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Doorhangers vs. Postcards

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I am just about to try doorhangers, but before I do, does anyone have an opinion about whether doorhangers or post cards are more effective? Which advertising method has worked the best for everyone else? Also, does anyone have any company referrals for either?
 
Doorhangers will pull new business. www.centuryprinting.net

However, postcards are my favorite way to hit my existing customers. Don’t have a customer database? Not tough to build one. All you have to say when someone orders is “Can I add you to our mailing list?” They almost never say no. I might have about 1% of my customers say no.

I highly recommend postcards, they pull very well for me. I usually design my own and have them printed at Staples, always use bright card stock. (neon pink, yellow, green, orange)

When I have them printed elsewhere, which I don’t do frequently because I like the flexibility of making my own, I always use impactusa.com It sounds like you don’t have the extra cash for that now.
 
This probably depends a lot on what area you’re in… but for us postcards have always been more effective. We get an awful response on doorhangers - less than 2% - so we don’t even bother anymore. But we usually pull at least 4-5% on a saturation drop of postcards though.

It depends on what kind of shop you are too. We’re gourmet, expensive and don’t do a whole lot of discounting. We’re pretty much a full service restaurant as opposed to a Delco. For us, I don’t think doorhanging goes along with our brand. I think it goes much more with a shop that is competing with the Big 3. It’s much more in line with our brand to mail out a nice, full color postcard.
 
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heather:
I highly recommend postcards, they pull very well for me.
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Heather, What kind of offer do you put on your postcards? I was planning on sending out postcards to some of our existing customers but I wasn’t sure what the best idea was for the offer. Can you please let us know?

Thanks!
 
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I have tons of postcards that I’ve used in the past, when I need to, all I have to do is change the dates and run to staples.

The greatest return I’ve ever had was from Christmas time. I sent out 10% off your order and we’ll enter you to win an Ipod. This went out to all of my customers and pulled right around 30%, no that’s not a typo.

When I do lazy customers, I usually do $2 off 30, $3 off 60, and $5 of 90.

Another good one is a free order of garlic knots, and if you order within 2 weeks, a free 2-liter too.

One of my favorites for lazy customers is “Have you been cheating?” I think I got that one from the black book, but I don’t remember for sure. My husband hates it, he thinks it makes him look like a freak, but people get a kick out of it.

"Have you been cheating on me?

Is that someone else’s marinara I see
on your collar? Rumor has it you’ve
been visiting that way too pricey
pizza man up the street.

Don’t try to hide it. A pizza just knows.

It’s been so long since you’ve held me in
your hands, weeks since you took a
nibble. You’re breaking my heart!

Do I have to buy your love?
How about XXXXXX off your next order?"

I also do postcards for most of the holidays, Valentine’s Day, St. Patricks Day, Mother’s Day (Hey mom, We’d love to send you flowers, but how about a free dinner instead?), Halloween, Thanksgiving (a turkey holding a sign that says Eat More Pizza)

Hope this helps!
 
Thanks for the ideas, Heather! I like the free iPod one. I checked on-line, and an iPod Shuffle costs only about $70-$80, so to give away a free one in exchange for extra business is not bad at all. I’m going to try to get postcards out for the month of February and then hold the drawing on March 1. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Thanks again!
 
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A quick question for you, Heather. On your offer for the iPod, did you have a minimum purchase they had to make to receive the 10% off? I do not want people coming in and redeeming their 10% on a small soda. Can you let me know please?

Thanks!
 
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Heather, I love the Thanksgiving idea. I’ll steal that from you if you don’t mind.
 
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SaraH if you can draw traffic to your store why worry about how little the transaction is?..When they come in ask them if they have had your pizza before…If not, give them a coupon for a free pizza to be used on one of your slower nights…If you gain a regular customer the minor cost of the food you are giving away will be a good investment…RCS…
 
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Royce, The postcard I plan to send out would be going to customers that were already at our restaurant. We have a basket on our counter where we collect names and addresses. Then we draw a name and the winner gets “Dinner and a Movie for Two”. I was going to use the names and addresses of the people who did not win and send them a postcard saying something like “You have another chance to be a winner!” So I guess I was looking at this as a way to get previous customers back in, and then hope they spend more when they come back. (You know, the basic rule: 1. get the customer in the door, 2. get them to come again, and 3. get them to spend more each time they come.) Or am I thinking the wrong way on this?

Thanks for any advice!
 
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I use impact usa. mailed 850 Merry xmas cards with $5 off as our way of saying thanks. Gotten back 325 so far, now these were existing customers. I actually expected a better return, but their still trickling in. I also do the 'We Miss You" cards, they pull about 20-25% and “Thank You” cards pull in the 30’s
 
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I wanted to share some success we’re seeing with our 1st postcard saturation mailing. We opened up in September, so we’re just short of 5 months old. We’ve been averaging 14% growth per month and the average for January was trending at 19%, so we’re getting there. We sent out a saturation mailing of about 2,200 cards on Friday - most of them were received on Saturday.

Last night (Monday), we saw a 68% increase over our (January) average Monday sales. We were averaging about $425 on Mondays and last night topped $700. This is really amazing in a military town that revolves around payday - usually the last few days before the 1st of the month are low but this was really a home run.
 
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Congratulations on your successful Monday! What kind of offer did you have on the postcard?
 
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how are u doing the postcards? actually through the mail or what? how much does this cost per card?
 
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On our doorhangers, we’ve had 2 versions - one with just 2 coupons (buy one get one free and a lunch discount) and a menu and the second with just 6 coupons and no menu. The menu one did much better for us.

On the postcard, we promoted our 3 top specials (Buy one get one free Monday, 2 medium pizzas & breadstix for $16.00 and another package) and offered a free small breadstix for mentioning the postcard. The card was basic white and black ink only.
 
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We did the postcards through the mail (saturation at 12.7¢ each) - I found a printer that has the bulk mail permit. I designed the postcard and he did the printing, packaging and post office drop off. Total cost per card for the whole nine yards was about 17¢ each.
 
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when u did the bulk mail, was it in an envelope with others, or was it put in the mailbox separately?
 
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