marketing matters
bit of exercise in the evenings it can be a very cost eff ective way of getting business. In most areas there are local companies who will deliver door drop leafl ets at very good rates. Another way to use fl yers
is to approach a local gym or large corporation and off er a special off er exclusively for their members. Ask if they will put your fl yers in with their monthly newsletter. Piggy backing another businesses mailing to their
customers or employees instantly gives you credibility, even if you have to give them a free weekly design or pay a small fee it could be well worth it. We have talked about mailing
prospects, but the other people you should be mailing on a regular basis are your existing customers. Existing customers are so much easier to mail. You know where they live, what they like and they should be easier to elicit a response from, as they know who
Here are my top tips for getting a good response from a letter, postcard or flyer:
1) Choose who you are going to target…do not choose everyone.
2) Always have a headline that appeals to the customer and grabs their attention.
3) Use a good photograph that shows the fl owers in the environment you are trying to sell into. So for example, if your mailer is promoting wedding fl owers, don’t just show a standard bouquet, show a happy bride holding the bouquet at their wedding.
4) Provide them with a great off er. People hate giving anything away but giving potential customers a reason
to try you out with a percentage off voucher or extra stems could bring you a lifelong customer worth thousands of pounds.
5) Provide customers with as many ways as possible to respond to your off er… email, website, phone and even text message.
6) Show your customers how much you care… always off er a guarantee; you should take the risk, not the customer; never quibble.
7) Do not just do a one off mailing. A three step mailing will bring greater returns. Space the letters seven to ten days
apart in a sequence.
8) To reinforce direct mail you can follow up with a reminder email or text message a few days after the mailer.
9) Don’t give up on a prospect… just because you are ready to sell to someone they may not be ready to buy. Regular contact can pay dividends.
10) Make your mailer stand out – use coloured envelopes, hand write the envelope or postcard, or put a bulky item in the mailer.
Direct mail can appear quite daunting to start with as there are a number of components to get right, but follow these 10 guidelines and you should start to see results. Remember to start small so that you can tweak an element of your mailer if you are not getting any response. The key is to get started and give it a go.
70 F&wb Autumn/Winter 2013
Marianne Cowdery has over 20 year’s experience marketing leading brands both in the business to business and consumer sectors. In 1999 she launched a specialist retail fl oral business, followed by an import and wholesale business which she
sold in 2005. Over the past 5 years she has helped 100’s of fl orists and giftware retailers all over the world get more customers, and make more profi ts with her online membership site. You can get two months FREE membership by visiting
redvelvetropeclub.co.uk
you are, reducing the perceived risk in purchasing from you. If you don’t have a great
database of your existing customers then why not look at running a loyalty programme and start collecting more information. Customers are much more willing to part with their information if they are collecting points to get a freebie every few months. The loyalty scheme also gives you a reason to contact your customers on a regular basis.
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