Direct mail Pros and Cons?

[NHMTMN1]

Ive been looking online at direct mail services and Im curious about their effectiveness. The area I would like to target has a list of approximately 15000 people. I think Im going to narrow down my area for starters to keep it simple. Can anyone explain the process, recommend some companies, or give me the pros and cons as well as some possible costs? What is the percentage you end up picking up for work per 1000 cards? Its my first time at this sort of advertising and Im clueless.

[LB1234]

perform a search there is plenty of current threads on this subject matter.

[Ruben Rocha]

This can get very costly with a very small success rate. I hope your budget can handle it.
You might mail out 3000 to get 10 inquiries and then visit 5 of them to get possibly 1 net new customer.
Thats My 2 cents.

One of the company's I used for mail leads was melissadata.com.

I got more leads with a ad in a weekly bargain flyer than mailouts.
But most of them just wanted one time visits.
The newspaper was just as bad or worse.
But with a ad you will find one week just won't get you much you will need to place a running ad for a few months to start getting calls.

I think you would get better results face to face with customers.
Meaning while at one customer you see someone and ask for business.
If the neighborhood allows it go door to door.

Door hangers are very cheap compared to mailouts.

Of course the best customers are going to be referrals from existing customers.

If your just starting out you may want to try all methods at least till you get some accounts.

[NHMTMN1]

I have a small company now which is basically a one man show. Im at the point where I could use some help and want to hire a full time employee. In order for me to justify it though I need to pick up some more work. Im in a rural area where door to door isnt really an ideal option. Thanks for the info-

[Ruben Rocha]

All I can say whatever advertising method or methods you go with.
You are going to find it is a long term investment meaning figure it in your budget just about year round.
You never get a immediate return.

You might try your existing customers with some type of giveaway for confirmed referrals.
Such as a gift card(Movie,Dinner,Home depot), some type of free service or discount on existing service.
Cost is very small compared to a new year round customer.

I can't say this enough that you will find that your best existing customers usually will refer good customers. Your bad customers will usually refer bad customers.

[DLAWNS]

I used quantum digital last year. I got decent results. I'll probably do another small one this year to supplement the fliers that I'll be putting out.

[rnd]

Go to RNDSIGNS.COM (http://rndsigns.com). See hundreds of advertising ideas for the green industry from all over the U.S. Request a FREE marketing handbook. RND marketing consultants can share advertising success stories from the most successful companies.

[NHMTMN1]

I went to infousa.com I designed a post card with their template and broke down the group of people I wanted to target. Im not sure price wise how good of a deal it was but it was simple to use and within my budget. Im going to mail them as soon as the snow melts.

[ALarsh]

I went to infousa.com I designed a post card with their template and broke down the group of people I wanted to target. Im not sure price wise how good of a deal it was but it was simple to use and within my budget. Im going to mail them as soon as the snow melts.

Please reply with results. I think I will be going with them to purchase a mailing list.

[NHMTMN1]

Please reply with results. I think I will be going with them to purchase a mailing list.

I got an estimate on a mailing list from another company that was quite a bit cheaper. The downfall was that they only did list and mailing labels.

I went with infousa.com because they did everything from start to finish and it was easy to use.

Ill post the results as soon as Im done...

[rnd]

Go to RNDSIGNS.COM (http://rndsigns.com)to see hundreds of advertisng ideas from all over the U.S. Request a FREE marketing handbook. See layout ideas. photography and online pricing. RND marketing consultants can give you mailer return information.

[NHMTMN1]

Go to RNDSIGNS.COM (http://rndsigns.com)to see hundreds of advertisng ideas from all over the U.S. Request a FREE marketing handbook. See layout ideas. photography and online pricing. RND marketing consultants can give you mailer return information.

Thanks, I just got my packet last week...Im going to be ordering from you as spring approaches.

[N.H.BOY]

what company did you use for mailing list? did you list by income or house values??

[silvercitylandscapes]

We see about 20 calls for about 50k mailers..... maybe 2 or 3 customers from that....

[cutcutcut]

We see about 20 calls for about 50k mailers..... maybe 2 or 3 customers from that....

Not postcards I hope... what do you send out?

[newtostone]

We see about 20 calls for about 50k mailers..... maybe 2 or 3 customers from that....


Can you show us what your sending out?

[georgiagrass]

We see about 20 calls for about 50k mailers..... maybe 2 or 3 customers from that....

You must be talking about a mail insert rather than a postcard. Perhaps you should consider getting some professional help designing your mailer if your return rate was that low. If you used professional help, find someone more effective.