The Efficacy of Direct Mail

[norrellphotography]

<p>After some prodding from my yellowbook rep, I've been considering a modest direct mail campaign for my portrait studio. I've asked around on various websites and the general response that I've received is that it can be successful if the campaign is well targeted, provides an appealing draw (e.g., 20% print packages), and the business has some name recognition. I have not -as yet- heard other photographs tell success stories regarding this approach. I have heard one photographer state he got no responses from a direct mail campaign.<br>

I searched this forum and saw some quite old posts, one suggesting around 2% response, one suggesting a 0.1% response. The service provider claims a national average of 1-3% response, locally averaging a 2% response. But their claims for phone book usage have never been reliable, so I don't trust their numbers here either. A 1% response on a 500 item campaign would be profitable (5 new customers when I'd be in the black on the second or third).<br>

The mailer would be a postcard on quality stock paper, color printed on both sides, targeted toward households with children, incomes in a specific range (not too low but not so high that they aren't interested in discounts), and within a specific zipcode.<br>

Has anyone done this and what kind of results did you experience?</p>

<p>Thanks<br>

- Greg </p>

 

[starvy]

<p>Greg, how about having the postcard printed on one side with the writing on the bottom? So it feels like an official postcard that one might buy from a gift shop? If your picture is eye catching chances are that it would get stuck to a noticeboard or fridge.</p>

<p> </p>

[Spearhead]

<p>You are misunderstanding the term "response." Response does not equal customer. Response means that someone responded to the direct mail piece. The customer conversion rate has to be tied to the response rate, and you may not get the result you're looking for. </p>

<p>You also have to look at how appropriate a list is and the cost of the list in addition to the cost of the printing and mailing.</p>

[norrellphotography]

<p>Starvy - that's an intriguing idea that I'll consider. <br>

Jeff - I will ask the rep for information regarding the relationship between response rate and customer conversions. The price for the service includes everything, including demographic targeting, printing, and mailing.<br>

Thanks.</p>

[bobbollinger]

<p>Greg, the customer conversion rate depends on how you handle the responses. Converting a response into a customer is your responsibility. All the response does is hopefully get you a phone call or email. But you only need a couple of conversions to break even so it seems like a reasonable risk to take. <br>

I have tried this a couple times in my professional services business-I am a lawyer-with weak results. I have concluded that "content is king" and you need to make a catchy offer that gets people to call. That will be easier to do as a photographer than as a lawyer because my profession is heavily regulated in this regard and our options are limited. In addition, I have to catch folks right when they need what I am offering, and you don't.<br>

Good luck with it. Please let us know how it worked for you.</p>

<p> </p>

[Spearhead]

<blockquote>

<p>Greg, the customer conversion rate depends on how you handle the responses.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Right. The direct mail provider can't do anything for your conversion rate. That's your job.</p>

[ted_suss]

<p>Have you done the math to see how many sessions you need to do to break even? It may be a big gamble and a lot of work just to break even.....-TED</p>

[art_mccarty]

<p>My suggestion is to focus on either Google adwords or facebook. You can also focus on free local traffic by submitting your website to Google local, Yahoo local and BING local. Search traffic is the best traffic available. Art</p>