One persons junk, a contractor’s treasure: Using Direct Mail for New and Repeat Business

 

  
  While you may not enjoy receiving clutter in your mailbox, you are receiving it because direct mail is a viable marketing method deemed successful by industries of any type. From small mailings to a loyal client base to sending out a massive campaign to everyone in your zip code, this is a surefire way to garner some new and repeat business.

There are several ways to do this. But first things first- you have to know who and what you are looking for. There is a term used in direct mail marketing called RFM- meaning recency, frequency and monetary value. This means that you want to measure who you’ve worked for most recently, who you work for most often and who spends the most money. If you have your customers and their history on a computer database, this will be easy. If you file things in folders or index card boxes, you may have to do some research, but either way; you will determine trends.

Once you see some trends in these customers, you will determine who your ‘model’ customer is. What do they all have in common with each other? If you seem to work on homes of single mothers, then you can look for more people like them. Or, if you seem to service white-collar families with expensive cars, then you want to find more people like them. Or, maybe you seem to work for people who are first-time homeowners. How do you do that?

You don’t! But there are people out there who can narrow down your specific needs in a list of names and addresses. A list, filled with names that meet your specific criteria. So, in the three scenarios above, three lists could be generated. One- I want a list of women 25-34 who have one or more children living at home with an income of less than $30,000 per year. Two- I would like a list of households with married couples who drive luxury
vehicles. Three- I want a list of people who have purchased their first home within the past six months. As a fourth idea, if you are relatively new to having your own business, or want to simply generate a lot of new customers, perhaps sending out a geographically targeted mailing is best.

These mailing lists are available from people called list brokers. These can be found in the phone book under list brokers or direct mail houses. There may be one in your local area, of you may want to do an on-line search to find a national company, such as DataMark.

Once you contact someone at a company, they will work with you to come up with a list to meet your needs. As an added bonus, these companies can create and or mail out the flyer, letter or post-card. But, to keep costs down you could do that yourself.

Another type of list to buy is a list of subscribers to a magazine. Think about this. You have a cigar shop opening in the area. Imagine if you had a list of every cigar connoisseur in a 50 miles radius! Chances are, if they read Cigar magazine, they enjoy smoking them. Imagine sending a card to everyone who subscribes to that magazine a postcard with a coupon for a free cigar at your grand opening.

Now- think about all the home improvement magazines that are in circulation. Think about all the women who read Martha Stewart, and want to
have their kitchen and bathroom like the ones in the pages but they don’t even own a hammer. Picture all the men who want to build a dream basement like the one they see in Better Homes and Gardens, but do not have the time. If you choose a good magazine or two, you can get a list of subscribers by zip code.

If your budget is smaller, perhaps purchasing a list is not something you can do at this time. However, by keeping good record of your clients and their needs, you can have your own stock ammunition to generate repeat business by mailing periodically to your past and current customers.

Advertising on radio, television and in general newspapers will get your name out to the masses. But, are the masses who you really want to reach? If you want to target a specific group, especially if you have a niche specialty (ex: installing heated driveways), then direct mail is an investment worth making, and one that if done right can pay for itself.