direct mailers for web sales?

anyone been there, done that?

[wayzel]

Has anyone had success with printing inserts and mailing them to targeted groups as a method of getting people to buy a niche product on your site? What kind of conversion rates did you have (leads per 1000 mailings)...I know it's all relative, but still...

[sniffer]

Im interested in this too... have been tempted to try it out

[Barb]

Let me chime in my interest in this subject.

I am still in the process of creating my online store, but in the coming months, I would like to somehow advertise my website to the local communities where I live.

I live out in semi-rural North Carolina and am not certain just how many people are really online (and if they are, what level of compentence they are) - so would local advertising be to my advantage or just a waste of time and money?

Any suggestions on how to find out such answers?

[Beagle]

Any suggestions on how to find out such answers?

This doesn't involve mailing, but from my experience with "home towns" in semi-rural areas, if you go to the website of, say, the daily newspaper that's nearest you, you'll find that they have listings of local websites. Might give you an idea of what's in your neighborhood and how much activity online stores get there. [ETA: This is assuming that the nearest daily newspaper is not in a large city.]

[jsinger]

General rule: Forget local advertising (mail, newspaper, yellow pages) to draw people to a website. Similarly, the internet is pretty worthless for sending customers to local stores, events etc.

The web is about the web.

I still see really dumb commerce sites that use their front page to tell customers how to drive to their one shop in Smallville: "We're in Crossroads Center between Puppyland and Ajax Pizza."

[Barb]

Thanks for your suggestions.

I still might put up some flyers in key areas - nothing expensive. If I get some hits/sales, great! If not...not too much skin off my back and I've tried the local community.

[Beagle]

The web is about the web.

Agreed when a site is primarily ecommerce, but it can be very useful for a primarily brick-and-mortar business to have a website (and most of them do these days). I've done business with several kinds of merchants online when I've needed something in a different town. Searching for [Smallville, florist] is a lot cheaper than buying through a national 800 service, and the flowers usually arrive in better shape. Sometimes local businesses that provide something unique in their physical store will end up getting a web presence when people move away and still want their product, or other people find out about it, but they're also still selling it face-to-face.

And, of course, if the brick-and-mortar business has a website anyway, it's logical for them to put their location on it (has also been helpful for me when I'm planning to visit another city and want to know specific driving directions before I leave home).But if you don't operate from a physical location that some customers might want to visit, then, no, it wouldn't make much sense.

Regarding advertising locally if you're primarily ecommerce, I'd say it somewhat depends on the locality. In smaller communities, people are more liable to do business with a website if they know the person is a "local", even if they never see them. It's not just about feeling safe, it's about supporting local businesses. In a big city, it probably wouldn't make much difference.

[jsinger]

Local advertising can bring traffic to a website, but generally very little. We mention our site in our $10k worth of Yellow Page ads... brings in maybe 5-10 orders a year worth a few hundred bucks.

We have a store coupon on our website. A few of them are used yearly.

Do you remember what happened to all those Dot Coms that bought $2 mil Superbowl ads in '97 to '00 to "drive traffic" to their commerce sites LOL

Web is about the web.

[pageoneresults]

General rule: Forget local advertising (mail, newspaper, yellow pages) to draw people to a website. Similarly, the internet is pretty worthless for sending customers to local stores, events etc.

Hmmm, I don't have that rule in my rulebook, how come? Probably because it has been the opposite for many of my local clients.

Radio advertising, newspapers, local cable, direct mail, etc. have all been extremely successful methods for my regionally based clients. In one instance, the radio ads have skyrocketed leads and sales from the website.

The biggest thing here is to research your target audience. Are they receptive to one or more of the above traditional advertising methods? If so, then go for it. You never know until you try. A simple postcard mailing to a select group will give you a taste of what you can expect. If there is an ROI, even a small one, then it is successful. Even if you break even, you've been successful in getting your brand in front of a select few. Just imagine what word of mouth does after that. ;)

I should add that my local regional clients have products and/or services where one sale may pay for a traditional advertising campaign. If you are selling a $49.00 widget, then the ROI from a traditional campaign may not be that promising. It all depends on what the client has to offer. Is it a one time sale or is there an opportunity for future sales (a returning customer).

[pageoneresults]

I still see really dumb commerce sites that use their front page to tell customers how to drive to their one shop in Smallville: "We're in Crossroads Center between Puppyland and Ajax Pizza."

I'm going to rephrase that one...

I still see really dumb commerce sites that use their front page to NOT tell their customers how to drive to their one shop in Smallville:

If you are targeting a local audience, it is imperative that you give them directions to your location from an easy to spot place on your site, usually the home page. Also, that address information is going to come into play with regional targeting.

Company Name
Street Address
City, State, Zip
Telephone
Fax

Get Directions Using Google Maps (direct link to location map). ;)

P.S. Hint/Tip - Use official postal formatting specifications for addresses as most databases are based on these specifications.

[hannamyluv]

Catalogs do a great job of driving business to their sites via print ads. The key really is to test. Different publications will pull different results. And don't assume that certain publication will pull the results you want.

If you are interested in advertising in print, find yourself a broker. This is someone who can negotiate inserts and print ads. Brokers can get you a better price too and make testing quantities more avaliable.

Ad layout is another consideration when placing a print ad. A good ad will have a good pull, a bad ad will not pull at all.

[bandman05]

We currently run only an Internet store and we have various types of advertising that we run, one of them being mailers. Typically our mailers, which are not local but rather on a national level targeting a specific audience, have return 50% - 100% ROI. We have been pleased enough with results to continue doing mailers each quarter.

[wayzel]

Helpful responses everyone, thanks.

[Barb]

Ok, I must be having a major brain flub here - what is ROI? Rate of?

I know I know the answer, but for some reason it's not coming to me. I've been uploading Christmas products for a few weeks now that I think my brain went numb. *chuckles*

[jsinger]

I'm sure he means Return On Investment

[bandman05]

Yes ROI stands for Return on investment. i.e. I spend $10,000 on a mailer and if my ROI is 50% then I made $15,000 total from the mailer, $10,000 would cover the cost of the mailer and the $5,000 is profit. A 100% ROI would be $20,000.

[Barb]

Where's that smilie of head banging on computer keyboard when you need it? LOL

Thank for explaining what should have been obvious to me.

[wingslevel]

we have done lots of mailings. keep thinking we'll get it right and come out with a positive roi - hasn't happened yet.

we have tried a niche product to a fresh, scrubbed, targeted list - just couldn't get to breakeven.

part of the problem is postal costs - figure 20 to 25 cents per piece even if you are barcoding etc.

also remember that printing is all about fixed and variable costs - you need to do a pretty big mailing in order to get the printing cost per piece down to a reasonable level - problem is these big mailings are risky (i have learned the hard way)

[gpilling]

We use direct mail with great results for business to business sales. While the response rate is low (around 2-3%), the sales volume that results makes it worth it. A new wholesale account for us usually means 1500-5000 per year in sales at a good margin, so the cost per piece of the mailer is not a problem. Many of the intial responses we get is from a form on the webpage, so it does work to drive them directly to the site.

What is the value of your sales over a year? lifetime? Make sure to include these numbers when calculating ROI.