Your Questions About Direct Marketing

Jere answers:

G’day Kathy N,

I had a direct market campaign sent out recently for my company.

I’ll give you several suggestions and it’s up to use if you would like to use them. It’s a small list, but it should serve as a base of ideas for you to work from, beside I do not know what you actually do so any of this advice could be useless?

For the name:

Dear Associate/s
Dear Friend
Dear Business Owner
Dear Company Owner/Director

To My Potential Customer (very cheeky!)
To the Business Owner

ATTN: Marketing Director
ATTN: Business Owner

For the details:

For a more personalised approach, hand write everything and stick on a stamp, it’s more time consuming and more expensive (55cents), but the opening rate is increased by 60% as opposed to a typed letter and an electronic postage paid stamp(36.5cents non-essential mail delivery).

Good Luck.

Jean (Johnny) Warwick
OZ-E-Advertising – Director
www.isuggest.com.au

Disclaimer: Please seek legal advice before undertaking any plans, I’m just advising from personal experience only.

Jere answers:

So basically…..you want a model who’s excellent in marketing and operations??

Jere answers:

There are some obvious tools that have been used or decades, one is a newsprint circular stuffed inside another newspaper; perhaps less costly, but doesn’t stand out on its own. Then, there is the same circular that is available inside the market; less costly, but more effective as you have that person inside the Market. TV, though not “direct” is a shotgun attempt to get someone’s attention to make purchases, but no retention of details are possible because it is virtual, nothing physical in hand.

Mail is expensive, even as Bulk Standard Mail; let’s say a newsprint circular; costing somewhere between 20 and 35 cents per piece mailed, perhaps more if letter size or flat size, where weight and thickness are real issues. The good part is that these are addressed to individuals; adding personalization. However, are you interested in seeing your name on the piece or the “Deals” inside that will result in savings or get you to purchase those wild truffles at $150 per pound? For me, it’s all about what’s inside.

Though around for quite some time, Saturation Mail could be the ultimate answer. About one year ago, the USPS made Saturation Mail available to most everyone and called it Every Door Direct Mail, or EDDM. For a flat size piece of mail, with some minor restrictions, following directions issued by the USPS, one can mail that flat size piece for less than 15 cents each. The major restriction is that an entire carrier route needs to be mailed, not portions of it. You can target neighborhoods or just around where the Market is and target consumers only if desired and skip the businesses or, target both. For a Supermarket, EDDM is an answer to a prayer. Targeted and Cost Effective.

For research on EDDM, do an online search for EDDM or Every Door Direct Mail. The USPS will provide you with enough material on the subject to keep you busy for a week.

Jere answers:

Contact me via email for the answer.

Jere answers:

3 times a month seems like way too much, they’ll start getting annoyed. That’s 36 times per year, way too much, they’ll start seeing it and just closing it, or worse putting it through a spam filter as junk mail.

If you do it, do it the classy way. Make sure to ask them if they’d like to sign up for free e-coupons, never assume that just because they’re customers that they will want them automatically, and you don’t want to become a nuisance or they’ll find someone who isn’t.

Then I suggest doing it once per month. Not only is this easier for your customers, and makes it more likely for them to pay attention to each one, but it’s also easier for you to draft up and send.