When to send out direct mail?

[lawman]

I am about to send out our menu (EDDM) to everyone within 3 miles of my shop and I plan on doing a three mile radius mailing (menus, postcards, flyers, etc.) at least once a month. Is there a best time of the month to send these out; beginning, middle, end of month? Also, is there a better day of the week to send them?

Thanks!

 

[Chris]

For most pizzerias, any time is a good time. However, there are a few exceptions. |

Are you in an area with a large demographic of government employees (ie: military, contractors, etc)? If so, people tend to have “payday funds” available on the 1st and 15th.

With EDDM, you cannot control the day of the week the pieces are delivered (unless you are buddies with a USPS Rep). If you mail out on a Friday, you will typically find the EDDM pieces deliver the following Tues-Thurs.

Consider your customers, competitors, monthly sales trends, etc when make your decision. Use everything you do, from a marketing perspective, as a data point that you can base future decisions off of.

Using this methodology will allow you to generate better ROI and make informed decisions as you grow.

All the best,

Chris

 

[Rockstar_pizza]

It must be the area because I always take my pieces to the post office on Monday and always request Thursdays, I have never had an early delivery or a late delivery. Guess I am lucky, To answer your questions, “for me” the best time is always been getting them in the hands on Thursdays. I have tried several different days, and Thursdays are by far the best response. If I were to do every week I would guess that the end of month always seems to be the best.

 

[royster13]

If you are going to mail out once a month it might be best to divide your market into 4 or 5 sections and only do 1 section a week…Years back (when I was in the pizza business) we divided our market in 6 and did one each week except for 2 weeks around Christmas…

As far as how often to mail, you need to test and measure your results…Once a month may be too frequent and you may get as good or close to the same result if you make it every 5,6,7, etc. weeks…Mailings will be a “work in progress” that needs to be “tweaked” as you go…

Also, it might be idea to test different pieces in different sections…To find out whether you need offers and/or how aggressive they need to be…

 

[lawman]

Thanks for the feedback! I like the idea of spreading out the mailings and only doing a section a week. I’ll also ask if I can select Thursday for a delivery day.