Using MarketVision to lower your costs & increase response

It's been a while since I've specifically blogged about MarketVision, and I suppose for the past few months I've been sitting back to see what real gains dealers were experiencing by using it with their direct mail campaigns. After several really great conversations this week I decided it's time to at least talk about how some dealers are lowering their costs and increasing their response using this technology. I've been working with a Cincinnati area dealer for several years. They are a large, domestic dealer and have typically blasted their market with 100,000 pieces for several months in a row. The first few sales were always very good, and then results would start to dwindle and they'd take a break for a while. These sales were successful for them and they were always pretty happy until it was time for a break again. Three months ago it was time for them to start doing mail again. This was the first time they used the MarketVision kiosk with their mailer (http://www.marketvisionauto.com/). Three months later they have 3 sales worth of data.

So how does MarketVision help me lower advertising costs & increase results?

I know - sounds like an infomercial - but here's the deal:

1. Gather data-start using MarketVision on all your mailers. It's cheap and includes free follow-up letters to everyone who comes in.
2. After several sales do some analytics on the information. This is something I can certainly help with.
3. Eliminate zip codes you've been mailing to that just don't perform (Savings!)!
4. Make a list of zip codes that do perform.
5. Make a list of some areas that could hold opportunities. New markets you've never or rarely hit, your competitors market, new carrier routes, etc.
6. Divide your high performing zip codes into equal parts. For instance-3 parts so you can hit your entire list once per quarter, 4 parts so you can hit it all every month, etc.
7. Here's the fun part-this list will not contain the zips that don't perform so you will send out less mail, but you'll be concentrating on the people that are likely to respond so your response will go up. You're also being careful to spread out who you are hitting so the results don't dwindle as you have to move farther away from your store. Sprinkle in a few of those areas you'd like to try each sale, and you can start determining NEW MARKETS to add to your "responders" list.

I'll even do your first MarketVision analysis for you-free! Give me a call if you want to talk about the data we've already collected, or if you want to start measuring what your mail is doing for you in 2009.