who has used direct mailing for advertising??

[superdave013]

How did it work out for you and who's service did you use?

[riverbound]

We used it quite a bit when I was with Al&Eds and we had a lot of success with it. Dont remember the name of the servoce though.

[HocusPocus]

its always been a hit and miss sort of thing when i have done it. if the planets are in the right alignment and you target the right potential customers.. it can be a good thing. :)

[Froggystyle]

We direct mail to our registered folks and so far we have gotten extremely good response from it. Not spam though... registered folks who want the info from us.
As with anything, there has to be a payoff and a price paid for the information you are getting. We have always strove to provide a "payoff" for the e-mail information we got over the course of the last four years. We send out updates on the boats to the registered folks first, give discounted prices first and give them the first-come information regarding our events and tour dates.
People throw away stuff they don't ask for. You need to provide something for them to ask for to do it properly. 5% off a purchase to complete a survey for example... maybe 5% off all purchases if you are registered on the list or something. Send out updates with preferred pricing to the folks on the list. I dunno...

[HocusPocus]

We direct mail to our registered folks and so far we have gotten extremely good response from it. Not spam though... registered folks who want the info from us.
As with anything, there has to be a payoff and a price paid for the information you are getting. We have always strove to provide a "payoff" for the e-mail information we got over the course of the last four years. We send out updates on the boats to the registered folks first, give discounted prices first and give them the first-come information regarding our events and tour dates.
People throw away stuff they don't ask for. You need to provide something for them to ask for to do it properly. 5% off a purchase to complete a survey for example... maybe 5% off all purchases if you are registered on the list or something. Send out updates with preferred pricing to the folks on the list. I dunno...
thats very good advice..
also if you give any kind of discounts with your ads, make sure to put an expiration date on it, this will give it a sense of urgency. people are more likely to take advantage of the discounts if they know its only good for a limited time.

[selfmade]

Ive done it as well as some of my buddies it seems that we get about a .5 percent response it was like that for all of us. i used a company called monrovia mailers for all the packaging and mailing but as far as the demographics were concerned i did my own research

[superdave013]

some good advice and tips. Please keep them comming.
Pretty much I make DOT brake hoses for just about any car, truck or what ever. I can make them anyway you want while you wait. But I need to get the word out better. I would like to send something to all the auto repair / brake repair shops in the area.
They say advertising is a 50/50 deal. 50% works but you just don't know what 50 that is. lol
I seem to do well when I just go out and make cold calls. But I work by myself so when I do that my shop is closed. kinda a catch 22 thing.

[HM]

If you do decide to use direct mail, make sure you do a survey of people who have never bought from you in regards to what think would be your best mail piece. Have a few pieces made up, by you or a professional in this area. The cool thing is that the potential client will tell you what your best piece is that they would respond to, and, you will get some clients. And, you don't waste any money on a piece no one will respond to. I am actually doing this survey process right now.
There is a formula for direct mail. You need an attention grabber and you need a call to action. The whole point of advertising is to make the phone ring - not make sales.
I do direct mail, but I am in a drastically different market. But I get response rates of anywhere from 1/8% to a little over 1%. I have mailed to the same exact area with the same exact mail piece and gotten the above spread. Direct mail is a process, not a 1 or 2 time dealio.

[h2oski2fast]

Direct mail seems to be far more successful for businesses that provide a service rather than a product. The major hurdle with direct mailing is getting the mailer into the customer's hand at the time they need the service and/or product. If someone needs carpet cleaning and a cleaner's mailer hits the person's hand at that time the success rate is much higher. If they aren't in need of the service/ product at the time, the direct mailer goes directly to the trash. Pun intended.

[In2Deep]

I have mailed to the same exact area with the same exact mail piece and gotten the above spread. Direct mail is a process, not a 1 or 2 time dealio.
Bingo. If you're looking for a one-shot success, your odds of winning are pretty low -- especially if your company's consumer "awareness" is low.
I2D

[ChumpChange]

I would like to send something to all the auto repair / brake repair shops in the area.
I'm not sure if mailing is any good when it comes to a B2B transaction. There is a lot more that goes into this type of transaction than just a great product. A business is going to want more of a personal touch to know that you will be able to meet their needs so they can meet the needs of their customers.
Shaking hands is still the best way to instill trust in business. Although broken often, shaking a hand will get you in the door to trust a little easier than a peice of paper stating what you can do for them.

[ratso]

I have a friend that does this for a company called ADVO I think... it's made him a fairly wealthy individual...

[roostwear]

Geezus dude... what do you think I do for a living? All you had to do is call if you wanted advise.....