Direct Mail Marketing Method - Opinions?

[ezultrasound]

I just heard a tip from a colleague about his success with direct mail marketing. He said that as everyone is advertising almost solely online now, there is little direct mail marketing competition and he gets awesome responses through his campaigns.

Now, I'm talking specifically about sending postcards to people. This is his method:

1) Purchase leads/ targeted mailing lists for $0.12-$0.17 per (my friend uses Nextmark.com) - personally, I dunno where he got these numbers, because the lists I looked at were MUCH more expensive (granted, he's in real estate, so perhaps that's why his leads are so much cheaper)

2) Send a targeted postcard to each lead that offers a special/ secret sale or value that sends them directly to you sales page/ opt-in page ($0.15 per lead + a few dollars for the postcard printing & mailing = a cost of ~$3 per lead)

3) Re-sell the leads on NextMark (or another lead broker) for $3 per lead - so you actually don't lose ANY money (supposedly). This is called "self-liquidating traffic."


What do you think? Anyone tried direct mail marketing like this? I'm having difficulty obtaining a targeted list though for under $250. Most of the lists being sold on NextMark have order minimums (ex. 10,000 names min. order). Any other ideas for getting mailing addresses targeted to your demographic?

[Andy]

Hi ez (hope you don't mind the nickname :-)

Many marketers see similar results from snail mail offers. (I get a TON of direct mail offers so I don't think this industry is by any means dead) A couple of notes here before I suggest an answer to your question:

Direct mail can be very lucrative with the right offer/list combination, but it can also be vastly expensive. One way to trim your risk is to offer something via direct mail that has already been tested online. You can generally expect much higher returns. Testing online is not only cheaper but it is also easier because of the tools available.

Don't look for a list - look for a good list broker. A good broker wants to see you succeed to get repeat business.

When looking for a list - the very best list is usually one that was recently proven by a similar offer. The most touted theory on this is people who are buying one thing are often willing to similar offers. Right or wrong, this seems to work.

Now about your price point - I'm not sure how you are going about it but if you find an agreeable broker, s/he may be persuaded to rent you a sample of a good list so you can test how well the list responds to your offer.

Remember testing is even more crucial in DM than online because your profit or loss depends on your response rate.

Andy

[daceymathers]

Yeah, i have tried direct mail marketing method.You do not have to buy a targeted list you just give your just hire a company that provides you direct mail service they already have direct mailing list.Direct mail marketing is one of my favorite and most frequently used methods of marketing. When I market for new inventory, it starts with a mass mailing of thousands of postcards for a Free Market Analysis.