targeted mailings

[ffp]

Would like some advice on targeted mailings to existing customers. Have used software (LS) for 4 years, so have a pretty complete listing of customers. Specifically if you have used targeted mailings-
1. Who did you mail- all of just over certain amount of purchase (what was criteria)?
2. What enticement did you use to get them in- discounts, free mat upgrade, etc?
3. What exactly did you mail- postcard, computer printed flyer, commercial printed piece, etc, and how much color was used on the piece?
4. Better response with bulk mail rates versus 1st class (which is more expensive)?
5.How often do you mail?
6. Was there really that better of a response in handprinted addresses versus printed labels (hand addressing is very time consuming, not to mention the hand cramps when you're talking 500+ names!)?
7. What do you consider a good response rate in terms of actually making a sale off of the piece?
8. Are there any months that mailings work well (or don't)?

I would like to mail a computer printed flyer printed on both sides (not to crowded though) on brightly colored paper with maybe one additional color to grab attention and need some suggestions/thought/ideas on what to offer as the grabber to get my existing customers back in... Comments Please!

[RonEggers]

Welcome to the Grumble, ffp!

I don't do a lot of mailing, so I can't address (sorry) most of your points, but I have a couple of thoughts. (After that, I'm thoughtless.)

I track customer purchasing habits pretty closely. If I see that I have some customers that were frequent visitors over a period of time, and then disappeared, I'll probably send a note. Often, it turns out they were decorating a new home or office and, when they were done, they stopped coming in (until the next round of decoraing, at least.) But what if they lost track of me during one of my five moves? Or what if they were unhappy about some little (or big) thing and just waiting for someone to ask about it? Sometimes they just need to be reminded that you still exist and you still value their business.

The other time I always send out a note, is when a new customer mentions an existing customer that recommended me. I at least send out a nice thank-you. Sometimes it's flowers, depending on what kind of customer they refer.

I like first class over bulk mail, since I'm not going to send out mail to all 5,500 people at once. I've been using Stamps.com online postage The look you get is not real warm and fuzzy, but it's neat and professional looking, it will manage your addresses and put them in a format that will get delivered more efficiently (including extended zip codes) and it helps track your postage expenses by grouping them any way you want and providing reports. I'll provide more detials on this if anybody wants it.

I expect to do a lot more direct mail next year when my street gets torn up. Good luck with your mailing.

[John Ranes II, CPF, GCF]

Welcome ffp,

We do a fair amount of direct mail, usually running from 3 to 7 mailed pieces per year. Mailing size varies from 300 to 6,000, but it's mostly targeted to our internal mailing list and often added external names.

We have an advantage in that we sell more than just framing and art, so this enables us to use some other "excuses" to reach out and say hello - Gifts, Collectibles and Home Decor items.

Similar to Ron, we were faced with major road construction project about four years ago. Our entire 4 lane road was being rebuilt and expanded to 5 lanes.....Scheduled construction time was 5 months. Concerned, we prepared the mailing piece below.

http://members.aol.com/jerserwi/images/construction_pc2.jpg

This was mailed as a first class postcard to over 3,000 people. What we did that was different, was mail this in batches of 300 about every two weeks during the construction period. This assured a steady stream of customers throughout the construction, rather than one big surge of discounters than drout.

Results were that we never flucuated more than 10% of our norm during the entire period. If you use the same postcard, Ron, be sure to change Northland Avenue to College Avenue. http://www.thegrumble.com/framer/ubbs/smile.gif

John

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The Frame Workshop of Appleton, Inc.
www.theframeworkshop.com (http://www.theframeworkshop.com)
Appleton, Wisconsin
jerserwi@aol.com
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[This message has been edited by John Ranes II, CPF, GCF (edited October 10, 2001).]

[AnneL]

Sure, John. Tell Ron he can use your postcard them make the link to see it unusable. Clever!(Just Joking!)

We do several direct mail promotions a year and want to expand to send out newsletters soon about 2-3 times a year. We've used both bulk and first class, it depends on the look you are going for and the size of the run. There are minimum size restrictions on bulk mailings, so if you are looking at smaller runs, you'll need to use first class mail. Some speakers I've seen have said that using first class and nice envelopes to make it look like a personal piece of mail as opposed to junk mail gets a better response. Make sure the enclosed pieces look good too if going for the high class route.

I've had things done both by a printer and in house. If you have the technology and talent in house, you can design a good piece yourself. A good layout program (Publisher, Adobe Pagemaker, etc.) and a good printer (laser printers are faster and look better, mine is black ink only), scanner if you want to ad your own graphics/pictures and your set. Print it on fancy colored paper so it looks professional, Paperdirect makes some beautiful ones.

Also, if you have your data base on a computer, you can do a mail merge and have it print the addresses on for you in a font that looks like it is hand written. No more writer's cramp!

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Anne LeBouton

[AnneL]

By the time I posted, John got the problem with the link fixed. Nice card! Ron will need to change more than the street name though, he doesn't carry the same things John does. http://www.thegrumble.com/framer/ubbs/wink.gif

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Anne LeBouton

[ArtLady]

From personal experience I can tell you that anything that you mail to them will bring you business in two weeks. You could write about the petting cats or cutting mats and they would come in. So what will bring in the most traffic? Something interesting about something that interests them. So try a newsletter and hit several points of interest. ie New Exciting frames, new artwork, personalize a member of your staff, talke about new decor or send them a gift certificate. Then sit back and wait for two weeks.

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Timberwoman
AL
I cut the mat, I pet the =^..^= cat.

[Cheryl Crocker CPF GCF]

If you are using Lifesaver, you can work that database! When I had a gallery, I would send out notices to collectors on new pieces thanks to the filtering process which I could break down into medium, subject, etc!

If you are looking for something to do quarterly, try one of the postcard publishing houses...for about $95 you can get 500+ slick, professional cards printed. For about $185, you can have a notecard done. Take a photo of new artwork or a fabulous frame for the image... keep the mailings to your base clients consistent.

Try a newsletter. Show off a new matting technique or introduce a new line of moulding.

Depending on where you are, get a list of new and potential home owners in whatever price range you want. Send them some mail. Have a "call to action" like: Buy one mat, 2nd half off Month of May or whatever.

Check the hospitals to see if you can add a coupon or card to the new mother's gift bag/basket.

Check with the Chamber of Commerce to get a list of prospective home/business owners.

There is a way to get bulk mail rates labelled individually, though you usually have to use a service for this.

The key is consistent advertising. Finding ways to not only bring back existing clientele, but direct new ones to YOUR store.

[ffp]

Thanks everyone for great ideas. Will let you know how it goes. Any and all suggestions are always welcome!!!

[John Richards]

Check out this months Art Business News. Great article by Murray Raphel on direct mail. Answers almost all your questions. Also check out Framing Business News...John is featured in the "Selling the Holiday Season" with direct mail and his Parade Float!

John

[Sherry]

I normally use first class postcards (normally printed in two color ink) to my customer database about twice a year. Last year I tried a mailing house and mailed to 3,000 customers quarterly, which didn't work out too good so I won't try that again. We'll see what happens this week... I've just mailed out 1100 postcards announcing a "welcome to our new addition" party for our CMC. The customer will get a free 8x10 fancy mat (from scrap mat board) and get to watch the cutter work. Normally I have better luck mailing to my customers plus about a list of about 200 good potential customers that I keep on a separate database. Those customers come from my greatest source of new homeowners in the area... a Southern welcome wagon program that provides me with a list of homeowners visited during the month. If those customers don't come in the shop within 6 weeks, I write them a second handwritten post card and place them in a database I keep separate from my true customers. It is my intention to beging mailing a framing newsletter to all customers next year, similar to the one in Picture Framing Magazine.