Direct Mail...How Often
Every day, I open my mailbox and find a piece of Direct Mail. Sometimes, the sender is new to me. Other times, the sender is an old familiar company. Direct Mail takes a few mailing pieces to get my attention. I respond like most people and disregard the first couple of pieces and then by the fourth or fifth, I open up the envelope just to see what all the urgency is about. I may bite if I am interested in the service or I may save the piece for later on down the road when the service may come into use. The frequency and the timing of your Direct Mail pieces is very important to stay on the receivers mind.
Direct Mail must be sent on a regular basis in order to get a prospect to respond. That is just the beauty of the beast! Some say that 50% of your mailers will end up in the trash with the first mailing. The second mailing will have 30% end up in the trash. So, logic says that the third mailing will have 25% trash rate and the fifth will have even less. Of course, these guess-timations depend on the offer, the business and the type of mailer. On the positive side of those same numbers, they mean that 50% will open the piece the first time, 70% the second and 75% the third. It is well known in the Direct Mail industry, that you will need to send the same piece with the same message 11 or 12 times before you actually get a call from the prospect.
Building your brand awareness with a prospect is your motivation for sending Direct Mail pieces over and over. Each time they see your logo, artwork, photo or face, they will eventually recognize it and be comfortable enough with the familiarity to respond. When a prospect needs your service, they will respond to the company they are most accustomed to seeing. Your message can change as long as you use the same logo, artwork, photo or face on the cover. But, with each successive mailing, change things up just a bit. Package the piece with a brighter piece of art or more information that the last piece.
The number of times you send out a Direct Mailer depends on what the mailing piece is. If you are sending a catalog, that will probably only be mailed once a year. A brochure would work once a quarter just as a newsletter would. A flyer, letter or postcard should be sent regularly depending on the campaign. Frequency of mailing also depends on your budget! Just keep in mind that a brand is not remembered the first time out of the gate! People have lots on their plates and need to be reminded of who you are many times before your name becomes natural to their thinking.
The more often a potential client sees your marketing material, the more likely they are to remember you! Having a tangible item for your customers to have in their hand is often superior to email marketing. They can stick it on their fridge or put it on their desk. These items have staying power and will likely be seen multiple times; constantly increasing chances of new clients. Incorporate your company’s logo and graphic design style into the mailer to leave a lasting impression on potential clients. By keeping your brand consistent across all marketing efforts, people are more likely to remember and choose you for their business!
We at Everest Direct Mail and Marketing, help build quality lead pipelines through consistent marketing and client relationship management. We will help you customize and send marketing materials that are written and designed to connect with today’s consumer. We use high quality printing to create new business opportunities or print full color property flyers to promote your listings at home. We will send drip email, direct mail or Multi-Channel campaigns with our pre-built real estate marketing materials. We will create content including listing flyers or monthly newsletters. We will help you consider the various types of homeowners when determining the type of content to use in your direct mail campaign: Probate owners, Absentee owners, FSBOs, Expired and withdrawn listings and Owner-occupied.
