The explosion of the Internet in the past 10 years has led many cash-strapped green industry businesses to shun direct mail and try less expensive tactics like email marketing and social media. In fact, according to the 2015 Green Industry Benchmark Report, just under 25% of respondents are using direct mail in their marketing mix.
Not surprisingly, since the Internet took hold as a marketing medium, direct mail response rates have actually increased by 14%. Given that your competitors likely aren’t sending direct mail and that response rates are typically pretty good, it’s worth trying direct mail in your business.
Here are four direct mail tactics to try in your business:
Criss-Cross Mailings
No, we’re not talking about the early 90s music duo who wore their clothes backward and wanted you to jump. Criss-Cross mailings basically enable you to target neighborhoods where you already have customers. Why is that important? Obviously, because the tighter your routes, the more likely you are to get 1 or 2 extra jobs per technician or crew, per day.
Plus, you can leverage your existing customers in your message with a Criss-Cross mailing. If you’ve got someone willing to provide a testimonial, include that message and their address on the direct mail piece. People will feel much more comfortable knowing their neighbor is a satisfied customer.
How do you get started? There are a number of services that sell Criss-Cross direct mail services. Cole Information Services and Haines Information Products both enable you to target specific neighborhoods, but they are hardly the only solutions.
New Homeowner Mailings
When most homeowners move into a new house, they know nothing about local service providers. Which means it’s a great time to introduce your business to them!
The great thing about new homeowner mailers is that you can personalize your message to the homeowner. You know they’ve just moved into a new home, so give them a housewarming gift in the form of an offer.
Need a resource for your new homeowner mailer? Check out welcomewagon.com.
Nurturing Mailings
As a marketer, I’ve learned the hard way that sending anything in a mass fashion isn’t always the best solution. Instead of sending 10,000 mailers to 10,000 random addresses, it’s often better to send 5 staggered mailers to 2000 targeted addresses over a period of time.
What do I mean by targeted addresses? Well, if you’re looking to grow your residential green industry business, target neighborhoods that are a good fit for your business. You’re much more likely to be profitable if you target the right customers. A great way to do this is to understand your existing customers and find the traits that your best customers have. Then, go find those traits in prospects elsewhere.
Then, put together a multi-touch campaign. If you own an irrigation business, start a few weeks before your startups begin and drop the campaigns on a monthly or bi-monthly basis through the winterization season. It’s probably not worth promoting irrigation over the winter, but if you have winter services, consider marketing those.
If you’ve successfully targeted the right customers, a nurturing campaign can keep your business in front of those best-fit potential customers all year long. It’s going to cost a little more than a one-time blast, but according to most marketers, it takes 7 to 12 impressions before someone will buy. By targeting and nurturing best-fit prospects, you’ll ensure great profitability.
Personalized Letters
I’m bombarded with advertising messages everywhere I go. On the bus, in the skyways of St. Paul, even when I relieve myself at a urinal. None of them are personalized, which makes them less effective.
Want more effective direct mail? Sit down and write a letter to a prospect. This isn’t a tactic that scales well, but if you have 50 high value prospects, it’s worth sitting down and writing them a personal letter. Tell them about your business, about what makes you better, about why you want their work. Address them by name, include information about their property or business. Make it personal and friendly, and it will stand out among all the other mass advertising messages they see in a day. And it will show them that you truly care enough to take the time to write a letter.
Want some more data to help you make business decisions and compare your efforts to those of your peers? Then check out our 2015 Green Industry Benchmark Report today!
