How successful are mailshot/ leaflet campaigns?

Question

I own a mortgage brokers in Bedford. We are getting more enquiries from clients wanting secured loans. Therefore we have set up a secured loans department. Whats the best way to market this service. How successful are leaflet campaigns? or should we consider radio or newspaper advertising? or are there any other solutions that you could suggest.

I look forward to your replies

Answer 1

The response rate for direct mail is around 1 in 200. This can be increased to 1 in100 if you offer an incentive, but it is not the best medium. You might be better off getting an agency to drop leaflets through letter boxes or putting a small flyer in the local free paper.

The answer suggesting press releases is very good. If you target free papers and small, local papers with short, human interest stories (case studies) of people who successfully used your product, they often get published because the small papers are often almost desperate for newsworthy filler stories.

Advertising on local radio is another good suggestion, but can be expensive. Newspaper advertising can also be very good for you, but in both cases you need to keep it going for several weeks. Many interested people see or hear an ad, think they will do something about it, then not get around to doing anything immediately. The most responses to newspaper ads is on the fifth and sixth insertion.

Here is another tip that won't cost you anything: call a few local radio stations and ask if you can have a look around because you want to appear on one of the afternoon phone-in shows. They are also often desperate to find new, and interesting experts to talk with between music and phone calls. You make notes on what you want to say and turn them into a list of questions for the DJ to ask you. He or she will appreciate this. But of course you won't just to talk up your products. You will have to answer general questions and give advice to callers. It could make your firm the local "first port of call" as you have been on air and become known as the local expert.

I also suggest you repeat going on-air every month just after the Bank of England review of Interest rates, just after the Budget and at any other topical time for your business.

One caution on all of these matters: do not be persuaded to buy advertising just to get a press release published or to get on the air. Editors have the final decision on copy, not advertising sales people. The response to any such bargaining attempt should be: "Publish the next five pieces and I will consider placing advertising with you".

Good luck with the project. It sounds exciting.

Answer 2

"and FYI, copy and pasting a list of "famous" atheists off of wikipedia or some other liberal site, is not considered an argument" You mean like you just did? If you're going to be a hypocrite about everything then why are even asking this? You know very well that there are many Atheists that have been successful in the past. If you don't then you are an extremely ignorant person. How can you say that Richard Dawkins doesn't count when he's had success in selling his books? You're just canceling him out because you know he's an Atheist AND successful. There are thousands, possibly millions, of Atheists who have successful jobs and a successful life. Dan Barker, a leading Atheist in America, is in charge of Freethought Radio and the Freedom From Religion Foundation. He attends conventions around the world and makes speeches. He has recorded over 200 songs, plays the piano, and is a successful, happy, individual. Any music artists that are Atheists have been successful. Any artists that are Atheists have been successful. Any engineers or marines or scientists or computer softward programmers are successful. Jodie Foster is an atheist. She's done pretty well in the acting business, I shall say. So are other actors like Jack Nicholson, Hugh Laurie, and Katharine Hepburn. Larry King is Agnostic. Who's to say that he isn't successful? Or Charles Darwin? Mark Twain? Sigmund Freud? You can sit there and come up with all the excuses that you want, like you're clearly doing every time someone mentions successful Atheists or Agnostics (and more than likely you'll do the same to me), but it doesn't erase the fact that there were successful people, in history and in today's modern society. "I clearly said no copy and pasting. Plus, I haven't even heard of 80% of the people on that list. For all I know you could be making the whole thing up." Ah, so you can copy and paste Theists but others can't copy and paste Atheists, which is, by the way, what you wanted? You make no sense. You want answers and when people give them to you, you claim the "I've never heard of them" argument. Typical. You're just here to start an argument and win. But you won't let anyone give a chance to write before you go off on how wrong they are. And half of it is because you don't agree. You're just a whiner.

Answer 3

PR advertising is good - for instance, write an article in your local papers not one that sells your company explicitly but an article that would sort of describe what you do. At the end of the article you should have something there to say who you are and your company contact details.

Leaflets can be quite useful. People who need them are likely to contact you but you'll be taking a stab in the dark. Often, if you have something attractive on the leaflet that can attract people for instance, offering them some sort of discount or something if they present the leaflet when they visit or quote a code when they call.

All the best.

Answer 4

Leaflets have a very low response rate. This makes it difficult to assess how effective a particular leaflet is compared to another leaflet. If you want to do this route prepare for deliverers that ditch your leaflets. Responses as low as 1 per 1000 of which most responses will not be qualified clients. Pay through the nose for a professional delivery service that may let you down anyway or invest loads of your own time organising deliverers. Your leads from this route will cost you lots of dosh. Consider the alternatives.

Answer 5

I personally feel that cold mailin via leaflets is useless - i don't know many people who read leflets put through their doors. Warm mailin via direct marketin where the resipiant is part of a collective or member where they have agreed to recieve information from certain companies usually feel more at ease readin these. However they usually come in an envelope and require filling out and sending back and analysis at this end. That will cost alot more.

I don't know about the market in bedford but there are a large number of companies marketing secured loans via radio.

I'd personally track down employees who cold call people about secured loans and pay then off for bites they get in their working ours (numbers of interested punters). when i was a kid i used to cold call for a window company and a conservatory company used to pay me for numbers i got off their computer for conservatories.

im working in a direct marketing agnecy at the moment and returns on leaflets are dismal because people just dont have the time ay more.

Get an mini DAL on sky interactive for 15k theyre fun :D and you could put it on after antiques roadshow so you pick up punters who like wastin money on victorian snuff boxes and broaches.
Respose ranges from like 0.05 % to 6.6% i think we had with a carling give away

however youve just set up a dept and 15k is alot for a 4week campaign - but dont do leaflets - leaflets are for pizza and carpet cleaning youse local newsppers and radio stations

been to bedford - nice place - family from rushden - cya

Answer 6

Both Radio and Newspaper are hideously expensive.
Carefully targeted leaflet campaigns are more useful.
Choose your target areas with obvious criteria such as high percentage of home ownership for secured loans.
Hope this input helps.

Answer 7

Best way to market you business is adword campaigns. Whenever someboy looks for mortgage deals your ad comes up on google search results. You will need a simple website but you can collect 100 of orders within days. This is the best targeted markeing on the planet. Here are top programs which will teach you how to start preparing ad word campaigns in minutes.

http://www.dataentry-impartialreview.com

Answer 8

You could do radio and newspapers, would work better than leaflets. But you could give out leaflets to your mortgage customers!

Answer 9

all leaflets go into the recycling bin unread in this house except the everest one because i wanted double glazing at the time and it was 40% off.. .. i would not have anything to do with an unknown business just because a bit of paper came through my letter box.

Answer 10

I suggest that you pay for some professional help! You get owt for nowt in this world. A PR or marketing agency will advise you best.