The price of mailing out catalogs is higher than ever. That's why businesses are turning to more creative ways to market their products. Savvy mail order companies figured out a while ago that the most effective marketing campaigns use an integrated, multi-prong approach to capture attention, deliver a message and turn a lead into a sale. Here's how mailing lists and postcards can help you save money on your catalog costs and increase your return on investment for every catalog that you send out to a prospective customer.
Mine Your Current Mailing List for Data
Start by going through your current catalog mailing list and pull out recipients who haven't placed an order in a year. Put them on a separate list. Now take your main list and do some detective work. What do the people who have ordered from your catalog recently have in common? Put together a list of demographics and other data that identifies your typical customer.
Reach Out to Lapsed Customers
Send out a postcard message to everyone on the separate list - the ones who haven't placed an order recently. Your purpose is two-fold; first, you want to know if they want to continue to receive your catalog. Make it easy for them to opt in to getting the next catalog by giving them an 800 number to call or a website to visit if they want to continue receiving your catalogs. Your second purpose is to remind them of your products and solicit their business again, so design your landing page to make an offer, such as a discount coupon, if they decide to continue receiving your mailings.
Refresh Your Mailing List with New Prospects
Find mailing list brokers online who specialize in targeted mailing lists. Use the criteria you culled from your "customers who order from us" list to customize your mailing list and find new prospects. While you're at it, check with mailing list brokers for any specialized mailing lists they offer that work with your particular demographic. If you sell infant clothing, for example, you may find mailing list brokers offering business mailing lists that include subscribers to parenting magazines aimed at new parents.
Send Out "Coming Soon" Postcards to Your Two Mailing Lists
Offer a sneak peek at your new catalog to customers who've made purchases recently as well as to those new prospects on your purchased mailing lists. Set up a landing page to show off some of your best deals and lead customers into your online catalog.
Send Out Catalogs to Those Who Requested Them
Make sure that you follow up on any requests for a catalog from your company and move those prospects to your "interested" list for further follow-ups. Wait a few weeks, and send out a second postcard to those who haven't responded. The second nudge will often remind prospects that they'd meant to get to that and prod them into ordering a catalog.
Track Your Results
Tracking your data is a major part of refining your marketing plan. It will help you evaluate which messages work and which don't so that you can replicate the good results over and over again.
When it comes to catalog marketing, mailing lists are vital, but with the cost of catalog mailings going up, you can't let your list get stale. Use purchased mailing lists to refresh your list periodically and try multiple approaches to keep your customers buying.
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About the Author
Chris Robertson is a published author of Majon International. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2011 (Tue Jun 28 2011) Majon International. Majon International is one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing and internet advertising companies on the web. Visit their main business resource internet marketing web site at: http://www.majon.com
