Bulk Mail Advice

[dotUK]

Hi All, at least those of you not working on a weekedn :-(

We're a local business (mostly) and hence our target market are SME's in the North East, and we want more customers (don't we all).

Now, I can get hold of a business list of about 2000 business's in a 15 mile radious which are perfect targets for us, and I want to know peoples thoughts, cost implications, and relative success rates of targetting them.

The list is company names and addresses only, so telesales, or even starting by phone to get a personalised contact is out (We don't have the resources, or monies to do this anyway, telesales would have to be outsourced), so coming round to the idea of Bulk Snail Mail of some form.

Considering that we've never attempted this, and that money is tight, what's the recommendation. Is letter, letterheaded, enough, or just a flyer (printing costs, artwork, copy costs), or both? Letter as intro and leaflet as mini-brochure / glossy?

The other thing is content, we *can* do content, artwork etc, but I suspect in the past we've been guilt of 'knowing best' and DIY'ing too much, but then getting someone else in costs more.

What are other peoples experiences? Especially in IT / Web / B2B Marketing? If I can find the cash I'll spend it, but I need to be confident it'll be worth it. (I have (just) contacted someone about PR/Marketing based on recommendations from these boards, I am, slowly, pulling my head out of the sand!)

PS: Afterthought, we managed to miss upgrading our basic ad in the Yellow Pages, but we do have a colour ad going into the next Phone Book which will be out in a month or so, would we get more success / convey a better image if we hold off till that's out, or do few people cross reference?

PPS: Sorry for the all the questions, rabitting, etc, too new to marketing, too poor to get it wrong, too exciteable, and too much coffee!

[directmarketingadvice]

Considering that we've never attempted this, and that money is tight, what's the recommendation. Is letter, letterheaded, enough, or just a flyer (printing costs, artwork, copy costs), or both? Letter as intro and leaflet as mini-brochure / glossy?

Firstly, what's the message you want to convey to these businesses? What's the offer you're making?

Secondly, you describe these businesses as "perfect targets". What's your business' definition of a perfect target?

Finally, how does your target market usually choose a supplier in your field? Does the initial contact happen via ads? Telesales? Yellow Pages/phone Directories? Recommendation? Networking?

Whatever the most common mechanisms are, why they are effective?

These are the questions I'd ask if I was you before I decided to send out hundreds of letters.

It may be that direct mail is a good option and would work well, however, you clearly have limited resources (who doesn't?) and you owe it to yourself and your business to use them effectively.

Hope this helps.

Steve

[bwglaw]

If you are restricted to a 15 mile radius and you are targetting SME's then Chamber of Commerce is your best option

Jonathan

[dotUK]

If you are restricted to a 15 mile radius and you are targetting SME's then Chamber of Commerce is your best option

Jonathan

Never thought of that, we are members, need to take advantage of them. The 15 miles is an approximation on my behalf, purely becasue the list of same STD code as us.

[dotUK]

Firstly, what's the message you want to convey to these businesses? What's the offer you're making?

No idea, yet! Mostly that we exist!

Erm, well, two sided, Look after theit IT equipment, Networks, Web Site etc would probably be the initial pitch. Oh, and local, quick response etc.


Secondly, you describe these businesses as "perfect targets". What's your business' definition of a perfect target?

SME, especially the S. Companies with some IT needs, but not necessarily IT staff. Also people who have have, or need a website, and would like same to people to look after it all for them, more cost effective.

Finally, how does your target market usually choose a supplier in your field? Does the initial contact happen via ads? Telesales? Yellow Pages/phone Directories? Recommendation? Networking?

Word of mouth / Testimonials helps a lot, but I woudl guess Directories (physical and online) and of course search engines.

Hope this helps.

Gives me more to think about, so yes!

[directmarketingadvice]

No idea, yet! Mostly that we exist!

Judging by the direct mail I receive, this is a popular strategy! :)

Most of the leters I get are basically "Hi. We do x. If you ever need someone in my field, please get in touch."

And, given how many of these I get, I'm guessing that there must be people in the marketing field who believe this is effective.

However, I have my doubts.

From my experience and from my small-scale research, this approach doesn't reflect the way prospects actually behave.

What happens is the prospect receives the letter. If he has a current need for the product, he may or may not call you.

If he doesn't have a current need or a known impending need, the letter gets chucked out. There may be a few people who'd file it away (or sellotape it to the side of their PC), but don't bank on it.

Now, if, one month later, the prospect finds that he has a need, will he remember the name of the business that wrote to him?

My research says "no".

That means, the company is not really saying "hi", there're really saying "do you have a current need? If so, I'd like your business."

In which case, the vast majority of the letters are wasted as they're going to unqualified prospects. maybe only 1% of the prospects are actually qualified to respond now.

That means you'd need 100 letters to get to just one prospect. And only a fraction of those would actually choose you. Most will pick your competitors.

Now, there are ways to improve that 1 in 100 ratio.

One is to filter your prospect list so you hit a higher percentage of people with a current need.

Another is to have a message which gives the prospect a reason to keep a hold of the letter - a unique selling point.

Another - and this is something I'd suggest you think about - is to make an offer that prospects can respond to immediately, whether they have a "problem" or not.

If you were to offer something along the lines of a free "IT health check", a large percentage of the letter's recipients would be qualified to respond and start a relationship with you.

If you did 100 of these health checks, you'd find that a certain percentage of them would have current IT problems (that they were unaware of or were living with) and, while you are at their offices, many will pay you to fix these problems.

Others would have a clean bill of health, but they'd now have a relationship with you. And, if you left mouse mats or put stickers with your phone no. on the PCs etc., they have your contact details at hand when something went wrong with their IT.

And, others would just be freeloaders, but that's life.

Having said all that, I'm still not saying whether or not I'd recommend direct mail for you. Just, if you're going to use it, I'd suggest you make an actual offer that corresponds to your list.

Also, whether or not this strategy would work for you would depend greatly on how well you executed it.

I hope this helps.

Steve

PS I should say that what I've written is just my opinion and my experience. There may be plenty of other people on here who'd disagree.

PPS Word of mouth / Testimonials helps a lot, but I woudl guess Directories (physical and online) and of course search engines.

If I were you, I'd stop guessing and do a bit of market research. This is something that's worth knowing if you're about to spend a lot of money on marketing.

[Cornish Steve]

We belong to the local Better Business Bureau. That gives us the right to contact fellow members. Do you have the equivalent of a BBB?

[Pebble Communications]

The Royal Mail website has a really good booklet in pdf all about organising mailshots, how to cost them and work out if it is worth it, and what sort of response you can expect.

On average, I would expect about a 5% response from a 'cold' mailshot.

Fiona Bailey
www.pebblecommunications.co.uk

[ridders]

Just out interest Andy - you mention that you are able to get a list of 2000 businesses.

Is that research you are planning to do yourself or from sort of company? Also is there a specific person in that business you are planning to send your mail shot to?

I am wanting to do the same but am a little wary of the results it may/may not produce, plus the cost involved eg stamps, envelopes, etc etc

Again I guess with any form of marketing there is no proof it is going to be successful!!!

Ridwan

[dotUK]

Thanks to everyone who's replied so far, given me a lot to think over so will look up bits and pirces on Monday and come back to your points bit by but.


Is that research you are planning to do yourself or from sort of company? Also is there a specific person in that business you are planning to send your mail shot to?


The list is one that we've done ourselves as an excercise, mostly after realising that to 'buy' lists costs between 10p and 50p a company depending on how much info you ask for, so for 2000 companies that's up to £1000! And half the time you're only licensed to use the list once, or for so long (although I assume everyone abuses that!)

After that you've got letterheads at 10p a pop, leaflets probably cost the same, postage, and envelopes. Then ink / toner, maybe labels, wear and tear, and obviously ignoring labour you are probably spending £1+ per hit, and suspect that's being generous. But then again, my thinking (which I never used to have) is that if £2000 brings me 20 customers, of which 1/4 gets converted, with a £500 average spend in 1 year alone I've made a profit. I am hoping those are pessimistic values in the equation too!

[seabro]

Andy,

I like your website.

I am in the same business as you - I will tell you some of what I am doing since I want more customers too!

I recently joined BNI, and I am getting business already only 2 weeks in. (www.bni-europe.com). You can go to your local chapter for a visit a few times before joining. I obviously think its worth while since I joined.

Also, I am getting some keyrings from Callum at www.creative-keyrings.co.uk. He is a member of this forum. I am going to keep them in my car and give them out to people as I meet them. That way if ever they need my number they will have it with them. Business cards are good but would be more readily thrown away than a nice keyring. (EDIT: I should point out, a good business card is essential, in my opinion)

I am also getting so 50% discount voucher cards printed by Jacqui at creacom. They are twice size of business card so not too big and not too small, like little postcards. They offer 50% off our services the first time you use us. I am going to include a voucher with my direct mail. I am going to get my assistant to mail a standard letter and discount voucher to 10 businesses a day.

The message will be something like, 'because we are sure, once you use us once, you will want to use us again we have enclosed a voucher offering a huge 50% off our already competitive prices'

Of course it is essential to test and measure the result of the campaign. If mine is successful, and I make back more than I spend, I can double or triple the volume. If it isn't, I will need to work on the text of the letter. Marketing, done right, isn't a cost, it's an investment that should pay more than it costs.

I am also taking a systematic approach to keeping in contact with existing customers which will include THANK YOU cards printed by creacom. I will send these out about 6 weeks after I do a job.

I am also getting some printed mousemats off Callum.

All I have to do now is learn some computer skills :-)

Good luck and keep in touch. Let us know what response rate you get on your Direct Mail.

[ridders]

Andy,

Just a follow up from my previous question - sorry if it sounds dumb !!!

How did you get the list of 2000 businesses - di you just use Yellow Pages or something similar - or was there a more sophiosticated way of doing it ??

Ridwan

[WakingDragon]

Personally I think mailshots are way down the list of priorities on a limited budget. You would be better setting an hour out of your day each day and calling 10 potentials, building relationships and finding out what makes them tick. Build a decent database of contacts and keep contacting them (by email or post) to stay front of mind.

By the time you have organised printing, distribution and so on you could have delivered 5-10 new hot prospects and discovered something new about what your customers really want.

Promotional gifts do work exceptionally well (I would say that as our company supplies them!) but it depends upon your budget and how you use them. If you are simply sending stuff to unqualified recipients then you might be wasting a lot of your budget.

[dotUK]

Andy,

Just a follow up from my previous question - sorry if it sounds dumb !!!

How did you get the list of 2000 businesses - di you just use Yellow Pages or something similar - or was there a more sophiosticated way of doing it ??

Ridwan

It was a more sophisticated way, let's say it was the modern equivalent of scanning the yellow pages and running it though an OCR package. Allegedly that's why those UK Info disks were so full of errors, allegedly!

All I will say is that the source was public, and had *no* copyright notice or other to suggest 'creating a copy' or similar was not allowed.

In case anyone asks, no we'll not share, obtain, or source these or other lists. It's a Grey area, at best.

[dotUK]

Andy,

I recently joined BNI, and I am getting business already only 2 weeks in. (www.bni-europe.com). You can go to your local chapter for a visit a few times before joining. I obviously think its worth while since I joined.


Have actually just left a BNI chapter, was a founding member of this one (travelling 45 mins at 6am every Thursday to get to this one!) and found it very useful, and made many contacts. However, as seems to be the way (around us at least) the Chapter deteriorated over time, stuck at it for about 2.5 years, but just not the same, too many people in it for them, and not for the giving. Also, slowly, the core original members were leaving, and wasn't the same.

That said, am not against BNI, I would do it again at another Chapter, just taking a hiatus, and trying other, more relaxed Networking methods at the moment.

[confused]

Very interesting topic, I am also in the same line of business, and am also in the process of getting some design work done for a flyer which I plan to mailshot soon. Steves response has got me thinking a bit.
I am off to see a marketing chap tomorrow (after no reply from someone on here) and I'll post back any useful info I recieve in this area. I am also considering mousmats and keyrings !
I'd be very careful with 50% off's, I would certainly consider some "terms of use", what if someone wanted a complete new network ? I would have thought 50% off would have left you a bit short, or is it 50% off services only - I'd make that very clear. I also considered some similar offers (not 50% though) and that is still an option for me. Free health checks are of for small organisations, but anything with more than 10 or so workstations and a server and you are looking at a fair amount of time so thats worth considering as well.

CALV

[seabro]

I'd be very careful with 50% off's, I would certainly consider some "terms of use", what if someone wanted a complete new network ? I would have thought 50% off would have left you a bit short, or is it 50% off services only - I'd make that very clear.
CALV

Jacqui Creacom did my flyers. Theyre great.

They have small print on that says max discount of £100

Good luck.

[WakingDragon]

Very interesting topic, I am also in the same line of business, and am also in the process of getting some design work done for a flyer which I plan to mailshot soon. Steves response has got me thinking a bit.

It is. What has really surprised me is that there is such a need for good sales & marketing advice on a practical level. None of it is really rocket science but there are lots of simple things that cost "no money" to do before you consider splashing out on mass communication that has a relatively low return rate.

Before you even go to a marketing agency, the first thing you need to do is understand your customers fully. If you don't then you will either need to find out yourself or pay that agency to find out for you. Much of that knowledge will come from your existing customer base by looking at who your best customers are and seeing who else can be targeted with that profile. Any company can do that themselves.

I am off to see a marketing chap tomorrow (after no reply from someone on here) and I'll post back any useful info I recieve in this area. I am also considering mousmats and keyrings !

If you want a comparative quote on those promotional gifts then please feel free to PM me.