doubting that this method can be effective. You asked if anyone had experience with this- so I told you MY experience.

You could put them both together and use the best preforming ads for your direct mail, you can test Facebook ads for like $10 and get the data near instantly, and far more detailed data than you would with direct mail.

 

[Bourbons]

I have thought about doing this for awhile, I've read that it can still be the most potent form of marketing if done right.

Anyone have any experience?

I've done a bit here in the UK, sent ~300,000 letters.

I targeted it (not just profiled). Took a lot of split A/B testing to get it right.

Quality of paper, quality of print, building trust using well-known logos and showing reviews all played a big part.

Got around 1.4% response, and converted around 70% of responses to a sale.

You can track responses using unique URLs, or giving unique deal codes to take when they enquire - probably other ways but these are the ones I used.

That was to consumer.

I've done a (relatively) good amount to businesses also.

One was directly responsible for a five-figure sample order from Kellogs, and I believe more orders have been placed to date (I did this as a consultant so didn't get the profit of the sale, although I handled the inbound call and set an appointment for the sale).

I spent more time on the B2B mailing, as I didn't use a mail house but hand-wrote the letters.

I put £5 in the letter and said something along the lines of "our lights can save you £5/hr per fitting, how many lights do you have? I've enclosed your first hours saving to demonstrate..". Obviously I spent a lot more time on the wording of the real letter.

I'd only use these methods (B2B or B2C) for a high value product. If you've a low value product, then it needs to have mass-appeal and use flyering, in my opinion.

Make it unique.

 

[thinkandgrowrich]

I've done a bit here in the UK, sent ~300,000 letters.

I targeted it (not just profiled). Took a lot of split A/B testing to get it right.

Quality of paper, quality of print, building trust using well-known logos and showing reviews all played a big part.

Got around 1.4% response, and converted around 70% of responses to a sale.

You can track responses using unique URLs, or giving unique deal codes to take when they enquire - probably other ways but these are the ones I used.

That was to consumer.

I've done a (relatively) good amount to businesses also.

One was directly responsible for a five-figure sample order from Kellogs, and I believe more orders have been placed to date (I did this as a consultant so didn't get the profit of the sale, although I handled the inbound call and set an appointment for the sale).

I spent more time on the B2B mailing, as I didn't use a mail house but hand-wrote the letters.

I put £5 in the letter and said something along the lines of "our lights can save you £5/hr per fitting, how many lights do you have? I've enclosed your first hours saving to demonstrate..". Obviously I spent a lot more time on the wording of the real letter.

I'd only use these methods (B2B or B2C) for a high value product. If you've a low value product, then it needs to have mass-appeal and use flying, in my opinion.

Make it unique.

That's awesome, how much did it cost to send those letters? 300,000 letters is a lot lol

 

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[458]

Yup, I have about 100k letters being sent out this year. It's very hard to give advice because direct mail is always industry specific, what works for me won't be applicable for you. For example my mailers are extremely time sensitive, yours may not be. You may have good success with frequency where as I have mostly success with reach.

PS. Cost is 70k, yield should be around 400-600k but you won't know your numbers until you do test runs with different techniques.

 

[Welder1986]

I just did a run of 100 or so to local businesses that could have a need for welding or repair services. I was contacted by 2 customers so far and have made a sale with both.

I am thinking about switching up the card and wording, resend, and see if I get more results.

I also noticed both asked if I was setup for portable welding. It was stated on the card I am. I think most people breeze thru the info.

On the other hand I have had no luck with facebook or instagram advertising.

 

[Bourbons]

That's awesome, how much did it cost to send those letters? 300,000 letters is a lot lol

Didn't send then all at once. Sent between 10-50k each time.

Average price was around £0.19/letter for print/pack/post one sided colour print on 80gsm paper.

Mnimum sends that a mail house will do is typically 4k, and that may cost around £0.27/letter for that low volume.

 

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[TonyFish6379]

I just did a run of 100 or so to local businesses that could have a need for welding or repair services. I was contacted by 2 customers so far and have made a sale with both.

I am thinking about switching up the card and wording, resend, and see if I get more results.

I also noticed both asked if I was setup for portable welding. It was stated on the card I am. I think most people breeze thru the info.

On the other hand I have had no luck with facebook or instagram advertising.

Welder1986,
Just had a thought when I read your reply. You mentioned that you had "no luck" with social media so far. Have you thought about going a little outside your norm to entice viewers on social media?
Just throwing some ideas against the wall...... I am a fellow tradesman that has a lot of respect for your craft. Never took the time to learn welding but I think it's amazing.

What if you did some crazy off the wall posts on instagram where you created "niche" type welding projects? Abstract art, zombie apocalypse tools, etc etc.

This with some creative hashtagging - could be the sweet spot to drive fans and potential clients your way....
I mean come on - The guy on History Channel has his own show because he makes giant medieval swords...

Are you using youtube for tutorials on welding basics - Whatever you can do to drive people into your funnel..
Just my 2 cents.
Good luck brother.

 

[Welder1986]

Welder1986,
Just had a thought when I read your reply. You mentioned that you had "no luck" with social media so far. Have you thought about going a little outside your norm to entice viewers on social media?
Just throwing some ideas against the wall...... I am a fellow tradesman that has a lot of respect for your craft. Never took the time to learn welding but I think it's amazing.

What if you did some crazy off the wall posts on instagram where you created "niche" type welding projects? Abstract art, zombie apocalypse tools, etc etc.

This with some creative hashtagging - could be the sweet spot to drive fans and potential clients your way....
I mean come on - The guy on History Channel has his own show because he makes giant medieval swords...

Are you using youtube for tutorials on welding basics - Whatever you can do to drive people into your funnel..
Just my 2 cents.
Good luck brother.

Hey Tony

The niche idea sounds great.. I have made knives in the past which usually get some attention but could make something "off the wall" to spark some interest.

I have only used Youtube for some walk around's on motorcycles. I plan on doing more. Funny you mention tutorials because on a few different occasions I have had customers say " can you teach me to weld?? I will pay you". Now I like helping people so I don't see it as shooting myself in the foot. Fabrication and welding are 2 completely different things.

Thanks for your thoughts and time!