Advertising through Direct Mailers

BreeAna

Hi everyone,
I am considering advertising through direct mail.  Creating a brochure or business postcard announcing our accounting services for small businesses. 
I find myself asking is it worth it ?
Have any of you as a business, ever receive these types of postcards or brochure from another company offering their services or products?
If so, did it grab your attention? or did you treat it as junk mail and just toss it in the garbage pail?
Have you tried this approach in marketing your company? Did it prove to be an effective marketing strategy?
Your opinions are so appreciated. 
Thanks everyone!BreeAna2007-8-8 3:14:52

DaleKing

Hello BreeAna:
Yes,  I receive direct mail pieces in my mailbox almost daily. Most I just toss in the trash without reading them. But every once in a while, a piece will grab me by the eyeballs and refuse to let go. When you get one of those gems, study it for all it`s worth. Analyze it and try to figure out why it was so effective in getting your attention.
I`ve used direct mail in the past with excellent results. However, because of  soaring postal costs, a direct mail campaign is not something to be entered into lightly. It`s important that you do your homework.
There are numerous elements that can determine the success or failure of a direct mail campaign, not the least of which is the list you use.
To get your feet wet and to reduce mailing costs, you might want to consider doing a shared mailing with other local businessowners. You can learn more about this approach at http://Valpak.com</A>.
Also, before starting a direct mail campaign, I highly recommend you educate yourself on successful direct mail marketing techniques. If you`re not sure where to start, I have a nice selection of direct mail articles on my website, including articles about postcard marketing. You can view them here:
http://guruknowledge.org/categories/Dir ... Marketing/</A>
http://guruknowledge.org/categories/Postcard-Marketing/</A>
Dale KingDKing2007-8-8 12:52:43

ToddF

We`ve done direct mailing for our salon. IMO if the service is something we`re not in need of the mailer is tossed. I STRONGLY suggest you find other companies to team up with to cover more area and reduce the overall costs for the mailings, and remember you should mail to each address at least 3 times. Teaming up is a great way to offer a nice full color brochure for several companies.
As for success rates, when we`ve done our own mailings, they havent been the greatest. We then teamed up with local realestate companies and they provide the new residents a flyer to our salon, you could do something like that with the city, new business gets a flyer from you. We also signed up with a local cupon mailer, that actually has had the best response overall. Now it could be the ad, but all we know is the ad has paid for it self 100 times over.

caroldeckert

Direct mail is certainly a great way to market your accounting services.  As a Virtual Marketing Assistant, I use direct mail for most of my clients as well as myself.  I have found, however, that POSTCARDS work the best.  You can design them 4-up, print on a bright colored cardstock (so it stands out in a pile of mail) and the postage rate for first-class is the lowest price using stamps.  I also recommend adding stamps, not computer-generated (like stamps.com) or postage meter, but good old stamps.  Hand-addressing is also good because the person receiving your mailpiece knows you took extra time to reach him/her.  Another point about postcards is that the mail moves through many, many hands from the time you mail it until it is received.  I know for a fact that many postal workers read lots of postcards and it is just another way for someone to find out about your business.  Everyone, at some point, business or personal, will need a good accountant so make your message stand out and be noticed - not too much text - no one wants to read a book, maybe a graphic (if you feel you really need one) and make sure all your contact info is very visible - including your telephone number, email, snail mail and website.
I`ve been marketing my new networking site, www.runlancaster.com</A> - a face-to-face referral-based networking group with postcards.  I design a new one almost every week and continue to mail to new prospects and it really does work.  If you are interested in learning more about postcard marketing, or marketing assistance, please let me know!
All the best,
Carol DeckertNetworking Coach/Virtual Marketing Assistant[email protected]</A>
 
 

LogoMotives

Carol`s suggestions above are great - postcards get my attention and I don`t have to bothering opening them.  The vast majority of other direct mail pieces I get go immediately into the shredder.  However, even postcards can have limited effectiveness if you are not reaching a well-defined target market.In talking to other "creative types" (designers, illustrators, photographers, writers, etc.) about marketing and promotion efforts I always tell them that for me a piece needs to pass the "Metropolitan Refrigerator of Art" test.  If the postcard catches my eye with a great design and piques my curiosity enough to get me to actually read the message, there`s a chance I might actually stick it up on my fridge (or bulletin board, filing cabinet, etc) and contact the company/individual being promoted at a later date if I need the  product/service.Just yesterday I wrote a bLog-oMotives entry about a past direct mail piece experience of my own.  I was still getting commissioned to do work from the piece five years after I mailed it out.  I think the biggest mistake any direct mailer makes is assuming that a huge amount of business will result immediately from doing a mailing.- J.
LogoMotives2007-8-8 13:30:14

DaleKing

 I think the biggest mistake any direct mailer makes is assuming that a huge amount of business will result immediately from doing a mailing.- J.
While it`s not very probable that anyone will recognize a financial windfall from a single mailing, it is possible.
Dale KingDKing2007-8-8 14:15:26

BreeAna

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and opinions! 
I was leaning more towards the business postcards.  The target market for now are small businesses.  Rather than buying mailing lists, I went through the public database of small businesses with our city licensing department.  There is a wealth of leads itemized in different industry types.   
Being resourceful with information saves me a ton of money in the end. 
I will certainly try the direct mailing approach with a small budget and gradually increase should there be a need to. 
I will certainly check up on valpak!

WebDrops

i feel all in all your direct mailer should have a catchy subject line... by catchy i mean a subject line which says something about what you have in the body of your mail and something related to the company or the person... whom u are dispatching the mail.... there are more chances of it grabbing the attention of the concerned person and also one point to be noted here is... your subject line should never mislead the reader or it goes in the junk.... WebDrops2007-8-9 2:58:12

DaleKing

i feel all in all your direct mailer should have a catchy subject line... by catchy i mean a subject line which says something about what you have in the body of your mail and something related to the company or the person... whom u are dispatching the mail.... there are more chances of it grabbing the attention of the concerned person and also one point to be noted here is... your subject line should never mislead the reader or it goes in the junk....
You`ve misunderstood this thread. We`re not talking about e-mail. We`re talking about direct mail - specifically postcards.
Postcards don`t have subject lines.
Dale King

WebDrops

... oops!! m sorry 

rookaps

I recently did what I call a Co-op postcard mailing with a few other business owners.  We basically took a standard size postcard -- divided it into quarters and put 4 advertisements & split the cost 4 ways!  I frankly have not received overwhelming response.  But at least one of the others that advertised on the card was delighted with the results. 
By the way we got our mail list by going to the website of our county`s online public database with vendor license info -- Cleveland in our case:  http://auditor.cuyahogacounty.us/genser ... rList_repo.  Free!
 

seopaul

I have a lead generation company and we use direct mail alot!  Depending on your business and the type of data you need, you can only send out mailers to highly targeted consumers.
 
We also do custom seo programs and lead generating capture pages, which we can almost always dominate google and other search engines for local makets...heck, we even dominate the whole country for some long tail keywords.
 
Check us out at hotliveleads.com

tokmik

direct mail

can leverage our powerful mailing list tecnology even if you process your own mailers.tokmik6/16/2009 7:35 AM

jarmaine

Both Direct Mail and Postcard Mailing have been proven to be effective medium in generating sales.
For small businesses, I would go for the Postcards. A well designed postcard, with appropriate text, and a special promo perhaps, will definitely get the attention of the recipient.
BreeAna is right as well regarding direct mailing, being resourceful will definitely save you a lot of money. Going through public databases for sales leads is a great option rather than buying mailing lists.
Research is also important. Find a really nice designer to layout your material, and research about the different printing options available so you would get the best value for your money.

Matt2009

I just ordered some postcards last week... should be getting them this week. I`m looking forward to giving this a go.

ceejay2005

Thanks BreeAna for asking this question! My question also has been answered.
By the way, I am also into marketing my company`s accounting and bookkeeping services in San Diego area.
i have a friend in san diego  
 
 

 
postcard mailers