Comments on: Direct Mail

By: Hal Hunter

Hal Hunter — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:22:15 +0000

1) A post card piece from a recent church start near my home- they were using a “custom” item from one of the specialty church outreach outfits.

2) They were announcing their launch.

3) The church name was very prominent and caught my eye- but probably wouldn’t have if I were not predisposed to “see” church-related information.

4) No- but a curious person already looking for a church (a recently relocated Christian looking for a contemporary worship church close by) might have responded.

Alas, whatever they spent wound up going into the trash along with several other useless and even less looked-at items. Other than printing emails and web articles to file them (a pet peeve of mine) direct mail is the most egregious tree-killer on the planet.

By: Corbett

Corbett — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:15:24 +0000

1) Just yesterday I went through the mail and pulled out an ad from a local Honda dealership.

2) It was advertising savings in their service department.

3) It caught my attention by noting right on front that I drive a 1997 Honda, which means it was more than just a mailer sent to a typical zipcode mailing list.

4) It would have prompted me to take my car in, had I needed any of the services that they were advertising savings on. I threw it away, but only after reading it completely to see if there was a benefit to me.

By: jamie

jamie — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 03:44:01 +0000

That 20% off bed, bath, & beyond. Because they clutter my mailbox monthly, I have sworn never to shop there.

How did i get on that list? Better yet, how do I get off that list?

By: Skip

Skip — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:12:21 +0000

Tony,
We used Direct Mail as the main part of our advertising for over 8 solid years and it “worked” very well. Tracking the numbers very carefully we consistently saw a return (people visiting say they came because of the mail piece) of 1/4 of 1%. This may seem low but when we sent 100,000 pieces and saw 250 visitors we were pretty excited. Out of the 40 or so responses here there is only one that actually followed through with the mailer. I bet you’ll see 1 out of 400 follow through with the “Ask” on a mail piece. Is that worth the money? That is a great question. As our church became more known in the community our mailers became much more topical to let people know about something special that was coming up. Great topic! Be Blessed!

By: Jeff Vandergiessen

Jeff Vandergiessen — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:38:20 +0000

i don’t remember the last time that direct mail got my attention – even that from my church… for that matter even web advertising doesn’t get my attention.

By: Dan White

Dan White — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 21:48:55 +0000

Preferred customer or current occupant…this always makes me feel special

By: troy marshall

troy marshall — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:28:21 +0000

I got an envelope that said, “do not throw away, valuables inside”. I said, “yeah right”, opened it and there was a dollar bill inside! I don’t remember who sent it and I threw away the envelope and letter. (I put the dollar in my pocket)

By: TJ Goff

TJ Goff — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 18:31:39 +0000

Pretty much anything from Guitar Center catches my attention. I think the reason is that even if I’m not in the market for any new equipment, I can still look at it like a coffee table book. A few months ago I got one featuring the new Fender Stratocaster and a couple of weeks later, I owned it. So that was a $1000 action it prompted.

By: Joseph Sangl

Joseph Sangl — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:54:51 +0000

20% off Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I set it aside. I never used it. It got thrown away.

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:48:23 +0000

postcard from another church in the area. the front was a girl sitting at a school desk and something that read “weneedschoolsupplies.com”. on the back there were stats about how many ‘needy’ kids we have in the area. it was asking for me to help provide supplies. i thought it was good.