Promoting Your Lube: Direct Mail
Continued

“We all go to direct-mail college every day,” Siff said. “Watch what other people are mailing you. You can get a lot of good ideas. When you see what’s being mailed to you regularly by telephone companies or credit card companies, you start getting a good idea of what they’re using. What you see frequently is what they’ve tested to work best.”

The Creative

Taking a look at the direct mail you receive can not only help you decide what type of offer to present, but also how to deliver it. Do you want a postcard, letter or a self-mailer?

“Experience shows that if you’re going after people who already know you, you can typically get away with mailing a postcard,” Siff said. “But if you’re going after an audience who doesn’t know you, you generally want a more robust package than that, something like a letter in an envelope or maybe a brochure of the facility.”

Where some people make a wrong turn is in designing the creative. You don’t want your piece to dwell on your features; you want to explain how you can benefit them, your customer.

“You have to remember the recipient is always thinking, ‘What’s in it for me?’” Siff said. “One of the ways to judge a good creative package is to count the number of times you say ‘you’ and the number of times you say ‘me’ or ‘we.’ If you’re talking ‘me’ and ‘we’ more than ‘you,’ the package is probably not good. People don’t care about how many bays you have; what they want to know is what it may mean to them — that they are in and out quicker.”

The Frequency

When determining how often to send direct mail pieces, there really is no magic formula. It’s really trial and error with your selected audience.

“The more times somebody sees your piece the more likely they are to respond,” Siff said. “Mail to the list successively, but you don’t want to do it too frequently. You want to be on top of people’s minds, but you don’t want to be annoying.”

For an average fast lube Siff suggested trying mailings monthly, every six weeks or even every few months. However, the tactic that might make the most sense is seasonally.

“Shoot when the ducks are flying,” Siff said. “If I send a special offer to winterize your vehicle, sending it in September, October or November makes sense. Sending it in February when winter is half over doesn’t make as much sense.

“The piece can be dictated by the offer and the season; it’s just testing and trying to get a gauge on what works best for your audience.”

The Response

How can you tell if your direct mail promotions are working? Easy. Watch to see if your business is increasing.

If you want a more technical explanation, the expert has it.

“A typical direct mail gets 1 to 2 percent response rates at best,” Siff said. “Targeted mailings can enjoy response rates as high as 25 percent or more.

“But the real judge of a successful mailing isn’t the pure response rate — it’s the dollar return on investment. For example, a mailing to 1,000 people that costs $500 may be judged quite successful if it made the shop one new customer who is worth more than $1,000 in lifetime value. The response rate was 0.1 percent, but in dollars the ROI was 200 percent.”

Direct marketing — it’s just one way you can promote your lube and increase your business.

For more information, visit: www.movingtargets.com

Back
[ 1 ] [ 2 ]

[Printer-friendly version]

Comments