Mailing List

Direct mail is a way of advertising by means of mail, which is why preferred area to send or target's address is required. First, using the list you already have as a foundation can be a good way to start. One common point, majority of unsuccessful DM users had, was that they stopped using DM after once or twice thinking it wasn't effective. On the other hand, the common point successful users of DM shared was that they did DM continuously for more than one year. Hence, whether it will be a successful DM or not depends on with how much persistence you carry on DM campaign.

rrational start will lead to early relinquishment; therefore it is more efficient to send small quantities persistently and continuously. For those of you who do not possess mailing list, you can purchase them from a mailing list company or other means. These are frequent questions those companies are asked.

• Located in the center of each town, business districts have 3-4 overlapping zip codes. In this case, how do you get a mailing list?

In this circumstance, there are two ways. First, you can obtain the list of the residents who are within 1 or 2mile from present location of the store. Second, you can select the areas you specifically want within the radius of your business districts.

• I would like to do a pick up & delivery DM in areas far apart from my business district. How can I do this?

Many people want to start on pick up & delivery service to broaden the radius of their business area. In this condition, you will have towns that you are specifically interested in. With the address of the center location in the target area as basis, you can select the list within a radius of 0.5 or 1mile like abovementioned. Also, Carrier Route unit can be used. Carrier Route unit is an area that is broken down more specifically than zip code, and is a minimal area where postman delivers to.

Upon completion of the mailing list to be sent, you have to worry about the contents that are going to be on the mail. When it comes to direct mail, selecting accurate zone and target is most important preparation step. The reason is because efficacy increases for each direct mail delivered to the people who will definitely be in need of your service.

After selecting the zone where you are going to send direct mail to, the next step to ponder upon is to whom you are going to send. Instead of limiting yourselves to those who will definitely use cleaner's service, there is higher probability of success if you target people who seem to be frequent customers for cleaners: such as office workers, or high-income workers.

Also, sending direct mails to those who just moved in to the neighborhood is a good tactic. New movers seek for services they need in daily lives, which will bring higher probability in making them as your customers. Also, you won't need to bear big expenses being that the quantities are not that large.

According to the US Census, each town has current population ratio of around 5% monthly. Let's say that there are 5,000 households within average retail business district which encompasses radius of 1.5miles. Then, sending direct mails to the current population ratio of 5%, which is 250 households, will be economical and very effective at the same time.

After destination area and target market is selected, next step is to decide the contents and size of the mail. First, the following is some facts regarding printed materials. In the case of cleaners, two sizes are available: one being 8.5”x5.5”x, which is bigger than standard postcard size (6”x4”). If you have Standard Mail Permit, it is not only cheaper to send postcards, but also can be appealing and be more effective means of advertisement. But depending on the area, there are seldom incidences where Standard Mail lacks efficiency when compared to First Class Mail.

We recommend that you use First Class Mail if it is your first time using direct mail, especially to those who are in areas such as NY( Manhattan ), PA, DC, VA, CA, etc.

Within the US , there are numerous mailing list brokers. How good or bad a broker is can be determined from the list he or she sells. A good list is frequently updated ones. (It shouldn't exceed 2month period.) Also, he or she needs to be able to select necessary areas correctly using Carrier Route unit.