Imagine you just purchased a large home after living in a smaller residence. The excitement levels are at an all-time high and after moving in, you come to realize it’s time to furnish all the new rooms! Plus, you need to fence the yard and update the kitchen. Before you start researching, you go to your shiny new mailbox and serendipitously, the local landscaping business has sent a personalized postcard with an unbeatable offer for fence installation. Meanwhile, a furniture showroom sends a brochure filled with all the new items you need. Bingo! A win win for the consumer and the business alike.
This scenario exemplifies a great direct mail campaign, focusing on new homeowners and targeting the individual based on popular needs of new home ownership. However, this is merely scratching the surface in the realm of what’s possible with direct mail.
Examples of Direct Mail Promotions:
Direct mail is a versatile way to promote a business with personalized messaging for all types of offers. It’s effective beyond just physical items, catering just as well for service-based offers such as beauty salons, massages, automotive care, dining establishments, and much more. Below are just a few examples of ways direct mail can be influential for an organization:
Retail Promotion: Utilizing postcards, catalogs, and brochures that include special discount codes for sales, seasonal offers, new items in stock or even last chance specials. For example, a boutique clothing store sends a 50% off all summer items postcard in August as the fall season approaches.
Restaurant Promotion: Local restaurants send menus with coupons. For example, a “Buy 1 entree, get 1 free” coupon.
Automotive Promotion: Car dealerships or auto repair shops can leverage postcards to send out all types of offers, such as for a free car wash with an oil change.
Home Services Promotion: Companies such as landscaping businesses can use this not only for new homeowners as mentioned above but also to gain new business from long term residents that need ongoing maintenance. This can include lawn mowing, pest control, pool maintenance. For example, 20% off a year-long service subscription.
How To Be Successful with Direct Mail:
Direct mail can take some trial and error but the best way to be successful is to ensure primary research is done. This can include collecting target mailing lists and identifying the best demographic for the promotion. For example, the target audience may look different for lawn care in comparison to a promotion for a hair color service at a salon. Important demographic information can include age, gender, income, education level, marital status, location, and more.
In addition to the demographic information, be sure that your headline stands out with an attention grabbing offer that caters to your specific business goal. For example, lead with the exciting offer and have a strong call to action to call for the potential consumer to take the desired next step. Figure out what the business objective is in order to strategically plan the message. If the goal is to drive website traffic, create a compelling call to action where the consumer should go to your website to get additional information. It can also be beneficial to include expiration dates as well to drive urgency!
Specialist Media Group located in Carlsbad is available to help strategize comprehensive direct mail and print solutions for all types of businesses in San Diego County. Contact us today at (760) 477-0321.