Postcard Mailing Season
It’s Postcard Season
Spring is here, or at least so the calendar tells us, and that means that we have been busy. Very busy. In the last two weeks, in addition to the usual monthly mailers, newsletters, and various social invitations and business stationery, we have had a rush of direct mail marketing work. Most of this work has come from landscapers; 6 mailings within two weeks of each other, with continued business from one or two. From the feedback I’ve received, their results have been stellar.
Obviously, these clients had very time-sensitive, seasonal advertising to do, but it begs the question: why aren’t other small businesses in our area doing the same types of mailings?
Statistics on Long Island seem to show that the economy is picking up. There are dozens if not hundreds of very hungry small businesses competing for work in every market. In many ways, the conditions for successful and necessary advertising are ripe in commerce across the board, not just in the landscaping business.
So what can these landscapers teach us?
- Act fast. Before Spring comes, our landscaping clients know that their mailings are time sensitive. When the trees bud and the snow melts, people not only begin thinking green thoughts again, they begin to plan for the services they will need through the coming season(s). He who mails at just the right time will be rewarded by a huge ROI percentage boost over those who act too late. What season is important for your business? Plan now, to get a jump on your competition!
- Hire a professional. By seeking out a professional design, print and mail company like Printstars, Inc., our clients have chosen to make a statement with their mailings. A statement that says ‘we are a professional company, that does business in a professional manner.’ Not only is their ROI likely to increase with our attractively designed mail pieces, but through first impressions alone they have weeded out clients that might not pay well or on time, or those who might be looking for the cheapest outfit. And it never pays to be the cheapest.
Joe and Sal from Frost Pond Landscapes told me that the bulk of their revenue each year comes not from the basic maintenance their initial bookings might bring them, but from the extras their clients ask them to design because they became ‘the go-to guys’ when those extras are needed. They have sold themselves as professionals, and it pays off in the long run.
- Know your market. Because of our experience, we are able to offer our print customers options we know work for certain businesses, but small businesses know their target customers best of all. An organic gardener seeks a different sort of client than an economy lawn care crew. The economy lawn guy doesn’t want to be bothered with the drawn out projects that the landscape designer prefers. A fourth landscaper, with his small staff prefers to work in a tight area to conserve fuel and time. In each case, we were able to provide mailing lists with specific, detailed criteria that worked for their needs, and graphic design that appealed to this target audience. Every company we mailed for received calls from the types of clients they sought.
- Direct Marketing Works. In most businesses experts will tell you that at least 10% of a budget should be spent on advertising and publicity. In some media, it is difficult to tell what your results are, yet advertisers spend huge sums on TV and radio advertising to maintain a brand. But what if your business is smaller or you don’t have that kind of capital to invest? What do landscapers do?
Direct mail is an excellent tool for effective, timely advertising that gets measurable results. It can be used to build branding, send repetitive messages or prompt action through specials and incentives. Even small percentages of respondents can yield big gains for the small business, because it can be targeted at the specific type of client a business needs, reducing costs and wasted messaging.
Stephen from Gourmet Gardens of Long Island offers a highly specialized and valuable organic gardening service to high end clientele. He told me that the cost of a professional postcard design and mailing, while not inconsiderable, was less important than their results, because two or three new projects would not only pay for the mailing, but maintain his budget for the year. The lifetime value of those same clients could pay for the entire mailing many times over.
- Don’t trust emails or newspaper ads alone. In fact, a couple of our landscaper clients warned me against either of these devices. They hadn’t gotten the results they expected, nor recovered their costs from them in the past. While their experiences might not be typical, there is some logic in expecting a message to be buried in junk mail or lost in the crowd when sent through these mass messaging media. By contrast, a large attractive postcard sticks out in the mail like a diamond in the rough. It could be for this reason alone that our customers get results.
- Follow Up. Chris, from Lempenski Landscaping knows that a repeated message is more likely to “stick” in his targets’ minds when they are choosing their landscaper. After sending out two mailings in March and April, he intends to follow up with another later in the season.
This tends to be a good strategy. Studies have shown that 6 successive exposures to a message gain optimal results. These exposures can come from various sources, like email blasts, radio spots, follow up phone calls, branding on a truck or even on employee T-shirts. They can also come from multiple mailings of a postcard or similar postcards with different messages to build up a brand. All mailings should include a call to action, but one might include a coupon, followed by another with a brand message, followed in turn by one to announce a short-term sale.
Another study has shown a dramatic increase in results when direct mail is accompanied by email blasts or other electronic communications and vice versa, as opposed to one or the other alone. The key here is not to broadcast your message out into the cosmos, then do nothing to make sure it sticks.
Does the marketing advice we’ve received from these landscapers look any different than the conventional wisdom about your business? Do you think a targeted message designed by professionals printed with quality craftsmanship in a timely manner and sent only to the types of people your business caters to could be a good thing?
It may be time to think about a postcard, menu, or brochure mailing to a list of prospects tailored for your business. What do you think? Comment below with any tips you might have for a mailing, or what has worked for you in the past.
Posted: April 18th, 2011 under Tips.
Tags: Direct Mail, marketing, Print is Better