Direct mail return rate

Adkins Cleaning Sol.

Adkins Cleaning Sol.

New member
What can I expect on sending a 1000 postcards to high income houses. Any advice would be appreciated, getting ready to pull the trigger just need the push. Thanks
 
There are too many variables to expect a certain % return, a lot of guys say that if you get from 0.05% to a 1.0% return you are doing good.

Some of the variables are the marketing message, pictures on the piece, if it is too busy and loses their attention, if it is even looked at before thrown away, what neighborhood it goes to, if the decision maker sees the card, what you are promoting, how you are promoting it, what time of year you are promoting it, if there are other things happening at the same time in your city/town can have an affect on the return like carnivals, parades, festivals, etc..... lots and lots of things can affect what kind of percentage you will get so it is hard to say, especially if you don't post what you are sending out so it can be critiqued first to see if people think it is a good promotion piece.

Good luck.
 
The day they receive it is the biggest thing you need to concentrate on...try arrange it so they DO NOT get them on junk mail day.
 
Adkins Cleaning Sol. said:
What can I expect on sending a 1000 postcards to high income houses. Any advice would be appreciated, getting ready to pull the trigger just need the push. Thanks
Click to expand...

Not good. You would be better off mailing to 100 houses 10 times. Then the return might be just okay.
 
Christopher said:
There are too many variables to expect a certain % return, a lot of guys say that if you get from 0.05% to a 1.0% return you are doing good.

Some of the variables are the marketing message, pictures on the piece, if it is too busy and loses their attention, if it is even looked at before thrown away, what neighborhood it goes to, if the decision maker sees the card, what you are promoting, how you are promoting it, what time of year you are promoting it, if there are other things happening at the same time in your city/town can have an affect on the return like carnivals, parades, festivals, etc..... lots and lots of things can affect what kind of percentage you will get so it is hard to say, especially if you don't post what you are sending out so it can be critiqued first to see if people think it is a good promotion piece.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

We averaged around 1/3% on around 100k pieces a few years ago.
 
I sent about 7000 this year. all together it cost me about $2000 and most importantly only 2 days of work. It was my first time, so I didn't know what I was doing how to package and ship. The way I look at marketing is this, After it paid itself off, its all gravy. My 2000 was paid off in 2 jobs. I had completed about 19 jobs from the mailer, but 7000 people received my card, helping the "Brand" I will be sending more mailers, people hold on to them.
 
I have been debating on doing direct mail myself. Are you guys using EEDM or sending them out to a mailing list you built yourself?
 
First time I sent out direct mail and did great with it, this time im in the process of sending out myself. I bought the list this time and getting my secretary to make up the address labels. Ill let you know how this works out
 
Very interesting, I enjoy trying to solve the "effective" marketing puzzle. Here is a summary with some personal exp. added... Working as professional power washers, we seem to always be looking for ways to improve upon our marketing strategies. One question always seems to dominate my thought process whenever and wherever. “How do I get a better rate of return on my flier distribution?” True, cost is a concern although in most cases 1 job will cover your expenses. (Stamps, envelopes, etc…)

You are driving along on a Sunday afternoon, and happen to notice a neighborhood that could use services from all of your qualifications, certifications, and just years of power washing know-how.

You get excited thinking just how blessed you are to have the Power Washing Gods smile down upon you. You grab your pin and pad jotting down streets and addresses, sometimes doubling back just to make sure you wrote down this pertinent information correctly.

Because you are the consummate professional business manager, of course you have a nice batch of fliers already prepared. Listing all the services your company provides, guaranteeing fair pricing, and quality work, because we all are out there representing the Power Wash Community So well.

Your batch of fliers is prepped and ready to go. You head to the P.O. say a prayer, and drop your fliers. All that is left to do is sit and wait for that phone to start ringing, and email request to start pouring in.

Sounds familiar?

If so, this is something that is referred to as Spray & Pay. Galvin, D. (2013) states, “a lot of pressure washers buy large quantities of post cards cheap, and then distribute them to every address they can find, then pray for someone to call.”

The error in this marketing approach is that there is no strategic plan, and lack of a designated targeted audience.

I found this statement to be quite beneficial when I started to prepare my next marketing blitz. “If you have everybody for a prospect I can guarantee you will have nobody as a client!” (Galvin, 2013).

If you were to take anything from this information, the underlying tone would be the need to have and or develop a NICHE. Power washers all seem to have the same mindset or think, their services could really help just about everyone. I’m kind of guilty of this thought myself. (Galvin, 2013).

Power washers are fortunate to be in a niche business that has niches within. The more narrowly you define your market the easier it will be to target potential clients, also costing you less to advertise and market your services. (Galvin, 2013).

Try to approach your next marketing blitz in this manner, for the sample; we will look at “House Washing.”

Now we know our target market is the homeowner, but what homes and surfaces are you looking to clean? Are you cleaning vinyl siding, stucco, wood? A well-defined niche helps you identify your clients, thus costing you less money, time, and energy when trying to get their attention.

ATTENTION HOMEROWNER

“Attention Homer Owner:” (General): As stated, a general attention grabber, to be used if you are already working in an area, and you’re familiar with the homes.

“Attention Running Brook Estates Residents:” (Narrower): works well for developments. This opening will grab the homeowner’s attention because their development is listed on the postcard/flier.

“Attention Homeowners with a wooden deck:” General attention grabber that has been narrowed down to a specific niche, deck restorations.

Having a specific marketing niche will garner the potential clients that you are trying to attract. Think of it this way, you have now drafted a personal ad for a specific type of client that you would like to work with. You have their attention, because you know who they are. Your response rate of return will increase and the cost of each client will decrease. (Galvin, 2013).

Special thanks to Mr. Dan Galvin, owner of East Coast Power Washing and the founder of SuccessInPowerWashing.com for providing such insightful information.

Reference:

Galvin, D. (March, 2013). Spray and Pay. eClean Magazine. March, 2013, pgs. 26-27.
 
tigerwash said:
So is the consensus here that direct mail is effective and worth it or not? I don't see these fractions of percentage returns really adding up.
Click to expand...

A 1% return is good in my book. 500-700 cards (mailed) cost maybe 2-300 bucks. 1% return would be 5-7 jobs x whatever the average price per job is. If the average price per job is 300, that's 1,500 - 2,100 minus expenses (BAMM!).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top