FYI: Direct Mail success !

[1manshow]

About two years ago I started getting real serious about doubling the size of my P & C agency. After researching marketing resource after resource we developed a system for tracking success and started to implement some of our new marketing ideas and track the results. Telemarketing of course was #1, Referral program stayed at #2, and moving up to #3 spot was direct mail with a success/response rate that was nearly triple anything we tried in the past.

If this sounds too corny to even try, please forgive me. I had some marketing co-op money left to spend at year end so I bought some business card sized dispensers filled with tiny mints !! Just for the heck of it we put one in with every mailer that month and our response rate tripled ! After tracking the responders for nearly a year now the general consensus is not the free mints, it was the rattling in the envelope that got them to open it. Of course, once opened they noticed our tasteful marketing pieces and the response rate was great. Granted, our product is marketed on price, but this proved to me that getting the envelope opened must be half the battle.

Well.... try it if you like, but it's working better for my agency than any other direct mail piece in the past twenty years. Oh yeah, they seem to prefer the cinnamon over the peppermint

 

[Mark]

About two years ago I started getting real serious about doubling the size of my P & C agency. After researching marketing resource after resource we developed a system for tracking success and started to implement some of our new marketing ideas and track the results. Telemarketing of course was #1, Referral program stayed at #2, and moving up to #3 spot was direct mail with a success/response rate that was nearly triple anything we tried in the past.

If this sounds too corny to even try, please forgive me. I had some marketing co-op money left to spend at year end so I bought some business card sized dispensers filled with tiny mints !! Just for the heck of it we put one in with every mailer that month and our response rate tripled ! After tracking the responders for nearly a year now the general consensus is not the free mints, it was the rattling in the envelope that got them to open it. Of course, once opened they noticed our tasteful marketing pieces and the response rate was great. Granted, our product is marketed on price, but this proved to me that getting the envelope opened must be half the battle.

Well.... try it if you like, but it's working better for my agency than any other direct mail piece in the past twenty years. Oh yeah, they seem to prefer the cinnamon over the peppermint

Thanks for sharing this idea with us. I would open it to see what the heck is inside it.

 

[getlocalinsurance]

That's a great idea, where'd you get the mints from? Do they have your logo on them or is it just something you picked up at wally world?

 

[Charpress]

Having something in the envelope is a good idea. I have read about people that do things like have business cards printed on thin wood that people can feel in the envelope. I have a ton of round tuits left over that would work well. Don't know what a round tuit is? It is a wood nickel that says "round tuit" on one side and has your logo and phone number on the reverse. You give them to people who have the excuse "Yeah, I need to increase my coverage and I'll get back to you when I get around to it." As a joke, you give them a round tuit to remind them that their excuse is basically just procrastination.

I've never been able to get any of the big mailing houses to agree to put anything in my mailings since everything is automated. Maybe I should look further.

 

[Mr. Bill]

Oh that is so funny. I was wondering what the heck the round tuit was, that makes a lot of sense! The mints idea is great as well!

 

[1manshow]

They are imprinted with our logo and 800#, think i may have gotten them from a company called manko or something of the like. Using someone else's money for 50% of the purchase gave me the flexibility to request ones that were made here in the good ole usa but I think the cost was around.79/piece. Plus I guessed they would be kept around a bit longer than a tuit or similiar gadget due to the useful nature of a mint

 

[Charpress]

This is the company I got the tuits from. They have quite a few items that would fit this thread. As I recall, the tuits were pretty cheap in quantities of 1,000. You can also use their standard Wooden Nickel as in "not worth a wood nickel" when referring to stock market investments.

Old Time Wooden Nickel Co.

 

[4milliondollaragent]

Beware the object you put int he envelope...some USPS systems run mail through an automated runner...and it will mangle the envelope. So, if its big enough, you're probably ok as it will get sorted into a different processing system. If its just over the thickness of the envelope, it could cause problems. (Something to think about)

 

[squeed]

FYI pennies work well too. And they cost about $.01 each.

-S

 

[arnguy]

Whole Foods Market was giving people wooden nickels when they used their own shopping bags. That was a couple months ago---I don't know if they are still doing that. I haven't been there for a while.