Direct mail marketing is most cost effective with niche groups. How do you choose a good niche and how do you find its members? There are many types of niche groups and ways to find an address list for its members.
However, you already have the best niche you can find, your current clients; former clients; and prospective clients who call you but who you do not do business with. All of these people have one thing in common. They all found a reason to call you.
DO NOT overlook people who contact you but do not become clients! These people have already responded positively to your advertising and branding but may not have become a client because either you did not feel they had a viable case or because they decided to retain someone else. Approximately 10% of calls from advertising convert to clients. Looking at an advertising campaign of $10,000 per month with an average cost per call of $160, you will receive 62.5 calls of which 6.25 calls will convert to retain clients and 56.25 calls are from people who you normally do nothing with. The 56.25 calls which you normally dismiss cost you $9,000 at $160 per call.
Businesses often spend a lot of money just to get contact information from people who could be interested in their product or service. But if you do not collect the contact information from these prospects, you just lost $9,000 when a smarter business may have spent almost as much just to get the contact information. Don’t lose this important opportunity when people call you. When a caller is not interesting, always get the name, address, e-mail address and birthday so you can continue marketing to them. Tip: How do you get the caller’s birthday? Just say “…and if you give me your birthday, we will even send you a birthday card!” Almost every caller will be thrilled to give you their birthday.
Both of these types can result in future business as you can see:
- People who did not have a viable case: Obviously, they could become an important client in the future or could refer a family member or friend in the future.
- People who called you but retained someone else: Everyone has had prospects who retain someone else and then called back because they were not happy and realized they made a mistake. You may or may not be interested in taking their case when they call back but these people may refer friends and clients to you in the future. This has happened to me several times.
By automatically sending greeting cards several times a year on holidays and your client or prospect’s birthday, you will achieve what marketers call “Top of Mind” by by putting your name and brand in front of your clients continuously and in a favorable light.
By marketing to this niche group of people who responded positively to your advertising and branding, you can avoid using a shotgun approach to direct mail which is expensive and produces disastrous results. Focus on the people who have already been sold on you and want your talent enough to have called you.
Since you will be sending cards to existing clients and people who called you, you can avoid most of the ethics issues involved with unsolicited mailings. Additionally, since your greeting cards, holiday cards and birthday cards will have a greeting card message instead of a sales message, there are no ethics issues.
At $0.93 per card plus first-class postage, you will not find a more cost-effective method of marketing.
To start marketing to your niche group, just go to www.sendoutcards.com; click on Join Now! and enter User ID 118373