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Good rainy Sunday topic...I am interested in anyone with a measured response from direct mailing. By measured response I mean positive response, be it new customer, orders, etc. Something tangible that you were able to see as a response to your mailing. Such as a new customer coming in, or a new order being placed, as a result of receiving your mailing. Also type of piece (coupon, brochure) full color, b&w, number of pieces mailed, time of year, total costs, etc. Seeing as there are so many framers with some form of pricing software and data base I am interested in seeing how many use this information effectively. Please don't use guesstimates. I know all about the intagible benefits, but for this discussion let's keep it to the bottom line, brass tacks, show me the money benefits. Go Patriots!
 
The accepted success rate for direct mail in any industry worldwide is 2 to 3% anything above this is considered to be VERY successful.

For example if the computer industry gets a 2% response they are very pleased……….one worldwide computer business are obtaining a 6%+ response in Ireland and the UK for there consumer business at present, with a very high conversation to sales and up sell rate from there direct mail program………………..guess whose marketing guy’s are getting a big clap on the back at present………….and I expect nice bonuses in there pay check.

My understanding is that there is very little difference in response rates regardless of what business sector you are in.

I guess you will have to work out a business model to measure the success of a program which is specific to your business………….map the process/program and work out what you can measure in your set up.

BTW:- Great subject…………….and Welcome to The Grumble.

Regds

Dermot
 
We ALWAYS track our print advertising to measure response. (Now, of course,we are not only in the framing business, but other businesses as well... art supplies, drafting, some crafts... anything to turn a buck) Anyway, one thing we use is a coupon book like ValPak, but local and bound. For years it has been $2 off any $5 purchase... we write on returned coupons the date returned, the amount spent and whether the customer is new or returning. Response has been drifting downward, so we upped the ante. Now it is $5 off a $25 purchase. LOTS more came in, and a lot of those were for custom framing. So we will run with that a while...
 
Originally posted by Green Genes:
...I am interested in anyone with a measured response from direct mailing......
Tough..........that is getting valid data. Even some of the POS software allows you to ask customers how they heard about your business (Some can even make this a mandatory question to close a screen!), but customers don't always know, remember or are influenced by multiple stimulants.

How many times have you asked a customer how they heard about you, and they stated, "Oh I saw this in the newspaper." And you know you hadn't advertised in the newspaper for 3 years!

Granted, if you're doing direct mail pieces that have to be redemmed. then this is a different story. But most of us are seriously leaning away from offering discount coupons on framing. Personally we haven't offered a coupon pormotion like this in 7 years, and don't plan on it. Interestingly, of the 14+ framing businesses in our market area, only one had a coupon in the two major mailing pieces that came out during this past month. (This shop was not in the top ten on that list either.) Well, this has been discussed before, and the archives are loaded with the dangers of discounts.....on to your questions.

I will share with you that our last mailing was a oversized postcard (FramerSelect) with a postive message, and no discount offer. We had a huge response and framing volume increased about 18% during the three week period around the mailing. The mailing size was about 7,000 units, partially internal database, and some external.

Also type of piece (coupon, brochure) full color, b&w, number of pieces mailed, time of year, total costs, etc. Seeing as there are so many framers with some form of pricing software and data base I am interested in seeing how many use this information effectively.
</font>
  • Format is typically postcards, standard sized and oversized, but we do occaisionally send out letters and brochures. Mailing size varies from 200-8,000 with the average about 4,500 pieces.</font>
  • We attempt to mail throughout the year evenly.</font>
  • We have our POS program in place but have not used it to pull for specific mailings yet. We probably will, but recognize that purging is a big part of making this work. We're more likely to pull this information and add it to our other databases.</font>
  • We currently use a mailing service, after years of doing this internally. :( Use the outside service people!</font>
John
 
John,

Have you noticed a significant response difference between standard-sized postcards vs. oversized cards?

Do you think the response benefit of using the larger cards outweighs the extra postage?

We have always done standard-sized postcards, but are just getting ready to roll out a mailing with the large (FramerSelect) postcards.

Any thoughts?
 
Hi Max,

We've used standard sized full-colored postcards as supplied by several of our gift vendors for a number of years, with very good success. However there is no question that Oversized postcards have great impact! Just check your own incoming mail at home and you'll notice that a number of marketing savy companies are using this sized formatted mailing piece for impact.

We're using not only the FramerSelect cards, but have also use the oversized postcards that Larson-Juhl supplies their partners. The key to utilizing any pre-printed material is to make it look "like yours".

The smaller postcards have the advantage of being mailed at postcard rates (22 cents - last time I looked) and getting address verification with FIRST CLASS handlin. Oversized postcards mailed at bulk rate, especially by third parties, really cost about the same!

John
 
Hey Green genes! welcome to the grumble from one great "UNDERDOG's" Fan to another!! ;) We have had good response from our direct mail campaigns. When we do letters we try to hand address all we can. Oversize postcards do cost a bit more but they seem to get noticed more too.
The hard thing is definately the tracking part. I have had customers come in 6-8 months after the mailing and mention receiving it. We did one mailing specifically talking about shadowboxing war memorabelia and suddenly had a surge in orders for them, without much mention of the mailing at all. :confused:
 
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