Archive for July 21st, 2009
Jul
21
A Direct Mail Campaign Can Make Your Phone Ring…Answer It!
The purpose of direct mail advertising is to generate leads. Remember, you still have to make the sale.
The call to action for many direct mail campaigns is the telephone. Who’s answering yours?
- Is it a worker, with other responsibilities, that may consider a ringing phone an interuption?
- Is it someone who is shy and wants to get off the phone as soon as possible?
- Is it a good employee who would do a good job on the phone, if only he or she had been briefed about the mailing?
- Is it your answering machine?
In each one of the situations above, you probably won’t convert that telephone lead to a sale. And a few weeks later you might scratch your head a say, I guess direct mail advertising doesn’t work!
A successful campaign is more than designing, printing and mailing a postcard. You have got to be prepared and answer the phone in a professional manner. Make sure you have the answers to the questions prospects are likely to ask.
Avoid taking messages for call backs. If you must take a message, or if you are using an answer machine, give the caller a time frame (as short as possible) that their call will be returned.
Handle your incoming phones better and you’ll see better results from all of your advertising efforts.
Jul
21
Create A Neighborhood Mailing List Using Mail Carrier Routes
Using United States Postal Service Mail Carrier Routes is an effective way to create a mailing list.
Zip Codes are made up of Mail Carrier Routes. A Mail Carrier Route defines the daily route of a postman and average 300 to 500 deliveries.
A mailing list created with carrier routes will qualify for saturation postal rates – the lowest available.
Compared to a zip code mailing (which can have 10,000 deliveries or more) picking individual carrier routes allows you to target specific neighborhoods. In addition to precise geographic targeting, demographics for each carrier route are also available including the average age and income of the residents and the average home values in the neighborhood.
The illustration below shows a typical mail carrier route boundary map.
Example Of A Mail Carrier Route Map
The business shown in the center (home) of the map can pick specific neighborhoods using carrier routes. The carrier routes chosen do not have to be adjacent to one another and can even include those from another zip code.
If you would like a free mail carrier route map, showing your business in the center, give us a call Mon-Fri 9-6 Eastern Time at 866-594-3069.
