[Hilton]

Sending anything by post is ridiculously expensive and far too time consuming. Emails will go straight to spam if you don't know what you are doing and if they don't you will have to send emails regularly to get noticed just like leafleting!

I will tell you what I do ......
I have mentioned it before and some of you hated it and some of you loved it but I will tell you one thing it works and it's cheap to do!

I make sure I get every customers mobile phone number who has one. I get all my customers to sign the invoice which gives them an option to not receive marketing offers by us. Then once a year I text all my customers from the last 6 years that have mobile numbers with an offer or just a reminder about us with a bulk texter online. This only cost me about £65 last year. I have done that for the last 2 years. The first time I got about £2800 of work and last year it brought £3500 of work. I normally send the texts in about June when we are forecast a weeks sunshine and my phone goes completely nuts for a few days but it's worth it It was hard work putting all the numbers in at first but now I just add the years worth of new customers in every year. I have not done it this year yet but plan to text them all at the beginning of November with an xmas offer but I need to add last year's and this year's customers to the database and hopefully it should work even better I only send a generic text without customer names as it would of been a nightmare adding them but you can do loads of fancy things with bulk texters like adding pdf vouchers or sending price list links. I think it's called text local who I use but I will check later. They have a fantastic customer service and will talk it through with you on the phone but if you do what I do it's very easy to do it yourself.

We do the same using a company called MessageBird but it will never replace DM as the best form of marketing directly to the customer. In actual fact its a rubbish impersonal way to market I dont like it, we only use it when pushed for time.

[Deep Cleaning Solutions]

"We do the same using a company called MessageBird but it will never replace DM as the best form of marketing directly to the customer. In actual fact its a rubbish impersonal way to market I dont like it, we only use it when pushed for time."

I only do it once a year because yes it is a little impersonal but I have yet  to see anything that compares to it's ROI and it's amazing how many people thank us because they have lost our number. Every customer I have spoke to about the text marketing have said it's a brilliant idea and I've only had one customer text back to say they do not want us to text them. Last time I text customers in different areas so I could change it for more wealthy areas. I would never send more than 2 texts a year but at the moment I only send one. I think it's a neglected area of marketing with carpet cleaners because a lot of them do think they are holier than thou and texting is beneath them!

[Hilton]

I don't think that's the case just probably not thought too much about it...

[Hilton]

Just as a foot note to this thread as its quite important, one of the largest users of Direct Mail (through the letter box) is Google.

[Ian Harper]

how about this -) ?


http://www.lumpymail.com/whatislumpymail.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBAXJG1L7_A

[Graeme Brown]

I like the sound of lumpy mail  it not sure about sending asprin through the post. I can imagine some pc do gooder type claiming that little tarquin needed his stomach pumped  and a colonic lavage because he ate one. But the concept seems sound depending on the ROI

[Mike Halliday]

'Lumpy mail' an old idea with a new name

Charities have been doing it for years, any charity  that sent out a begging letter used to put in  a pen to make it 'lumpy'

[maxcampbell]

We now follow up with a text towards the end of an offer sent via Docmail or email.

"If we hear from you in the next x days, we'll still honour the offer we made in our last letter" (3 for 2 or 10% discount, or whatever)

works surprisingly well.

[Graeme Brown]

Just my old sales rep brain working but if you could get bars of soap very cheaply and get your message printed on a label get them delivered by your leaflet guy that would stand out. Have to be very cheap soap though. Have that one for free.

[Ian Harper]

the trick with databases is to pay attention to people that spend with you. it can be a waste of stamp money just mailing everyone every time when you have a large database. its the old 80 - 20 rule

[Jonathan Evans]

Hi Ian I only have past clients on my database... do you mean people email or send mail to those who do not actually use you?

[Hilton]

Your business is your data base..... end of, thats it. You can have as many shiny truck mounts, Rotos portables, etc etc  as  you like,but if you have no data base you have no business, so you have to grow it,nurture it and market to it regularly.That includes non converted prospects.

I would DM your entire data base,past and present. I do not agree that you should only send to those that spent with you previously, how on earth would you get any growth if you did that ?

[Jonathan Evans]

Thanks Hilton the penny has only just dropped tbh.
Hopefully not too late

[maxcampbell]

the trick with databases is to pay attention to people that spend with you. it can be a waste of stamp money just mailing everyone every time when you have a large database. its the old 80 - 20 rule

I disagree. The important factor is pounds of income generated, not ROI, so even one average job extra from £50 worth of stamps is still worth it. If you've got the contact details, use them, but target it, personalise it as much as possible.