Does your direct mail have "sizzle"?....

Pizza Shop Talk Marketing / Increasing Sales
1

I gather up all the direct mail I get and I also have some friends and family that collect it as well…And recently I got a big package from an out of town friend that stopped for a visit…So I spent some time studying it…

To send unaddressed admail in Canada it costs about 18 cents a piece…So I really wonder what folks are thinking when they “cheap out” in the mailing piece…Flyers that look like the were printed on an ancient mimeograph machine…Or even if they invest in decent printing some use poor quality images (low resolution or mis-shaped) and really bad layouts…

I often contact these folks and make my pitch…One thing I suggest to folks who want to make their money go a little farther is a co-op mailing…2 businesses splitting a single flyer…A full colour tri-fold brochure (8-1/2 x 17 or 11 x 17) can be folded (z-fold) in such a way that each of 2 businesses sharing can be on the outside and often costs less than 2 individual mailings of a lesser quality piece…

PS…I also saw a few magnets stuffed in plain white envelope…With nothing on the outside to “inspire” me to look inside…Now I look inside but many would not…

2

Wonder if i am considered normal or not these days, but when i open my mailbox i have two mindsets. Is this addressed to me and not advertising, goes into my keep pile. Is this junk, straight to trash can and never look at anything.

3

I usually toss all the “junk mail”. Most people I know do the same. That said, I’m considering doing a flyer to promote when we finally get our remodel done.

4

Despite all the pieces that end up in “recycling”, direct mail still provides enough of a return that many businesses find it worthwhile…I have some realtor clients that have been doing mail outs for 10+ years…Most such mail in Canada is “unaddressed”…

5

In another business we operate, we’re ‘dabbling’ in some direct mail…@ a 1% return, its barely profitable…and we’ve done the Facebook/Google Ads with even less success…and door hanging, a fav, isn’t practicle…so onward we trudge…

6

But “barely profitable” is still profitable…Plus you have to consider the “long tail” results that will come later on… Just being consistent with your marketing can give you an advantage over places that are “hit and miss”…