Marketing by Mail for Businesses Open During Pandemic

Marketing by Mail During a Pandemic

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During this “Slow-Down” What’s the Best Tactic?

It has been an unprecedented year.  The global pandemic has forced businesses in every industry and of all sizes to re-think how they conduct business and present themselves in a safe, yet effective way.  Marketing by mail is a tactic that is perfect for the current global situation.

Although most businesses have seen a decline in sales and revenue, now is not the time to cut back on your marketing budget.  Successful businesses, navigating these turbulent times are still reaching out to current and potential customers.

Your Target Audience is Home

Most of us are stuck at home during the pandemic.  That means we’re more likely to be around to grab our mail and look at it – it may even be the only source of fresh entertainment these days.

Prior to the pandemic, it may have been 3-4 days between trips to the mailbox.  These days, 37% more of your customers are excited to receive their mail daily and 30% more are reading the marketing materials compared to before the pandemic.

Because people are mostly indoors at home and looking for things to do, now is a great opportunity to put your business in front of your loyal customers and new prospects.  Marketing  by mail allows you to communicate with your customers that you are open, safe and what services you’re currently providing.

For new prospects, you can offer the same communication but maybe add a special or offer to get them to try your service for the first time.

It’s a Great Time for Home Upgrades

Not only is your target audience stuck at home, they’re also stuck looking at the original cabinets they’ve been considering replacing or dreaming of the pool in the backyard they’ve yet to pull the trigger on.  With more and more people at home, consumers are open to investing and making changes to their homes.

Catch them at this opportune time with an attractive postcard that showcases your high-quality work to further entice them to make a buying decision. Use your direct mail marketing dollars to provide a gentle nudge to make the changes they’ve been dreaming about for the past few months.

Marketing by Mail Puts You Ahead of Your Competition

Marketing, especially through the mail, is a numbers game.  The more you can stay in front of your customers and prospects, the better off your business will be long-term.

One of the biggest mistakes your business can make right now is cutting back on marketing and falling behind your competition.  Instead, stay ahead of the competition by constantly communicating and maintaining or even increasing your ad budget.

Unfortunately, many businesses have had to close their doors leaving their loyal customer bases open and available.  Make sure you’re first in the mailbox to these potential new customers.

Don’t just be first in the mailbox, truly stand out and grab attention!  Now would be a great time to explore new ways to market your business through direct mail whether it be a larger mail piece or including personalized, variable data. For more information on how to stand out from the competition, check out these pro tips. 

Remain Recognizable and Build Your Brand

Now is the perfect time to get prospects familiar with your brand.  Again, because your prospects are mostly at home, your reach can increase and you can really hammer home your messaging to people.

In all likelihood, a new customer isn’t going to walk into your business after the first direct mail piece they receive.  However, if you reach out to them multiple times in conjunction with your other marketing efforts, you’ll move closer to helping them make a buying decision with you.  Use a catchy offer or a colorful postcard to stand out and make your brand memorable.

Talk About How You Keep Customers Safe

Now more than ever, it is important to communicate with your customers and prospects about safety of your business and its practices.  Consumers need to know whether it’s safe to have you in their home or when they visit your store.  Communicating your policy on masks, social distancing and safety protocols will go a long way in building trust and loyalty from your customers.

Final Thoughts

We don’t advocate that you leverage a bad situation for gain – but, right now there’s an opportunity for you to be the solution for a stuck-at-home-client. One Stop Mail has all of the resources, from start to finish, to help your business achieve your goals.

Whether your goal is to drive up sales and ROI or simply keep in touch with your customers, now is a great time to spend on direct mail marketing and finish 2020 strong! Call 602-233-3003 to get started on your successful campaign, today.

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Top 3 Inexpensive Marketing Mailing Lists to Target New Customers 

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The concept of “cheap direct mail” is flawed in that you can always find ways to save money on direct mail but you often do so at the cost of results. So the real question to ask yourself isn’t how to save money on mail advertising, but where it makes sense to save money without losing possible revenue.

We review and get into the nitty-gritty details of the three types of inexpensive mailing lists that don’t sacrifice results.

3 “Cheap” Marketing Mailing Lists

Each of these options provides cost savings in its own way and may be a perfect fit for a direct mail campaign while not breaking the bank.

Saturation List

Stacks of coins in foreground with man at desk in background.

A saturation list is exactly what it sounds like. A list of addresses with zip codes that encompasses a radius around a particular location and “saturate” or mail to every address. This list is for businesses that want to attract new customers in a particular area but don’t need to target specific criteria. These are best used when your campaign can apply to a wide range of people.

In addition to being an inexpensive mailing list to procure, perhaps the biggest advantage of saturation lists is that they have the lowest postage rate. Direct mail sent using saturation lists requires minimal sorting at the post office and is efficient to deliver, lowering the cost to send. Typically, the postage cost is between 8 and 14 cents per piece using a saturation list.

New Homeowner / Just Moved List

Mailing to new homeowners is a great way to get in front of an audience that is ready to spend money and needs specific services to personalize their home. Every new homeowner wants to make their new house their own whether it be shutters, blinds, storage, kitchen/bathroom remodels, and much more. Or they need new services in their new neighborhood like restaurants, dentists, pest control, or pool services/landscape.

Ariel photograph of neighborhood with housesJust moved mailing lists are not the cheapest lists up front. However, they are extremely effective. These lists are very targeted and achieve good results, providing a high return on investment.

As a low-cost solution to direct mail using just moved mailing lists, One Stop Mail offers an all-inclusive New Mover Mailer Program for direct mail campaigns of 1,000 pieces (250 weekly) or more. Position yourself as one of the first businesses into the home and receive new leads weekly. This recurring schedule lowers your direct mail costs while increasing brand awareness and ultimately sales.

Consumer List

Some businesses may require an audience that meets specific sets of criteria. When considering a consumer marketing mailing list, think about things like household income, children, or the age of residents in the household. These lists are ideal for businesses targeting a specific type of consumer.

The cost of a consumer list depends on the type and amount of customer criteria that you purchase. Basic demographic information is often included in a consumer list or added at a very low cost to achieve a more targeted list. You can then include additional specialized criteria you are interested in, such as education or occupation. It will cost more, but those extra specific criteria will produce better responses.

How to Choose an Audience

The first and arguably most important box to check when developing a successful direct mail campaign is determining your target audience. You can design the most engaging mail piece, but if it isn’t mailed to the appropriate prospects, the likelihood of receiving any calls or clicks to your website drops dramatically. The right marketing mailing lists maximize the success of your campaign.

There are critical steps to take before you take the step to rent or buy mailing lists. To get the desired outcome, determine who will respond to your product, service, or special offer.

Perhaps your ideal customers are the ones you already have. Maybe your ideal customer is slightly different than your current base. Either way, it’s best to think about what demographics make up your ideal customer.

Jot down a list of characteristics like:

  • Pie chart with three colors and people standing in each section.Household income
  • Homeowner or new homeowner
  • Single, married or divorced
  • Children or no children
    • Number of children
    • Age of children
  • Do they live in a specific neighborhood with certain home values?
    • How long have they lived there?
    • What amenities does the home have (like a pool)?

All of these factors play into the right targeted mailing list you can use to attract new ideal customers. These traits will help determine the type of marketing mailing lists to use.

Final Thoughts

After you’ve selected the best type of list for your direct mail campaign, personalize your mailer for the best results. Use the names and consider the specific criteria of your mailing list to inform the design of your direct mail pieces and engage customers.

If you’re addressing a new homeowner, congratulate them on their new home. If your list is households with children, highlight kids in some way whether through imagery or special offers. If your mailing list provides the prospects’ names, use variable data printing to personalize mail pieces with their first name. Personalization in a mail piece only strengthens your chances of the person reading your mail and taking action. 

We Can Help

If you don’t have an internal marketing team to design your next direct mail campaign from start to finish, turn to One Stop Mail – we do all the heavy lifting for you.  From professional, eye-catching design and inexpensive mailing lists to data services and deploying your mailings, you can depend on One Stop Mail to deliver outstanding results and help you stand out in the mailbox.  Call 602-233-3003 to get started on your successful campaign, today. 

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Winter is coming: Get a jump on your holiday direct marketing tactics

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When it comes to holiday marketing, it’s time to start planning for it. The Holiday season – starting with Black Friday and continuing through New Years – is prime retail season for everyone, and you should focus your budget on proven direct marketing tactics.

Direct marketing via postal mail can still have a vital role to play, especially for smaller shops looking to compete with the “big box” stores in town. Creative, interesting, and engaging holiday marketing materials will help ensure people remember you, no matter what Macy’s has on special.

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Personalize Your Direct Mail Campaign Without Crossing the Line

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One of the most contentious issues in marketing today is the issue of privacy, especially in regards to data-gathering.  A recent Pew Poll showed significant across-the-board concerns about the amount of private information that’s getting into the hands of business, and this is undoubtedly affecting customers’ attitudes towards companies and targeted direct mail campaigns.
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How to Purchase the Right Business Direct Mail Lists

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Do you need to purchase  business direct mail lists to make your next mail effort a success?

It’s a complicated question.  In years past, there was no question, but these days people are a lot more protective of their personal information and less likely to respond to “cold” advertisements than ever before.  Direct mail campaigns are still a great way to reach people, you just have to be a bit more savvy about how you go about it.

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Testing Your Direct Mail Campaign

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Uncover strategies that get better campaign results and use them to get bigger results  

It’s exhilarating to get results from a marketing campaign. Finally, the hard work and cost of crafting an effective ad campaign. Keep your celebration short – there’s more work to do with direct mail testing to keep the success going over the long-run.  

Although you know that your campaign worked – what was it that resonated with future customers? Did you have the right direct mail list?   

Or, maybe it was the offer that did all the heavy lifting. Pinpoint the element that worked best with direct mail testing so you know what to use or change before your next campaign.  

Testing Matters

In the article “Successful Direct Mail Is All in the Testing” by Lois Geller, she tells an interesting client story. Her team had developed a new marketing approach for a correspondence school. The new method was more expensive than the old one.  

The client used the same offer for the new campaign and got the same number of responses as the old. Because the new campaign was more expensive to deploy, the client dismissed Geller’s team and went back to the old method. 

Geller reports that something interesting happened. “Two years later our creative director ran into the client at a convention. The client said that our package had become the company’s control because, for some reason, it brought in a better class of customer, the kind of people who stick with the program a lot longer—and who are willing to pay a lot more money.”  

The client was just counting the number of responses rather than the quality of people who responded. When they discovered that their new customers stayed longer, they used the latest campaign to get better results. This is how you find a marketing element that can create higher ROI.  

Two men at laptops discuss testing

Review the data from A/B tests and deploy the best tactics.

What to Test?

The best elements to test for a direct mail campaign are the list and the offer according to the article “Direct Mail Testing – A/B split and multi-variable testing”. 

Sure, the copy and images are key components, but the elements with the biggest impact on ROI are the list and the offer. So, if you have limited time and resources, test the list and offer.   

Direct Mail Testing

The preferred test method is to focus on one element at a time to pinpoint the one that is working for you. If your current campaign has met your campaign goals, use it as the “control.”  

Create a test campaign to send at the same time as the control and monitor the results.  

In the test campaign, choose to either send the mailing to a different list – or, use a different offer. Track all the data and the results to see whether you get a better response from the new list or offer, or the old one.  

At some point, you may want to test your creative. You can do this by changing out the image that you use in your campaign, a key copy component of the mailer or you can use a different weight of paper to see if you get a better response. Make sure that you change only one element.  

After testing, create a new campaign that uses the elements that had the best results.  

It’s all about the data 

Creative brainstorming can get heated – many experienced marketers have developed an opinion based on what has worked for them in the past.  

To ensure that the future is better than the present, keep an open mind to what the data from direct mail testing is telling you. Remember – it’s not about who is right, smartest, or most skilled, the data will tell you what works with no ego involved.  

Just keep testing, improving, and growing more success.  Have questions? Contact the pros at One Stop Mail – we’re happy to help!

 

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Building the Best Direct Mail Campaigns

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With a well-rounded understanding of the difference between branding and marketing, irresistible offers, and tracking methods, any business can craft the best direct mail campaigns. Below is a sample marketing campaign to show the benefits and ease of creation for even small business owners.

Branding or Marketing the Best Direct Mail Campaigns

 

Quality-Auto Used Cars is gearing up for an end of summer marketing campaign. They are purchasing many used vehicles and know they need to sell 200 vehicles during their upcoming weekend event. Jeff, the marketing specialist for the dealership, determines they need a direct mail marketing campaign due to their expectations of trackable results, not simply brand recognition for the dealership. With the understanding that getting people onto the car lot will require incentives, the dealership staff begins to brainstorm ideas.

Crafting an Irresistible Offer

 

The best direct mail campaigns will have a strong core offering that attracts the ideal customer. The dealership staff discuss core offerings for some time and ultimately decide every attendee will receive a hot dog and soda during the “End of Summer Blowout BBQ”. All test drivers who purchase a vehicle will receive a $100 gas card, and 3 lucky winners will receive a BBQ smoker.

Implementing a Tracking Method

 

Quality-Auto Used Cars decides they will design the campaign postcard as cut-out tickets which can be used as food vouchers and raffle prize entry tickets. This allows the dealership to track the turnout based on the response to the direct mail marketing postcards. The dealership will ask customers where they heard of the event during the sale process to ensure all vehicle sales resulting from the direct mail campaign are given due credit.

Contacting a Direct Mail Marketing Company

 

Jeff, the dealership’s marketing specialist contacts Tony from One Stop Mail to get help with the direct mail marketing campaign. Tony suggests using One Stop Mail’s graphic design services to create a captivating illustration for the direct mail postcards. Once Jeff approves the final design, One Stop Mail uses Every Door Direct Mail, a USPS service, to deliver the postcard to all homes within a 5-mile radius of the dealership. One Stop Mail handles the difficult work and ensures the postcards are printed, sorted, and delivered at the local post office to be mailed by USPS.

Analyzing the Campaign

 

Now that the team at Quality-Auto Used cars completes their weekend long sale event, they can analyze the campaign see the benefit of direct mail marketing. Iterations are important in all forms of marketing. As a result, the dealership staff determines if they want to run a second mail marketing campaign using variable data printing, to ensure all prospects who did not purchase a car will receive a voucher for a free oil change and tire rotation with purchase of a vehicle.

This re-marketing allows the dealership to capture a greater percentage of consumers who showed an initial interest in a vehicle and attended the sale event, With variable data printing, the dealership was able to customize each letter sent, using the name of each person who test-drove a vehicle to add a personalized touch and increase the response rate.

As you are planning one of the best direct mail marketing campaigns for your business, contact One Stop Mail for a quote or simply call 602.233.3003 to learn more about how we can help you achieve your marketing goals.

 

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Stand Out in the Mailbox with These Direct Mail Tips

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Direct mail is still one of the most popular, affordable, and effective forms of marketing available… but you need to catch people’s attention quickly.  Forty four percent is never opened, and most of that boils down to a failure of presentation and not using well-known direct mail tips.

When consumers are time-pressed, your direct mail needs to immediately grab their attention and become the first thing they open.

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Leverage the Advantages of Direct Mail when Marketing Locally

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You may think the advantages of direct mail might seem like last century’s marketing, but it’s not!

Despite all the advances in digital advertising in the previous decades, good old direct mail is still one of the single most effective and cost-effective marketing options available for local outreach.  Physical mail never went away, and it’s still one of the most-used communications methods in the country.

If you haven’t thought about direct mail lately, here are a few things you might want to know about just how effective it still  is!

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Successful Direct Mail Campaigns Create Brand Recognition

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One common mistake we see when an organization embraces direct mail is creating only one piece of mail for a given campaign. Sure, a little mail marketing is better than none, but it’s not the most effective method to develop successful direct mail campaigns.

Mailbox marketing can be a rewarding way of building brand awareness and engaging your leads via multiple types of messaging. Since virtually everyone checks their mailbox once a day, it gives you ample opportunity to put your brand in front of people… and in a format that’s separate from the distractions of nonstop electronic advertisements.

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