June 2, 2007
Results of a recent postcard mailing
A bit over 2 weeks ago, I did a postcard mailing to a rented list for Maximum Overdrive.
It was a simple postcard where I introduced myself and my blog. When the recipients of this postcard visited the URL I listed, they first visited a page that encouraged them to get to know me before spending any money with me.
How did I do that?
Simple… I pointed them to this blog.
I then told them that if I resonated with them, then and only then should they spend any of their hard earned money with me. Trust is important and in a medium where communication is generally nothing more than ones and zeros (binary), it's my job to inject personality, knowledge, and life stories through email or this blog in an effort to become a trusted source.
This one aspect fails to register for many marketers as selling first and building a relationship second seems to be today's norm.
That's just plain wrong in my opinion.
So how well did the postcard mailing do?
I mailed 625 prospects for a cost of $251.27.
I've made 5 sales to Maximum Overdrive and gained 48 new optins to my announcement list so far. I suspect that the numbers will triple within 2 weeks.
Are you using direct mail lead promotions in your marketing?
Enjoy,
Woody
Filed under Marketing Strategy
Comments on Results of a recent postcard mailing »
That sounds great, Woody. I'd be interested in seeing the actual copy of the postcard. Even better, it would be great to see the exact layout of the postcard, front and back, if possible.
Hi Woody,
Nice combination of offline tactics…
Out of curiosity, were you able to track response precisely from the mailing, I've found this to be one of the bigger challenges…
Ya know, I received a Woody postcard after joing Maximum Overdrive. It was completely unexpected, wasn't try to sell me anything… I felt appreciated. And I keep reading this blog even though I don't always agree with Woody's approach to marketing. But I know those are my own self imposed limitations that I'm willing to expose and evaluate 'cuz I trust this nefarious gentleman. I usually leave the blog a tad wiser than when I arrived.
my 2 cents
Rich
I would like to do this.
Is there a service that does this?
Shamir
Damn you Woody,
Most people will tell you postcard mailings don't work.
Most guys doing strictly online marketing think ANYTHING offline is too hard, too complicated etc.
Here you are spilling the beans… Plus giving numbers that, for the astute should illustrate the need for tracking lifetime customer value.
Shut up already… Just kidding, keep up the great work.
To Shamir. You can use any one of a number of services to handle your postcard and other direct mail needs. Try USPS to get started. You can upload your creative and mail list online, pay with your credit card, the whole shebang. Not difficult at all. And if you set up your tracking links to keep these leads separate, tracing sales back to the mailing isn't hard either.
Trev
As an aside to the above comment. I just remembered a cd I was listening to not all that long ago. Michael Masterson was on it detailing how he sells $1 million dollar homes via postcards. If my memory serves me, the average marketing cost to move one of the houses via postcard mailings was $1000. Food for thought.