Is junk mail a thing of the past? Or, if done correctly, can direct mail be an effective marketing strategy for small business? Kurt Johnson with Postcardbuilder.com will join us on this webinar to give some practical tips on ways small business owners can keep the conversation alive in their community through direct mail. During the half-hour free webinar, you'll learn:
• How often direct mail should be sent.
• The elements of a successful postcard.
• New ways direct mail is being used.
27. Colecommunity.com Resource filled with webinars, videos, a blog and articles dedicated to small business owners grow their business. Postcardbuilder.com Resource based in Minnesota who specializes in direct mail for small business owners. Resources
Good afternoon. Thanks for joining us for Cole Information’s Small Business Marketing 101 Webinar The Value of Direct Mail—keeping the conversation alive in your community.
My name is Lora, I’m the digital media specialist for Cole Information. Today I’m joined with Kurt Johnson with Postcardbuilder.com. Kurt is going to educate us on the value of the Value of Direct Mail and keeping the conversation alive in your Community. This is session 9 of our Small Business Marketing 101 webinar series, so thanks for joining us. First, let’s introduce you to Kurt Johnson, with postcardbuilder.com. Kurt, tell me a little about yourself & postcardbuilder.com.
Discuss today's session. Today we’re going to go over the power of direct mail and seven tips to a successful direct mail campaign.
Before we get started, just a little background on Cole Information. In 1947, Jack Cole created Cole Directory, a directory of people by their address and phone number. Jack’s considered the father of direct mail. While companies had dabbled in this type of directory in the past, what made Cole Directory revolutionary was that he used IBM punch cards to streamline the process and thus created a searchable database. This type of crisscross directory was groundbreaking & invaluable to a number of industries including telemarketing, debt collection and law enforcement. Today, through a number of our products, including Cole X-Dates & Cole Lists, we have continued to provide small business owners this searchable database of addresses and phone numbers that allows them to target consumers and businesses in their own neighborhood. We also want to provide small businesses with the necessary tools and information they need to grow their business. We do that through Cole community.com and also these small business 101 webinars.
We also have a an online community called Cole Community, where with articles, a blog & other content including past webinars we think is interesting & is beneficial to small business owners like yourself. We invite you to take a look around, check out the site & use it as a resource for your needs.
Cole Community features articles, a blog & other content including past webinars we think is interesting & is beneficial to small business owners like yourself. Best of all, it’s FREE! We invite you to take a look around, check out the site & use it as a resource for your needs.
with over 200 million people now on the do-not-call list and over 33 Billion SPAM emails zapped world wide each and every day, direct mail may be your best option to get your message out—especially if you’re a local small business owner. According to the United States Postal Service, 80% of Americans scan their direct mail. It continues to work because it’s intimate, active, easy to track & cost effective. So as a small business owner, how can you clear through all the clutter & get your message read? Kurt, this is your area of expertise, so I’m going to turn it over to you.
Define your trade area: Many businesses draw customers from a defined community or trade area. Dentists, insurance agents, retailers, real estate agents, chiropractors, fitness studios, etc. If your community doesn’t know you exist, they won’t know to buy from you. First define your community you’d like to target.
Postcardbuilder & Cole Information have tools that are designed to make it easy a certain part of town.
If you’re going to go with postcards, there are several elements to the perfect postcard. They include: Show stopper Relevant message Product information Compelling offer QR Code
If you’re going to go with postcards, there are several elements to the perfect postcard. They include: Show stopper Relevant message Product information Compelling offer QR Code
The Rule of Seven is an old marketing adage. It says that a prospect needs to see or hear your marketing message at least seven times before they take action and buy from you. Here’s the thing, you can’t just engage in a marketing activity and then be done. Marketing must be an on-going process in order for it to be successful.
If you’re going to go with postcards, there are several elements to the perfect postcard. They include: Show stopper Relevant message Product information Compelling offer QR Code
If you’re going to go with postcards, there are several elements to the perfect postcard. They include: Show stopper Relevant message Product information Compelling offer QR Code
First you need to figure out the best way to make impressions—be it print, radio, tv direct mail, billboards, social media— Goal is to be in front of your targeted customers in the most cost-effective way.
If you’re going to go with postcards, there are several elements to the perfect postcard. They include: Show stopper Relevant message Product information Compelling offer QR Code
First, let’s take a look at the show stopper. This is a postcard Cole Information sent out to prospects in advance of a trade show we went to in Texas. As you can see, it’s Goal: Increase qualified leads and sales Campaign: 3,500 postcards promoting VW, Porsche and Audi auto repair. Postcard Design: This bold design, provided by Rivercity Autowerks, is simple, straightforward and notifies readers right away that their dealership service can save them money. The back repeats the type of vehicles they service because the recipients have those specific vehicle makes and models. Kurt what is good about this postcard?
If you’re going to go with postcards, there are several elements to the perfect postcard. They include: Show stopper Relevant message Product information Compelling offer QR Code
If you’re going to go with postcards, there are several elements to the perfect postcard. They include: Show stopper Relevant message Product information Compelling offer QR Code
More information about product?
More information about product?
If you’re going to go with postcards, there are several elements to the perfect postcard. They include: QR Code—use it for more information to link to a website, like this company did in this case, facebook page, a video or even a special coupon, offer or even phone calls.
Thanks Kurt—very insiteful information. Today we’ve spent a lot of time on postcards, but letters are another form that are important and effective way to get your message out to a targeted list via direct mail. Here’s an example of a quote letter if I was an insurance agents would prepare using information from our products—in this case Cole X-Dates. I would recommend conducting a targeted drip marketing campaign—where you send out a letter 60 days in advance of that particular expiring homeowner’s policy like the one here—then maybe 30 days out, send a reminder postcard & follow up with a phone call—hey, did you get my letter/postcard—what did you think? Do you want to sit down & crunch the numbers? But funeral directors also use them to send out pre-planning letters to prospects of a certain age & income level. If you’re in the Home service industry –like painters, roofers, carpenters, etc. you could use our products including Cole Lists to define the area and send out a targeted letter or a postcard within a half-mile radius of their job site to let neighbors know their in the area working on John Smith’s house & can save his neighbors 10% or a free quote. Real estate agents also use letters/postcards to inform neighbors of a just listed/just sold home. So in addition to postcards, letters are another effective way to utilize a direct mail.
Here’s some online resources for you. Are there any questions?
Here’s some online resources for you. Are there any questions?