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Every Door Direct Mail – Easily Reach Nearby Customers

By Bill Brelsford · Comments (0)
Tuesday, October 25th, 2011

eddmIf you are looking to generate customer traffic from nearby neighborhoods, then you will want to check out the new Every Door Direct Mail program from the  US Postal Service.

The Every Door Direct Mail program allows you to reach people in a neighborhood, zip code, or postal route without having to have or purchase a list of names and addresses. By using the USPS’ online tool, you specify the area you wish to market to and the program automatically generates the list for you.

When you visit the Every Door Direct Mail you select one of two choices for your starting point, represented by two tabs on page. Once you select your starting point, you are guided through a 4 step process to complete your mailing. Here is a screen shot for the retail tab:

everyDoorTabs

Use the  Retail Entry tab if your mailing meets:

  • Is 5,000 pieces or less
  • Standard Mail® flats only
  • Has a per piece weight of 3.3 ounces or less

Additionally, your mail must be dropped at the Post Office that services the carrier routes you are targeting.

If your mailing does not meet the criteria for Every Door Direct Mail Retail, choose the BMEU (Business Mail Entry Unit) Entry tab.

Direct mail, when used properly, is still a powerful tool for small business marketing. To be effective your direct mail should be highly targeted and follow the two-step approach. Depending on your marketing strategy, using the Every Door Direct Mail program may make it easy to reach your targeted audience. If you need to be more specific in your targeting then you will want to look at another way to generate your list.

The two-step advertising operates on the assumption that your are not going to sell your product right from the ad. Therefore, we use the two-step approach to offer some compelling reason for the reader to respond to our ad in order to begin to educate and develop a relationship with them by continuing to market to them with more specific information.

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Categories : Marketing
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5 Questions With Think Ink Marketing

By Bill · Comments (0)
Friday, July 31st, 2009

This week's 5 question interview features Craig Dickhout of Think Ink Marketing. Think Ink Marketing helps you get your mail opened by providing 100% handwritten mail pieces. See some great samples on their website.

1.  What do you do for a living?

I own Think Ink Marketing, a direct mail company with a unique and effective niche.  We specialize in 100% real handwritten marketing.  Our standard mailing method is to use a #10 white envelope, with a live stamp and a blue handwritten name and address.  This guarantees at least a 95% open rate.   Our mail simply does not look like a solicitation so it gets opened and read.  It also works great for companies that are looking to strengthen their relationship with their customer or potential customer.  We can personalize mail with a simple hand signature on a letter or write full greeting card messages for our clients.  A handwritten envelope, note or message has and always will be a very personal and effective way to communicate with your target audience.

2.  What makes you different from others in your industry?

Think Ink Marketing is the original and largest hand personalized company in the nation.  We mail between $2 and $6 million hand personalized pieces per month and can handle marketing campaigns of any size.  We provide excellent quality in every piece we produce at the most reasonable prices in the industry.

3.  Who is your ideal customer?

Handwritten envelopes ensure that the direct mail pieces get opened.  So my ideal customer is really anyone who wants to ensure that their mail is getting opened and see an increase in their response rates.  We successfully handle marketing campaigns for a wide range of industries including mortgage, automotive, skin care, diet, real estate, debt and seminar.

4.  What has been your most effective marketing strategy to date?

We recently did a marketing campaign for Direct TV that was especially successful.  A card was sent to all prospects that had called inquiring about Direct TV's service but did not sign up.  The card offered the exact same offer that customers were offered initially.  The card was sent in a hand addressed envelope with a live $.44 stamp.  Direct TV had a response rate of over 10%.  This is virtually unheard of in the direct mail industry.  For us, it's not too rare!

5.  I would be more effective at marketing my business if…

This is a tough one.  I think I market my business pretty well simply because that is my business.  We send our personalized direct mail to our prospective clients often to ensure that we continue to grow as the largest hand personalized mailing house in the country. 

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Categories : Biz Profiles, Small Business Marketing
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5 Questions With Great Plains Direct

By Bill · Comments (0)
Friday, March 13th, 2009

This weeks blog interview features Great Plains Direct, a Lenexa based company specializing in direct marketing.

1. What do you (really) do for a living?  – We’re Master TouchPlanners. Our customers lack the necessary expertise and/or struggle to make time to plan their direct marketing efforts and manage the time consuming tactical execution details. They come to us for help in crafting and executing direct marketing TouchPlans.

2. What makes you different from others in your industry?  – We put special emphasis on the planning and segmentation phases of Direct Marketing. Unlike many of our competitors we are not tied to specific assets (i.e. printing presses or other capital intensive equipment) and therefore we are able to make unbiased recommendations about the most efficient and effective combinations of direct marketing touches.

3. Who is your ideal customer? – Best fit customers tend to be those that see great value in direct marketing and advance planning, but don’t have the time, expertise, or priority to design, calendar and manage the execution details of a specific direct marketing TouchPlan.

4. What has been your most effective marketing strategy to date?  – A thoughtful referral strategy – we plan and act in specific extraordinary ways to help partners and customers. Later these same partners are delighted and proactive in introducing us to new prospects.

5. I would be more effective at marketing my business if… – We will be significantly more effective when we finish implementing the Duct Tape Marketing System in our own marketing efforts.

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Categories : Biz Profiles, Kansas City, Marketing, Small Business Marketing
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How To Burn Your Marketing Budget Without Really Trying

By Bill · Comments (3)
Friday, April 25th, 2008

Dollars bill on fire Tales of woe regarding small business direct mailing campaigns are all too common. Recently, a fellow Duct Tape Marketing Coach in Missoula Montana shared a story she heard from a prospective client regarding a failed direct marketing campaign. Here are some of the relevant numbers from the campaign:

  • Number of pieces mailed: 9,800
  • Response: 1%
  • Inquiries: 97
  • Number of prospects phoned to qualify: 67
  • Cost of qualifiying: $29 times 67 – $1,943
  • Qualified leads – 13
  • Campaign costs = $10,000
  • Cost per lead: $918.69

I don’t have the numbers of final conversions and sales, but since the company’s average sale is approximately $850, it’s fair to say this was not a successful campaign.

This scenario plays out all too often and leads many small business owners to think "marketing just doesn’t work for my type of business".

I don’t know all of the details about the campaign mentioned above, but during the discussion, I recognized some common mistakes that you should work hard to avoid in your next direct mail campaigns. Here are a few:

  1. Failing to use a well researched, narrowly targeted list. Of course, in order to do that you have to have a clear picture of your Ideal Customer Profile.
  2. Sending one batch of mail and then stopping. In order for your campaign to be effective, you will need to follow up. Follow up with both additional mailings as well as telephone calls.
  3. Failing to test. Rather than sending out one huge mailing, send out some smaller, test batches. Test different layouts, messages, call to action, etc. Find the most successful one and send that one to your complete mailing list.
  4. Failing to have strong call to action. Make sure to include a strong incentive for your prospect to contact you and begin the process of getting to Know, Like, and Trust you.

Direct mail campaigns, done correctly, can be a very powerful tool for small business marketing. One of it’s strengths is the ability to directly measure the effectiveness of the campaign – a must for small business owners.

The secret to burning through your marketing budget without really trying is to perform random marketing activities without tying them to an underlying strategy.  So if you want to have a successful direct mail campaign, start with a sound marketing strategy.

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Categories : Marketing, Small Business Marketing
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