Mailing lists

I just sent out postcards. Instead of buying a list from somewhere, I found a list of recently incorporated companies on a local newspapers website. We'll see if I get any responses...

Good luck with the mailings, Remember, the response rate is extremely low(1-2%). You should also send several mailings over the next several months to keep your name in front of people. One postcard will not do it.

I tried it once with a set of four postcards from a very popular printing company. The cards were great, the response was #$@%^%$#@!

I received two calls after three cards were mailed to over 500 people. I didn't want to waste any more postage.

I have gotten no luck with postcards either. I am struggling to try to find a good way to advertise for tax season.
I am thinking of doing an mass e-mail advertising to the business on my local chamber list. I hope that works!

I have had the same experienc with mailing postcards. Last year I mailed about 500 and received no calls. This year I am planning to employ some people to distribuite door knockers. Hopefully, that will get a better response than the postcards. Another thing I will mention is I have read several articles on direct mailing and a suggestion (that is supposed to warrant a higher response) is to hand write the potential clients name & mailing address. A study was shown that people are more likely to respond to the hand written address. Depending on the number of "mailouts" this could be very time consuming but could prove to be well worth it.

I had the same response with the postcards. I purchased a mailing list of 200 residents last tax season and I did not receive one response. This tax season I plan to use door hangers, signs, and online advertising.

I hope this works!

Successful direct mail marketing to a purchased list will require a substantial investment you may not be prepared to make. Recent marketing studies show that it takes a minimum eight exposures to your message before your audience sits up and takes notice. So even if you’ve considered mailing more than once, are you prepared to mail at least eight?

Essential to every marketing campaign is the market, message, and media. In this case the media is direct mail, which leaves for discussion the market and message. The market is your audience, and it should be well defined. An example would be dentists in Beverly Hills with annual sales of one million or greater.

In that example your market is affluent dentists in a local upscale market. This is often referred to as a niche and if you don’t have one forget about purchasing a list altogether. Next is your message, which is often confused with company name, hours of operation, services offered, and the infamous “we provide quality service” type of statements.

Your message has only one goal and that is to get a response from your target market. Most advertising focuses on the business and not the customer which is fatally flawed approach. To increase your response rates and reduce your cost per lead you must craft an irresistible offer that appeals to your target market.

An example of such an offer would be a report called “23 Tax Planning Secrets of Millionaire Dentists”. Notice that the report addresses a specific market and makes an offer of interest specific to that market. Again without this mix of market and message forget about using a purchased list altogether. You would do far better building your own list, which is a different subject altogether.

In conclusion, buyer-beware when it comes to purchasing a list. There are far more things to consider than one may expect. The success rate is quite low for the majority of businesses who try direct mail. Take heed and learn from the mistakes of others.    
I can be reached at dante@dantelayton.com if you would like to continue this discussion.

Dante makes some great points, I'd like to add a few.
First, I would like to repeat that direct mail can be very effective - when it is highly targeted and has a strong call to action. Offering a free report is a good tactic. You can also combine your direct mail piece with a referral strategy. Your direct mail call to action could be "Learn How To Get 100% Refund On Your Tax Preparation Fee" and your matching referral strategy could be "bring 3 friends and yours is free".
Second, your campaign will be much more effective if you follow up the mailing with phone calls, so make sure that whether you purchase or build a list, you include phone numbers. The phone call is not to make a sale, but to repeat the offer for the free reportinformation. Of course, once people have requested your information, you need a plan to follow up with them as well.
Third, you can often have access to the same lists that companies sell via your public library. Ask your librarian if they have ReferenceUSA or other business databases that you can use to build your list. In many cases, you can access these library resources from your home or office via the internet.
Hope that helps,
Bill