Make the most of YOUR Direct Mail Week-Day 1

Happy Monday & happy Daylight Savings Time day! Getting up to get to the gym wasn't bad today, but boy...on my commute to the office (which is about 3.5 minutes), my head was bobbing. It's been all I can do to stay awake today! I hope you're all feeling more alert than I am.

Today we are kicking off "Make the Most of YOUR Direct Mail Week!" Next year I promise to get T-shirts made-haha. These will be very quick, easy posts with ideas to get the most out of your mail investment. I'd love to also here from you, what small changes have you made to make a BIG impact??

Day #1 Tip

Add Value Variable Data to every mailer you do!

Value variable data is personalization in one place close to the address panel. The total increased cost is typically $200-$500 depending on the company you work with, and most should have the capability. Just adding the person's name and directing a sentence right at them really helps response rates. If something had your name on it you'd probably look at it a little more too, right? Email me (sthompson@triauto.com) if you'd like to see an example of it.

Until tomorrow...

Post-It's add Pizzaz!

Here's a sticky idea! A Post-It. Adding a Post-It isn't a new idea, after all the "J letter" has been making its rounds for years, but now you can add them to the already popular oversized mailers!

Add a Post-It to our Oversized 9x12 inch envelopes or Jumbo 9.5x14 inch postcards and you've got a real winning combo. Just wanted to pass along this new idea as you think about March.

Check back monthly for our Hot Seller of the Month!

Cut your advertising budget!

Things seem to be a little tight with everyone right now. Even dealers who are still growing are probably watching their budgets a little more than usual. One of the first places to cut seems to be the ad budget. I say - go to town!Cut all the advertising that isn't working. You don't even have to wait for an economic downturn to do this! That brings up the million dollar question (literally for some of you)-how do you know what to cut?How can you track all your different types of marketing? Here are a few ideas, and if you work with me, I can help you out with several of them for next to nothing. Just ask! 1. Add a different call tracking number to every form of advertising you do. Then (here's the hard part) take the time to look at the reports and see what type of call volume is coming in from each marketing form. 2. Add a landing page to everything too! A "landing page" is a fancy name for a website. It might be something like 'www.abcford.radio.com' (this is not a real site!). When people go there it will take them to your website, but now you'll be able to pull a report and see how many people went there off your radio commercial. 3. Don't assume! Set a system in place to spiff your sales people or someone working as a greeter to really ask each person how they came to be at your store that day. Sometimes, you've done such a great job with name recognition that they really did just stop in, but a lot of the time, they've recently seen, read or heard something that made them choose you over the dealer down the road. 4. Use MarketVision on your mailers, almost 90% of our clients do! If you work with Tri-Auto and aren't taking advantage of this exclusive technology to track who is coming in, where they are coming from and what sales rep they are talking to...you are missing out! We make mail the easiest marketing to track. After you know what's working, and what isn't. Why not cut your budget by eliminating the things that aren't producing for you, and taking some of the extra money you are saving to beef up the forms of marketing that are. How do you track!?