Hell yeah it is! Glad to meet another active mailer on the forum.

Several of my biggest successes in offline marketing and direct mail have been directly tied in with lead gen. It really is the best.

Oh and by the way,

I was just down in Venice beach last weekend. The rappers handing out their CD's and $1 pizza never get old!

[DELETED]

[DELETED]

Right on brotha sounds like you're off to a good start. Just curious, how many of your prospects are actually reading the 1page letter and going to your website? In my opinion, you should ditch the website and just drive them straight to calling a 1-800 # and setting up an appointment, or you should combine the 2 and make them work together.

You'll pull more leads by combining a 1-800 # with the website right away, instead of just having someone call them later on.

BTW I like your dice and $1 bill approach. Typical Gary Halbert and yeah that stuff works well.

Lumpy Mail... love it! the dice adds that extra sauce that gets your open rate way, way up there.

Handwritten addresses: also a great addition for increasing open rate.

And your segmenting and profiling a list based on your historical knowledge of your market's best profile. Excellent.

If this is your first direct mail campaign, you are off to a fantastic start, my friend.

As has been pointed out, this is all sound, sage advice from oldtimers like Gary, Bill and myself when we were rolling high back in the 80's. Long before the WWW and offline marketing were even a glimmer on the horizon.

I'm consulting with more and more "offline marketers" these days and when I get them into direct mail with Post Cards and lumpy mail they are always amazed as the ROI and the response. Snail mail works very well when you work it with proper strategies and techniques

I second the OP's suggestion to go straight to a phone call for response mechanism... and get a local tracking number so you build up performance metrics for each campaign.

As long as you are hand-writing addresses, then strongly suggest you brainstorm lots of ideas and do lots of testing... 50 pieces with its own tracking phone number will give you statistically relevant performance to make sound decisions on a local level.

And for those of you hearing that direct mail is expensive and difficult, think again... the ROI will knock your socks off when you get successful campaigns tested and working for you.

Telemarketing works great, but for those "offliners" on a small scale, then post cards is a lower entry point for $$ investment. Just be sure you do this right... not half-fast, if you know what I mean.

Brainstorm an offer that sings for your prospects... before you go to the Post Office. The marketing message is what does the work, not the delivery vehicle. Lame offers give lame response.

And if you continue with direct mail, PM me if you want some help with your specific Lists... and segmenting and profiling. Target marketing was our secret in the old days, and it's the secret now... you don't send your offer to just any business. The tighter you focus, the higher the response, the higher the closing ratio, and the lower the cost

And when you target correctly in verticals... then you can double your response rates easily by customising and personalising the offer

Send all painting contractors an offer built around getting new OC customers for painting contractors located in Orange County... not offering services like SEO.

The only bottom line they want to hear about is new customers.

Best of luck to you in your direct mail campaigns... its a sure winner for offline as you are doing it now... refine it and you can easily roll it out nationally to vertical markets

All the Best
Jan

Any chance you could share what's in the letter mate ??

[DELETED]

The time to achieve offline domination with direct mail is now! It's wide open my friend and there is very little competition today in comparison to back in the 90's.

No Doubt that SMS Text Messaging rocks, but the thing is that you have to build an optin list in order to do it... I don't think its Direct Mail vs. SMS text Messages, but rather...

Of course you could also do the one two punch of direct mail and SMS.

I'm about to start a new direct mail combo for several clients. Plan to use direct mail, web site, build an email and sms list for special offers, etc.

Jirah,

You need to start using direct mail ASAP!

Trust me on this one. If offline methods are working for you or anyone you know already, then you can EXPLODE your business if you add in direct mail to your efforts.

If you or anyone else has any questions or ideas feel free to PM me whenever you want and I'll get back to you guys as soon as I can.

What thread was it in.
I went there but could not find it.
Do I need to a gold member.
Sorry , I am very new to the forum
Thanks for your help in advance.

What was the thread name?.
I went there but could not find it.
Do I need to be a gold member?
Sorry , I am very new to the forum
Thanks for your help in advance.

The method you are speaking of...is it in the paid member's area? If not, can you direct me to it?
Thanks

Have you tried using personalized Send Out Cards? You create the campaign, input the mailing info...and they send out your post cards or handwritten cards for you!

I use them for personal mailings but they can be used for business campaigns as well! Such personalized mailings get opened much faster than some pre-sorted, 3rd rated mailings...and with much better results!

One of the CHEAPEST and EASIEST forms of direct mail is targeting local businesses. Obviously you have to pay for some postage, and whatever type of special mail piece/package you are using, but when 1 client could easily mean $50k+ for you then that ROI is insane.

The BIGGEST mistake that beginner direct mailers make is assuming that direct mail has to be expensive and costly.

Excellent.



These always gets opened 100% of the time. Do the math on a total mailing cost with 100% open rate. These are best used as followups, or with extreme targeting.

What's inside the Priority Mail? Try a DVD. Custom spiral bound reports. Just Match the priority delivery with a maximum High Voltage offer.

Make it special. Make it Personal. Stick with ONE Single Offer for highest response.

OR, if you are synched into specific target market with special knowledge, then use Priority Mail as a first mailing with extreme targeting techniques like this.



One of my clients sent a bundle of photocopies by Priority Mail.... copies of all the Yellow Page chiropractor ads in a major city phonebook.

And a Post-It note.

"Dr. Richards, I can beat all these ads for 90% Less. Call Rob 555-555-55555"

Direct Mail with a 100% Open rate. 100% got read/studied.

Attention getting, right?. He drilled down to the core decision point for Chiropractors... competition is absolutely fierce in that profession.

And how did he target just the right chiropractors?

I supplied him with full contact info for all 732 chiropractors in that particular MSA. His admin assistant then tallied all the ads up and we Subtracted those Yellow Page chiros from the Mailing List. IOW, removing those advertisers and our mailing list was all chiropractors without a YP ad.

Then we drilled down to the smallest chiropractic offices and he mailed those first. Working his way up the ladder. Smaller/ Newer = Hungrier


25 Priority Mail packets sent per week. That's $125. A steady supply of qualified prospects resulted. The qualified leads phoned him. The strategy we developed, was drip-feed lead generation... so he could handle the followups and setting up new clients without a huge workload.

Flip this around any marketing method you choose, and the direct mail ROI simply crushes any other method for results and lower costs per sale/profit.

Marketing ROI is just a mindset, a way of thinking. Cost per lead is the metric. Cost per sale.

Five bucks for postage can keep you out of the profitable direct mail arena, or you can apply proper strategy and have the most inexpensive lead generation possible for your offline business



* NO return address

* These were hand-writing addressed to each Chiropractor by Name in a Priority Mail envelope rubber stamped Personal & Confidential. Gatekeepers will take this un-opened priority mail envelope and put in the center of the chiropractor's desk.

* As this developed, I suggested he add more photocopies. We printed out the entire list of all 732 Chiropractors with full contact info and then added those copies in middle of the YP photocopies. Subtle, yet highly effective reminder of the competitive marketplace.

* "Synched to a market... special knowledge" My client had a brother in another city who was a chiropractor. This gave him an insiders knowledge so targeting chiropractors made this best target and Priority Mail the best method for this client. He could also deliver the results... a constant stream of new patients.

There are no secret methods to success. No magic marketing potions to make you rich over some other offline marketer. Either you can deliver results or you can't. The bottom line is always the bottom line.

Dan, John, Gary, Bill, myself, and many others have taken direct mail well beyond the theory stage. We are all following a scientific approach. the methods you are quoting here have all stood the test of time.

Excellent strategy if you have followups in mind

For my offline clients, I've suggested using Phone call for the first followup.
Easy on the gatekeepers. since you are calling about the letter you sent to Mr. Brown the manager, yesterday. Time your calls for next day or same day of delivery... see the post about Priority Mail

Phoning highly effective. The phone allows you to skip the other preliminaries and get down to business if the prospect qualifies

Say that three times before every action you take about direct mail or telemarketing.

Targeted Lists - allows the personalizations that presents a Compelling Engaging message

I recommend smaller lists with custom merging

* Contacts Own Name
* Business Name
* Keywords for Business's Lingo. Restaurant owners talk about "covers" not customers

Saves you lots of money too... smaller lists mean less postage, higher customization, higher response rates.

Because it all works to get you into the A Pile

There is an A pile, a B pile and the S pile for all delivered mail before anything is opened

A= utility bills, checks, personal mail.
B = Maybe its interesting, will get to it later
S = ****Can

99% of all mail goes to S. The B pile averages 10% open rate over time, maybe.

You want to send 100 pieces and get 100 in the A pile. Customisation and the holy trinity of handwriting, real stamp, plain envelope will get you there or very close to 100%.

Question: How much money does one make sending 1000 postcards and having 950 land in the S pile? Well, it does cost about $500 to $750 for sending them. The math... 50 opened, about 5 replies... is $100 to $150 per lead. All this changes with 95% in the A Pile and opened. Details matter.

That is why direct mail gets a reputation for being expensive. Beginner mistakes are costly. You have to do this like major leaguer or don't get in the game.


Hand Writing Tip: make sure a female handwrites the addresses.
Narrow felt-tip, bright blue ink. Not red, nothing cute. No smiley faces.

Women recipients respond positively to feminine handwriting. Female gatekeepers who sort the mail, never toss out personal letters from women. They will get to the addressee's desk.

And men... well, you can figure that one out yourself.

Return Address: Don't use one at all. Curiosity is King.
Why? Your address is correct, the USPS gets it there. Why not?

Compelling can be had by adding a few words to a merged letter/card addressed to Bob Brown owner of XYZ Pizza in Barksdale


. Free Month Code is "PizzaQ"


Compelling enough?

Folks, there's no secret sauce to copywriting. Just use the competitors name, the owners name, with an offer Bob Brown at XYZ Pizza can't refuse.

And you can be this Compelling because you are sending smaller mailings to extremely targeted list by SIC classification, annual sales, and neighborhood geo-codes

Absolutely nothing is more important than a targeted list using Personalized mailings.

It is cheaper to send targeted lists, and they blow the socks off the other pieces in the stack


You are doing that already. Experts like Dan, John, Gary and Bill are experts... because they have done it all successfully.

Me? I take it to an extreme level for my clients... because the costs have never been higher and it just makes sense to work on the conversion ratios.

The money is in the list, but the big bank deposits come from the response rate and conversion ratio.

Regards,
Jan Gregory



P.S. I can help any offline marketer with a highly targeted B2B list that will work with your offline product or service. I have my own B2B database for everything in the USA.
.
.

I agree with the fact that people are tired of junk mail. But if the mailing is targeted toward people you know are likely to be interested in your product or service likely to cut down on the "junk mail" factor? For instance, I know that if I receive a mailing on how to earn money online from home, that mailing is going to get my attention. Much more so, than an email, which I will assume automatically is a scam.

Maybe direct mail is effective, but I just get on the phone and call business owners off Google and make my pitch. Out of maybe 40 calls last week, I closed one SEO deal and am close to closing another. It took about two days to make the calls (Thursday and Friday). $1,400 upfront for the SEO piece, and I will bill $2k for the web development and 90 days of marketing for the other deal if I close him.

thegaryhalbertLetter.com <---- a direct mail treasure trove

Ain't you Becker the linkback guy? I love your stuff btw, Alex too

Ok back to direct mail. In terms of list selection, I've used SRDs in the past with some good results never tried InfoUSA though. I'm looking for something similar for the U.K and Canada, any advice would be appreciated .

Excellent!
Dear Readers... if you are not pumping your fist in the air with a big "Yes!" then go back to the classroom. Direct mail is not expensive when it works

Mr Matt has the right idea. This is simple math. His costs are substantially reduced by extreme targeting to reduce the number of pieces mailed. This gives him a higher conversion ratio as well.


Personalisation does work. And the custom handwriting fonts can add to the effect. SendOutCards is a bit pricey however. $1.91 for one post card sent and $99 to get your handwriting font created. Unless you go for the MLM aspect of it


Small runs can be done easily with simple office equipment. Open Office or Word mail merge to a good laser printer. I have some of my clients who use high end ink-jet printers to make full color cards with the Business Name on the front over an image overlay of a mobile website in an iPhone. Very effective.

Just pay to have someone handwriting the addresses.

If you use envelopes, a key success factor with handwritten addresses is in NOT using a return address on an odd sized plain envelope. Curiosity almost guarantees a 100% open rate.

I much prefer to see small time operators use the DIY approach. You can do this customized mailing much less cost than outsourcing it.



DIY allows you to do the needed testing with the small runs like Mr Matt has done. The headlines should be split tested first.


There are a lot of new people here just getting started in offline marketing. Please be careful with your initial planning for success.

My entire life has been in direct marketing and if anything is sure after 3 decades in the game...



So, first you should focus on using a proven business model first, and craft an offer that resonates with the target market immediately.

Please include back-end profit generators in your revenue channel.

What is working today in this business climate is offering a simple, free service or information that...

* is immediately actionable and valuable.

* the target immediately grasps the need.

This approach establishes you as an expert with a solid personal relationship with the business owner.

That should be your only objective in your marketing plan and direct mail campaigns... establishing that type of relationship. We all know the problems are there for all these local businesses... but the direct sales approach is much less effective in this economic climate. I never use the direct sales method anyway personally... much prefer the relationships that feed my back-end profit funnel

Consider mobile websites and SMS text services... these are the two leading candidates for campaign leaders in offline marketing... and the easiest to do extreme targeting with your list. These two also offer performance and measurable results in short order which leads you on to more profitable services/products for the same business.

Regards,
Jan Gregory

There's a book I read a year ago before starting a direct mail campaign which had a huge impact in terms of positive results, left my competition behind and received great feedback.

1)Outrageous advertising thats outrageous successful by Bill Glazer.

Hope this helps,

Direct mail can be effective, in my opinion, only if it's targeted. Take the time to focus on a small list. Keep things small at the outset. Like any other marketing tool, run the numbers before you commit to a more costly campaign.

@ Beverly21
@nacke81
@tnleverett

There is a simple strategy behind a lot of direct mail methods that work for "offline marketing" offers.

It's about targeting your list, which as you've read in my previous posts is the single most important thing you can do for effective direct mail campaigns that deliver a good ROI.

This is just one of many ways to do targeting with profiling and segmenting. This one is limited to your ability to do the manual steps, but it can be highly effective for small direct mail campaigns.

High Value Targeting - Creating the List

Step 1
Firstly, you start with the assumption that you should contact businesses that are already advertising or promoting.

IOW, you know these businesses have an advertising budget. You know that the businesses on your target list are spending money now. Your offer is intended to get the owner to spend that money with You!

Step 2
You look in newspapers, local magazines, free advertising magazines, the Yellow Pages, watch for businesses using local cable TV ads.

Step 3
You clip out all the print ads. I mean literally you scissor them out of the book or whatever.

You stack them in separate piles for each business. On top or each pile, you place your carefully crafted, well-written mail-merged personalised Offer Letter addressed directly to the the business owner by Name. You sign each letter personally in medium-blue felt tip pen.

Step 4
You insert each stack into a large envelope, so the first thing that is seen in the largest Print Ad, like the Yellow Pages ad where you have attached a Post-It Note with a strong statement.

Step 5
You attach proper postage using Real Stamps, not a postage meter or printer.

Step 6
You hand-address each envelope to the proper contact person's name and the business name. Use the same blue felt tip pen.

That's it.

The owner opens it up and see her/his own advertising with an AIDA device attached.
And it works like gangbusters, if you stay with the vital steps above.

And let me say... This is only one of many targeting strategies where you are "preaching only to the choir". You can also go the other way. The assumption made here in this strategy is that "The choir gets it".

They are already spending on advertising. They are ready to listen to a better way to spend that budget

What's Wrong with This Method

- it takes a lot of time and effort
- it means you actually have to think about your local marketplace
- it means you must have a Strong Promise in your Letter
- it means your Promise can actually delivers proven results to the business, i.e, more new customers.

What's Good with this Method

+ low $$ investment offset by the high labor component
+ very high open rate. Approaching 100% are opened.
+ Very high READ rate. They read it when they see their own Name and their own Business Name highlighted on the first page on top of the stack
+ the ROI is extremely high.

If it works so well, then why isn't everyone doing this?

* It is not a push-button solution.
* Difficult to ramp this up to larger scale, but it's great for small time operators.

Well, actually you can scale it up with more sophisticated techniques that don't need the scissoring and clipping step, and go bigger with the same type of strategy.

I regularly do campaigns for my clients with 1000's of pieces that approach the 100% open and read rate.

This thread has a post outlining this entire strategy in detail for one of my clients(a small time operator) targeting local Chiropractors

ChiroPractor Direct Mail campaign

https://www.warriorforum.com/showthread.php?p=5003919

Best Regards,
Jan Gregory

There is never a single design-look-method that works best for Post Cards. Everything depends on the target market and their expectations

Here's what I mean by that:

Post Card Scenario #1

Go to Staples and by micro-perf post card stock(Avery usually) in bright Canary Yellow color

But a single bold Headline on one side with your Phone #. You use Mail Merge so the Headline includes the [[Business Name]] or [[Contact Name]]

On the other side, use that felt tip pen to hand-address to your Daily Dozen prospects.

What's missing in this scenario description? A strategy. A target market. Accurate addresses and business info. And a tested and proven Headling that gets them to call your Phone #

If you follow the above scenario as I described, which is what 98% do with DIY marketing, you will most likely Fail. Go to do your homework before you head to Staples or the Post Office. Take this to heart and start on your homework for market research, planning your business model so you can really deliver results

The Rest or Scenario #1

Target Market: Chiropractors
Headline Message: Dr. Ben Bronson gets 1800 New Clients from Google every month. Call Jane @ 555-454-7777

You get the idea. Please understand. It is the Message. It's the Promise you make and can deliver that gets new clients

But, that bright yellow post card stands out in the daily mail pile and its inexpensive. And another scenario to another target market, the yellow cards might be completely wrong and you would use fancy full color. Use the took that works for the application.

Your Take-Away

• Do your Homework. Brainstorm a proper marketing strategy that works for you and your business model
• Make sure you really have a product or service to offer that Delivers Results.
• There are boolk galore on direct marketing and some of the best are the older "how-to mail order" variety. Go to Amazon. Then start studying

Deleted a Double Post

Excellent. Thank you sharing your story and making the big point again.

It's about ROI, not expense. The bottom line rules.

Regards,
Jan Gregory

Excellent! It is indeed about the offer, which is contained in the compelling engaging message.

Testing. Oh,yes! Again, spot on advice I hope sinks in there for new marketers.

And the presentation is not difficult with a product that lends itself to a very compelling demo... "Mr owner this is how your website looks on a smartphone"

100's of thousands of businesses have a problem without a mobile website. A huge void to be filled.

Can anyone advised if my plan seems ok?

Also how well can a letter campaign vs a postcard work? I know for one cheaper since I would not have to print up postcards but open rate and/or call back rate which would be greater?

Maybe I can do say dentist with postcards and doctors with a letter or something like that....

Conversion rates are relative to the profitability of your offer. Some companies get less than 1% conversion and still yield healthy profits, while others get 3% or greater and still lose money.

Get familiar with the needs of your local business market, learn as much as you can about direct mail and go for it. Maybe you will miss the mark on your first try or two but if you pay close attention, you will understand why. The next go-round, you will most likely do better.

If you spend $500 on a 500 piece direct mail campaign and get a only ONE client that pays you $400 or more per month - you win!

Don't let fear deprive you of success. Nothing ventured - nothing gained.

I am sorry I have to intervene here , why is this important?
Why does it always have to be about color?
why is this fact relevant?
I don't see how anybody could benefit from this post, those are a questions you should ask yourself before you start posting in such a positive forum.
( i did not feel edified by this post at all and I am black).
Please keep these facts to yourself if it does not really help the purpose of the forum. Respect other people and help people.
may God bless you.

What is the point of this post? Direct mailing for UPS is not that useful considering it is a service that people only use if they need to mail something not just a spontaneous need that they realized. Plus everyone knows of UPS.

I'm really curious now, what offline product are you guys offering to 20,000 local businesses in one mail blast?

I agree with you, I can certainly see mass mailings working with a B2B product that cuts across all business categories and rings their chimes with the offer. But which product/service in the offline game is it for 20,000 pieces

Are you doing simple websites... or SEO maybe. One shot offer or monthly recurring revenue?

MrMatt's previous post in this thread with 50 highly targeted pieces sent out... $80 got him $2900 annualized revenue... I think his calculation was a bit over 3900% ROI.... Assuming he keeps the client for 12 months.

But damn, if we can grab some of that kind of ROI with 20,000 pieces. I'm in... please share the product that's working for you.

Regards,
Jan Gregory

Hi Jeremy

Interesting how this turned up, as this is not an offline product/service you are talking about... as previous posts above have noted... that's what the thread is about... which is small-time operators avoiding cold calling using highly targeted, personalised direct mail to generate leads.

Anyways, I'll offer some advice if I can. Sounds like you have something with real potential for you.

Why? If its not doing so hot. What is your USP for your particular service? That's where you'll find the differentiation to make a good offer. I'd brainstorm around that unique difference you have and the Benefit to work up your offer and headline

For those 50+ , I'd just pick up the phone and call them, assuming you have contact names and they really are leads. Also, I don't recommend selling "against the other guys" That can just turn into a pissing contest with your competitors. If you have a superior service, go in there and sell it on the benefits.

Lead Generation

If you have a shout-it-from-the-rooftops Offer that resonates... direct mail can certainly work for lead generation as we've seen. And you'll have a very large list with all businesses, govt organisations and utilities... a big direct mail campaign could the way to go certainly. But you need to nail down the offer and test it before rolling out big

The trick for you will be getting the Direct Mail piece delivered to the right person... in say, a utility company... the decision maker contact name, in other words. Who is that going to be? Just pumping post cards into their company mailbox addressed to "Wyoming Power and Light", I doubt would do you much good offering cellular.

BTW, don't worry about warming them up... get the offer right so they Act... and reply back after reading your piece.

Back to picking up the phone on those 50+... that's often a good research tool for planning a direct mail campaign where it is murky. Call and find out the missing pieces here... find the problems you can solve for the users, etcetera.

Regards,
Jan Gregory

PS Lead generation is getting a lead. That's someone who raises their hand and says... " I want to know more." Sales people live on leads, as you do selling cellular services. Companies need leads when a sale has a lot of options/explanations/decision points that makes it convert best with a person-to-peron sales approach. Phone or in person, there is a conversation leading to a close.

Traditionally, direct mail is about getting direct orders from buyers with credit cards in hand. They are ready to fire. DM works both ways lead-gen and direct response orders. But, plan direct mail campaigns accordingly for your objective.

I posted this PDF download on another thread and thought it would be useful here as well.

Download PDF- B2B Mailing List Sources and Business Contact Lists


Will be putting together some resources for doing Post Card marketing soon

Best Regards,
Jan Gregory

Hi Brandi,

Would you mind sharing some of your experience in mailing to your local business market?

That could really expand the awareness for how powerful targeted mail campaigns can be for any business or profession.

You are mailing to get legal clients, which is a whole different animal than SEO services selling websites and rankings.

Best Regards,
Jan Gregory

Congratulations, and I hope you keep up a steady stream of small mailings like this for incoming leads. For those of you coming late to this thread, there are quite a few success stories like this posted. Direct mail is often overlooked here on the forum, but its one of the most cost-effective methods for lead generation with local business owners.

There are some key criteria to be successful with local direct mail however. This entire thread is loaded with some good info from successful offline marketers, along with those success stories.

I strongly recommend you take the time to start at the beginning of the thread and work through all the posts.

Best Regards,
Jan Gregory

P.S. The ROI is the confusing factor for many. As xlfutur1 found, this is the determining factor when calculating the "expense" of any lead generation method. And you don't have to send 1000's of mailings. In fact, when you get all the key criteria using a targeted List, personalized mailings, and a powerful message along with the right offer... the ROI is usually way higher than most any other method. $5 for $250 a month is something we can all agree on.

But, is there a way to get addresses from targeting types of businesses such as bars and night clubs in a given city and state....automated?

I know you can buy lists, but that is very expensive so surely someone has a software program that enables you to lift mailing addresses kinda like they do with email addresses.

Hello.

Why can you not use direct mail marketing in your beautiful Country of Scotland?

Of course they have mail and couriers. It is Western Europe, not Somalia or some poor Country with extreme hardship.

I have no idea why they said what they said so I asked. Maybe they have some anti-mail marketing rule or something??

I have no idea and I am curious to hear their reply.

In reference to the Every Door Direct program does not require addresses. Those are blanket saturation mailings delivered to every house on the carrier routes.

If you are doing targeted mailings you need a list. This might help


Download PDF- B2B Mailing List Sources and Business Contact Lists

This is my own solution for B2B lists. if you need details after watching this video, send me a PM
Demo Video - Target Wizard B2B Mailing List Software

Hi Michael,

Congratulations on taking action. And Kudos to you for actually doing this in small runs testing your strategy. That's music to my ears as a coach! Testing and keeping track of results is how you increase your ROI. You're on the right track with some time-tested mailing methods for direct mail lead generation. The first battle in all your marketing is getting the prospect's Attention. We are all fighting information overload in our daily lives and the person on the other end of your addressing is no different.

You are well on your way to winning the lead generation game with large hand-addressed envelopes. You'll be judging your success rate soon enough, so let me add some pointers for assessing your direct mail campaign.

Power Messaging is Key

Please don't forget that the Message you send is key. And the Promise in that Message. No matter how many people Open your envelope, click on your email, or talk to you on a cold call, if your message does not resonate with their circumstances and Promise an immediate solution to a big problem then it won't be successful.

Power Message = The Promise to solve my Burning Problem

Do not sell the solution in the mailing piece(your flyer), sell the reason the prospect should respond to know more. You want an opportunity to set an appointment only. Then You have time for presenting your solution later, but do not do that in the mailing. You should focus on Lead Generation.

Power Messaging comes from knowing your audience, knowing their burning problems and matching your solution to the lingo of their niche. If Tuesday is a money-losing, cash-sucking, slow night at Chez Grerad restaurant each and every week, the owner's attention and actions will resonate with a message like this...

"Mr. De Gaulle, let me Double your Covers every Tuesday night with this simple marketing method, just like I do for Jimmy's Bistro in Center City."

All lead generation is a numbers game that ends with ROI. If done well, direct mail has one and only one goal, create a powerful itch to know more about your solution. Numbers for response rates are why targeting is so critical to ROI and profit from any marketing campaign. If you can reduce a possible 1000 suspects to a list of 128 best candidates, then you are way ahead of the game and you get better performance metrics

Customizing your Mailing

If appropriate to your solution, you can use photocopies of local advertising included in those large envelopes, you will increase response rates by 100's of % points. Those selling SEO services are enclosing 20 copies of the Google search rankings for 20 relevant keywords to the target niche. See where this is going? Customize by making it relevant and personal... the ads or the SERPS pages are pointing to the business owner AND his competition. Powerful message.

Much More Mileage than Call Backs from Direct Mail

I have not seen your Message and Offer in the mailing piece, but no matter how powerful it is... please do phone call followups to the non-responders in the entire list of 50. You can quadruple your leads with a simple phone call like this


"Hi this is Mike, with XYZ company, my assistant sent a package over to Dr Smith and I just wanted to followup on the delivery... and I'm just not sure who to ask about that in your office... could you help me with that please? Who should I followup with on that package?"

A lot of things can get in a busy owners way to calling you back, so don't wait. Make simple 1 minute followup calls within 48 hours of mailing. The phone is absolutely your friend. Some practice with easy followup phone calls to the direct mail piece and all your business calling might gets easier too.

Even if you get a No, take that as an opportunity to learn why its a No for that person. You will be getting the truest test reaction to your marketing strategy from the horse's mouth. Just be sincere and ask them why because it would help your do a better job.

I always insist on getting the real reason for a No. don't be put off with "Call me next week" Just say this, "Look Mr. Jones... you and I have better things to do than play phone tag, and I honestly do not want to bother you if this doesn't fit your business... so, I'm just scratching you off my list and I won't call back. But before I go, it would help me a great deal if you can tell me honestly why you can't accommodate an immediate spike in your Tuesday night sales? I mean this sincerely too... what exactly makes this a bad fit for you?"

Make every call a business call about business and you kill the fear of rejection on the phone. It's a mindset. If you believe in your service, and obviously you do, then you have a solution to a serious problem. If you don't, then rethink your business model fast.

The first step in sales is qualifying that the owner perceives they have the problem, then the personal sales process moves along. In my experience, it's a waste of time selling them on perception. They have it, or they don't. Your custom direct mail campaign saves boatloads of time and can produces high value leads, and since the phone is the next step in your sales process anyway... don't forget that the non-responders may have high interest and just got busy with other stuff. Call 'em!

Best Regards,
Jan

I have to get off topic for one second. Why do so many people say "sorry for my bad english"? Your sentence is perfectly fine! Where are you from and who advised you to say that? I see it everywhere and it makes no sense, especially when the english is perfectly fine.

Do yourself a favor and stop saying that.

Okay, back to the regularly scheduled program...

Brandon

Everyone is writing about direct mail - I've been doing it for myself and others since 1997.

It's all in the numbers and testing.

Latest project (not as profitable as most of them).

Played with single page letter, high end laser printing (envelope uses signature print blue font for address, black typed for return, targeted list) - required in the state to put "Solicitation" on the envelope is basically bold print. Divided the list into Hispanic and non-Hispanic - same letter, personalized with their name and handwritten looking (can tell) signature - but Hispanics got spanish letter and non got english letter. 150 mailings total. Only 2 responses - Spanish speakers...no hires. Cost, about $100 (used left over materials from another successful campaign - so can only estimate).

2nd month = dramatic change in letter - still english/spanish, added 2 business cards. 200 letters, 6 calls...all Hispanic. 2 hires. Cost? Appx $200. Gross revenue $3,000.

3rd month - same letter as second, 2 cards, added 1 additional bi-fold color brochure....100 letters....$195.25 ($1.95 a piece) - 2 hires, 7 calls,...$3,200.

4th month - 200 letters, but cost of brochures now much cheaper (did test run first) - $142 = .71 each - not sure the total return yet (this is the 4th month) - so far 2 hires, 8 calls, and only 1/2 way through month. $3,000.

Also, we are now only sending Spanish mailings because our call to action is working with them the best. Lowered our material's costs as well (discussed above) and no more English letters since wasn't working.

There were two clients involved in the above - the first dropped out after the 1st month and the 2nd is continuing with the program because it is making her a very good ROI. The 1st wants back in (has been talking to the 2nd client), but is not going to happen since they were too difficult to deal with.

Sometimes you just have to keep testing until you get it right.

BTW - this is one of the least successful campaigns we have had in a while and our next step will be to add 2 follow up mailings. We have our targeted list and I know from experience that this list's responses drop off a cliff after 3 mailings. We will keep tweaking until we get a much better overall ROI.

The time is takes for the mailings done in house, including stamps, is about 20 minutes a day a couple times a week. We use glue sticks and non-white #10 envelopes. If we used white envelopes (peel and stick) the time would be less than 10 minutes, but the response rate goes down.

----My next new campaign starts next week for myself. I expect that I will send out a series of 7 letters (already tested in the past) to my targets over a multi-month time frame. My average customer profit is a minimum $2,500 - so even if my costs to gain each customer were $500, I'm still profitable. My cost to deliver the service is about $250 - so I have to remember that. My whole goal is only 10 new customers a month. I will then license the campaign to another business that does what I do, but in a non-conflicting geographic area - I'm just making sure the system I use is still good since I haven't used it in 3 years - I also guarantee my work. If it doesn't make them money, they don't pay me.

Remember to think - if you have a successful piece, consider licensing it. I have one piece (actually a series of 3 letters) that took me 5 years to develop to perfection. I license it to one company and get paid a lot of money each year - but I have agreed to to update it about every 6 months (takes me about an hour). They actually love paying me because the more they are paying me, the more money they are making....smart client!

The Shark

PS...Excuse my English - I have no excuse except for being up so late.

Good choice. The B2B targets are inundated with marketing messages and the delivery vehicles all have different characteristics and are usually perceived differently by the recipients. Test and track each method and don't forget that another audience will have different perceptions
~Jan

Right on, Jay. A basket of delivery strategies can cover all the bases and you find what works best as well

And I recommend that everyone not forget what Jay Spann also says about the tracking and cost/performance ratios. If you don't track, you don't know what is working. If you don't track, then you can't measure your ROI against the value received in driving new revenues with those new customers. LCV, or Lifetime Customer Value, should be a part of every strategy with offline and online marketing.

It costs a lot of money to acquire new customers, and by focusing on LCV, this will naturally lead you to find more related services/products to upsell and backsell for higher LCV

Regards,
Jan Gregory

Hey, what about direct mailing???

That'd be mailing to one guy and seeing if he'll go show it to some other guy after he's looked at it for a while.

I heard this was the latest crazy, cause two people see the mailer versus just one...it's like more bang for your mailing buck

Wait for the eBook coming soon for only $29.95...

My suggestion is read this entire thread... start with this post. I included direct links to many of the better posts and you will find many here succeeding with customized direct mail campaigns. Study... learn... apply it in small campaigns, test your results and keep learning.

Here's the post with the links Direct Mail study links

Regards,
Jan Gregory

Direct mail is very good system for marketing most of the people use & accept this pattern ! well I also like direct mail system !

[DELETED]

Direct mail is physical mail sent out usually through the postal service, usually to a targeted list with a specific offer/message. If sent untargeted, it may be sent as "bulk mail" which some would consider "junk mail" the physical equivalent of the digital "spam".

The only way you'll know is by testing. I can assure you direct mail works very, very well. Print media is the largest advertising media in the US, period.

Direct mail is my favorite area for marketing, and I am just really starting to ramp it up. Thanks to all those who added tips to this thread, it was a very good read and I learned a lot. Looking forward to following this thread.