NFIB

Small Direct-Mail Campaigns Can Be Successful
03/ 14/ 2002

Small Direct-Mail Campaigns Can Be Successful Many small businesses could gain valuable business through direct-mail campaigns. Targeted small direct mailings can be highly effective, and even the largest mailing-label companies will spend time planning campaigns and printing labels for targeted geographic areas--even for numbers as low as 1,000 or less. In today's Workshop, Jeffrey Moses shows how to make the most out of a small direct-mail campaign.

You'd be surprised to learn the total cost of a 1,000-label direct-mail campaign can be extremely reasonable. For example, a Florida-based publisher recently wanted to send postcards to booksellers, informing them of a new book that was being released just in time for the 2001 holiday season. The publisher had 3,000 postcards printed up at a local quick printer for a total cost of about $200. She did the design herself, so plan on extra costs unless you have design software.

The cost of postage per card was 21 cents. Thus total postage for sending 3,000 cards would have been more than $600. Instead, the publisher chose to economize and send just 1,000 cards to start the campaign. After a few months, when her cash flow caught up, she planned to send another batch of 1,000--and then a few months after that, another 1,000.

She contacted one of the large mailing label companies, American Business Information (ABI), at 800-336-8349, and was delighted with the service she received. The sales representative she spoke to worked with her to target her market: new-age booksellers. ABI informed her that the cost for peel-and-stick labels was the same for 500 or 1,000, so she targeted likely new-age geographic areas of the country, working toward a total count as near 1,000 as possible.

After examining counts for booksellers in various cities, she and her ABI representative settled on 993 peel-and-stick labels for booksellers in several cities at a cost of $200 plus $10 shipping.

So, the publisher received a highly targeted mailing list to just under 1,000 potential customers for a total cost of $620. She need only sell about 200 books from the mailing to break even. Plus, she has paid for her printing and can make additional mailings without incurring additional printing costs.

In general, the large mailing label companies offer excellent service, since they specialize in maintaining extensive, up-to-date lists for a wide variety of categories. They can break out lists for businesses according to: type of business, specific products produced, revenue and geographic location, number of employees, credit rating and specific title of desired contact within the company (CEO, marketing director, etc.).

Other than ABI, a few other large national companies include: Polk (800-637-7655), Hugo Dunhill (800-386-4455), Metromail (800-316-2637) and All US Lists (800-840-5806).

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