Direct mail vs. Door hangersWhat do you think?

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otis48

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DM is much more expensive but not as invasive as a door hanger.
Is it harder to ignore?Is the expense justified?
I`ve canvased ther neighborhood [150 mailboxes] with an ad for a free scan.
Got one response-an elderly lady called and wanted me to come over and clean the refuse out of her backyard...
 
We are putting together a direct mail flyer now, we're going to start with 5000 right around the area of our shop. Personaly I never look at stuff that comes in the mail or that's on my door. I suppose if I needed that service or there was a coupon on/with it I'd be more inclined to look at it more closely or hang on to it. We are about 15 miles north of Boston MA. I'll make it a point to post back the return rate once we get them out there maybe others can benefit from the stats. I know that it's 14 cents a piece for 6 1/2 by 10" or right around that size. I have a 10% off any service with the flyer. I'm hoping for at least a 1% return on them but I've never done a direct mail before so if someone else has got thier return rates I'd love to hear the stats. I know all areas are diff and time of the year + other factors make it tough to compare but I'd still like to hear any expirences with it. It was approx $650 to have them printed 2 sides with color, and another $700 to mail.
 
Not a fan of either as they are costly and have a low response rate.

At least when I set a pile of money on fire I have the satisfaction of watching it burn.
 
otis48 said:
DM is much more expensive but not as invasive as a door hanger.
Is it harder to ignore?Is the expense justified?
I`ve canvased ther neighborhood [150 mailboxes] with an ad for a free scan.
Got one response-an elderly lady called and wanted me to come over and clean the refuse out of her backyard...
Click to expand...

I personally throw door hangers away instantly. I do the same with direct mailers.

BUT -- I have done several rounds of direct mailings in the past. I felt I had an awesome design and sprung for the more expensive cards to put the design on (heavier paper stock, glossy, ya know.)

As I recall I got about a 3-5% return on the mailers, which I'm told is average-pretty good according to a friend in the real estate business who does the same.
 
I chhecked out a DM source..

..it`s a little booklet of coupons-something i actually keep an eye on as I occasionally need a haircut 1/2 coupon....Anyhow,it was $650 per mo!
{they have 70,000 addresses though-this is Reno 300k pop.]
Holy crap...a bit out of my league but the mexicanestauant and the haircut joint think it worth it i guess...
So,i`m going to put an ad in the fleamarket paper for 4 weeks @ $60-got to do something...
 
Direct mail is a good idea if it's done right. Send a flyer and it's in the trash. It's second nature for people now. If you have time, you'll want to hand write the addresses on an envelope and place an actual phyiscal stamp on it too (Better than the mass bundle ink stamp that most companies use). This ensure that people will open it (Who throws out hand written envelopes?) and you immediately have maybe 3-5 seconds to capture their attention rather than the regular method of hoping someone is looking for your service at the exact moment they read your flyer. That's IF they read it before they trash it!

Maybe throw in a little magnet or something and bam you're in their house and in the front of their minds when they actually need your services.
 
Out of personal experience I prefer door hangers over direct mail. Direct mail gets mixed up with the rest of the advertisements and is usually overlooked. Door hangers on the other hand are not bulked up with other mail obviously so your chances of someone glancing at it is much higher than a direct mail.
 
Currently im trying to get some more business clients so I went online to the chamber of commerce website and took all the contact info about their members. I will be writing some letters to people detailing what I do and addressing them to the main contact person of company.

Right now I'm writing a letter to small accounting firm telling them who I am and if they need any assistance to feel free and call. I am personalizing the letter a little where I am telling them that I offer security services as well as back up services so that they don't lose their client database and have to spend 20 hours putting it back together. I will also be stopping by to meet the management people and drop off some business cards.

Tips i heard about Direct mailing but i am unsure if they work:
1) Hand right the address on the letter. If its not printed out by machine then people are more willing to open it even if its addressed to the company and not a specific person.
2) Send it to specific person in the organization not just the company it self.
 
FoolishTech said:
I personally throw door hangers away instantly. I do the same with direct mailers.

BUT -- I have done several rounds of direct mailings in the past. I felt I had an awesome design and sprung for the more expensive cards to put the design on (heavier paper stock, glossy, ya know.)

As I recall I got about a 3-5% return on the mailers, which I'm told is average-pretty good according to a friend in the real estate business who does the same.
Click to expand...

I do the same as Nick, I don't like them I throw them out, it's all about the Internet now, advertise on there.
 
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