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 Is the United States Postal Service
(USPS) a marketing innovator? As it turns out, the kind
folks in the blue shorts are in fact making it easy for
even the smallest business to duke it out with their
biggest competitors by using the USPS "mailing online
(MOL)" direct mail service - check it out at http://www.usps.com/mailingonline
With MOL, you can escape the dreary part of direct mail
marketing - the printing, the stuffing, the stamps, etc.
MOL users simply create a document, upload it to the MOL
website with their mailing list and credit card
information, and press "go". Within 48 hours,
the members of your mailing list are receiving the
marketing message in their postal mailboxes.
Speed & Price
The best two parts of the MOL service are the speed and
the price. Jobs uploaded early in the business day can be
printed and postmarked the following day. The per piece
cost is not much more than the price of a single stamp
since even MOL jobs sent First Class get a
"presorted" USPS discount.
A 4.24 by 6 inch postcard can be printed and mailed First
Class for just 24 cents. A one and two-thirds page
business letter or brochure can be sent "envelope
free" (the last third is needed for the address) for
just 56 cents per piece. And the minimum number of pieces
you can send per job? One. That's right, while other
direct mail houses turn away customers with minimums under
several thousand, the USPS takes all customers and gives
them all equally great service.
Before MOL you had to create your master document, drop it
off at the printer, wait until it was done to figure
postage, apply postage and addresses, and drop it off at
the post office. This whole process could take you a whole
month to finish. And if you're say mailing from the West
Coast... it would be another week before East Coast
recipients received their copy. With MOL your document is
printed and dropped in the mail from several dozen USPS
distribution points across the country...so everyone gets
their document at the same time no matter where they live
in the US.
As Easy As Typing An Email
MOL users don't need to know anything more about document
creation than how to type and save a document on their
hard drive. Novice computer users can use their PC
"Notepad" utility and save the document as a
text (TXT) file. Most users will probably use Microsoft
Word and create a slightly more appealing document. You
may already have access to documents through your company
that have a more professional appearance. You could also
invest in a copy of Microsoft Publisher as it provides
many templates to choose from and makes professional
document creation a snap.
Content Creation - Keep It Simple
The biggest challenge will be in generation of content you
believe is worth the price of postage. The following types
of content pieces will get your creative juices
flowing.... pretty much write themselves....and are worth
reading:
1. Price & Product Postcards - Many of you may dream
of being able to instantly contact your customers and tell
them whenever you come out with a new product or price
point. MOL makes that a snap. Simply write a 5-7 word
headline followed by a three- sentence description ending
with a phone number or web address for more information.
2. Personal Postcards - Remember your customers birthday,
anniversary, graduation or other significant occasion. Be
sure and include a brief description of some product you
want to highlight...even just a web address.
3. Monthly or Quarterly Newsletter - Most of you would
look forward to writing a monthly newsletter with the same
excitement as having a monthly root canal.....but the
customer retention benefits and referral business make it
a smart business decision. The easy way to do a one or two
page newsletter would be to simply include one or more of
the following:
- Summarize price and product news...simply
repeat what you sent out (or should have sent out) on the
postcards.
- Summarize industry headlines
related to your business...give your views, or if
you don't have a view simply reprint the views of others
(with proper attribution of course).
- Case Study...write up three
paragraphs on a new or existing customer you helped solve
a problem...or their experience with one of your products.
- Top 10 List....any of you
with any experience at all can write a years worth of top
10 lists in a day. How about the top 10 benefits of a
particular product? How about the top 10 reasons to
(insert topic)? Or how about the top 10 mistakes made by
(insert topic)?
Just Ask For Referrals!
If you do nothing else, just send out a monthly postcard
asking for referrals. The commitment to a monthly postcard
does two separately important things for you. It keeps
your contact information in front of your customer and it
reminds them on a monthly basis that they have immediate
access to a friend in the "ABC" business. And of
course the number one reason you don't get referrals is
you don't ask for referrals. Well, if you're too shy to
ask in person or on the phone, let the postcard do the
talking!
If you haven't attempted direct mail marketing before
because you thought it too costly, too time consuming, or
too much work....think again. Things have changed in your
favor. The time is right for you to give it a try.
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