The story read goes like this; A guy was trying everything he could think of to get in front of a new promising prospect, but never succeeded. So, out of frustration he would mutilate the direct mail promotion piece before sending to this particular prospective client.  After a few months and several promos sent mutilated,  a follow-up call was made to the prospect. The prospective client said if the promos ever arrive in tact they would like to actually see the promos.  So a set of clean, unbent promos were sent in an envelop and the prospect loved them inviting them to come on in and talk some business.

Mine unique situation went like this; On my web site I have “Trailer Trash” jokes page. You would be amazed at how many Google, Bing and Yahoo searches find them.  I was recently contacted about a job from mid-west, but it did not work out and the buyer indicated she was having a bad day “off her rails”.  So I responded with my joke page link thinking maybe that would cheer her up and make a connection for the future.

Here is was she responded back with after reading my “Trailer Trash” page ;

Subject: my first job in Southern Indiana (aka Kentucky, without the  horses)

You know you’re delivering pizza to rednecks when ……….

- They say it’s the third one on the left with two Camaros on blocks

- The kids run out to pay cause Mommy and their new Uncle Rick are playing Euchre in the bedroom.

- The bird bath is now a dog bowl.

- Tips are those frosted white things on the hair of the lady of the house.

I think I made the connection.

Enjoy the day and have a good laugh!

Martin

MartinTrailer.com

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I just started working on a new email campaign and while doing some research, I checked one of my own links and there was a great article regarding the very same, email campaigns. Seth Grodin’s Blog

I have used list services in the past for both USPS direct mail promotions and the same list services for email promotions.  Obviously, the email campaign is less expensive per unit especially with the rising cost of postage, plus printing for direct mail promotions.  One big difference with the two, besides the cost is the response to the promotion.

With a USPS mailed campaign the “good” response is 3% (I have found that to be low) and then typically the phone rings and you know that you have been noticed.  With the email campaign you get much more immediate response and somewhat a false sense of notice.  The email services can tell you who opened your email and what if any links they clicked through too.  Some even tell how long they have “looked” at the email.  The real response is an increase of phone calls and sales.

The reason I even mention the blog post at Seth Grodin is that the motivation of the “easy” promotion can, as he describes backfire on you the more you use the “easy” solution.

The list services I have used gather names who knows how, phone calls, but I have personally seen hundreds of email bounces from “good” lists, especially when images or other promotional type things are included in the email promotion.  I would assume there are so many, that mail servers are programmed to intercept as much as possible so that employees get something done, other than read email promos.  With mailed promotions, you never really know if those you sent too are the right people unless of course you follow-up with a call or better yet, they call you.

I know that I get hundreds of emails per day, some caught in the filters.  For those that get tens or even hundreds that are relevant to there jobs, I promise to make mine at least interesting.

Martin

http://MartinTrailer.com

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