Recommendations for a (mini <500) direct mail campaign?
I have distribution list and brief copy ready to go.
Delivery to continental US only.
Is there an online DIY service available?
Check out Click2Mail.com. It has all types of mail formats such as postcards, flyers and letters in envelopes; format and design templates plus all the tools you'll need for designing your mailpiece are online and free to access. It's all DIY.
There are no minimum volumes and no subscription or registration fees, you only pay for what you mail. Postage is discounted for any volume of mail.
Address standardization (list cleanup) is included as well as postal barcoding and tracking through the USPS.
Live customer support is available during business hours as well as video tutorials and a comprehensive knowledge base.
ReachDynamics is a tool that may be of interest to you - digital direct mail. You can utilize your own list or build one from your website traffic. They have an easy self-serve platform and allow you a ton of ways - outside of the traditional build-a-list-and-send-a-postcard model to reach people.
They can identify your website visitors with their technology and deliver a well-timed remarketing postcard to them.
They can take your uploaded email list, and convert it to a mailing list and deliver direct mail as well. They can even take cues from your CRM for certain triggers and automatically drop a piece of direct mail when someone creates a predefined trigger.
They start around $0.59 per postcard.
http://get.reachdynamics.com/1/
http://www.reachdynamics.com
We are a private equity firm as well as financial advisor for cross border deals. We mainly focus on client in america but also europe. We have been a member of the business community in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina for over 30years. I have a degree in Business Management and Economics from North Carolina State University.
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Doug — You have already received some good general answers, but you didn't mention what your product or service is and what kind of potential clientele you are trying to reach. To get the most out of the experienced professionals on this forum, try to be as specific as you can in describing your challenge. I wish you the best of success in this venture!
For small mailings, I've just normally done them by hand. Turn on a movie and fold/stuff/lick. Ok, well...maybe not so much the lick. Gums up the tongue too much.
Curious as to why you refer to it as "brief copy". Does that mean it is intentionally short? If so, why? Are you mailing postcards?
Is it direct response copy? Is there a captivating headline/subhead, a compelling message/offer, risk reversal, scarcity/time-limit, etc.?
Has the mailing been tested for results against a version that has produced results in the past? Does the message/info tightly target a specific niche?
Is it going out in a standard business envelope or are you sending lumpy mail? Is there anything printed on the envelope? Using mailing indicia or a special stamp?
How many addresses on/in the list? Is it a cold, warm or targeted list? Is it a rented list or your own "proven buyers" list?
A lot of small businesses like to test the waters with a small mailing, but often miss many of the points that could make it more successful. Then they get discouraged with the results and decide it doesn't work when it could have been a lot better.
Hope you have those bases covered and knock it out of the park. Good luck!
Vincent,
I may just apply the KISS principle as you mentioned ;-)
This also has the advantage of adjusting the message along the way.
By "brief" I meant a single page letter in standard business envelope.
The offer & list are targeted at a specific business niche.
Thanks
Snail mail campaigns are tough to make payoff, but kudos to you for trying. One thing that will make your campaign 20-30% more effective would be to add a text-to-get campaign. Recipients could get information, be directed to a website or social media site by texting in to a keyword campaign. In addition to enhancing your response rate, a text-to-get campaign will give you a lot of analytics which can invaluable as you follow up on the campaign. Think personalization and segmentation. You can deploy texting campaigns for pennies. Best of luck.
If you're looking for an email marketing service, MadMimi is easy to use and free for that size list, yet it has a full array of features. Also, it should be your own developed list, not SPAM.
Oh, just saw that you said snail mail. Haven't used this myself, but looks interesting: https://click2mail.com/
Mailchimp
Hello Doug,
This information may be of interested, this is what use to have unlimited emailing capabilities, unlike mail chimp you can't upload leads and they charge you more as your list grows. This bulk mailing software will let you upload as many leads as you want the price never goes up.
To learn more go to http://mailer.1toolsuite.info
I wish you continued success in your business,
Ivan
Hi Doug,
Here is a side by side comparison from TopTenReviews of some of the top direct mail services.
http://www.toptenreviews.com/business/marketing/best-direct-mailing-services/
Also if you want to see what this would cost you can get a price quote from Buyerzone.
http://www.buyerzone.com/marketing/direct-mail-services/price-quotes/
Hope that helps.
Hi Doug
I am unsure if you mean Direct Physical Mail or Direct Email, so apologies if I am way off target here.
If you mean Direct Email and you have target recipient's email addresses already then the best and cheapest way for direct mailing is MailChimp (http://mailchimp.com).
I hope this helps.
Ali,
Thanks for your input.
I already have Mailchimp,
This segment in Snail mail.
Doug
If you click through his profile, you'll see he's a consultant. Technical field. He's going after a pretty specific clientele from what I can tell. I think his snail mail approach might actually be effective for this audience, I was just suggesting methods for making the piece a real lead generator. An engagement tool.