Which type of Direct Mail Campaign is right for my Business?

New Mover Direct Mail Marketing offers small businesses a cost-effective option for expanding their customer base and, in many cases, generates better response rates than blanketing your community with direct mail ads. So, why is that?

Customers tout customer service and value as some of the top influencers for making their shopping decisions, according to Invesp, an online marketing resource. But before you can woo them with your exceptional customer service and uneatable products, you have to first get them through your door.

Bolstering sales by adding new customers can be an expensive, uphill battle for small businesses and, typically, it costs five times as much to attract a new customer than to keep an existing one. To further thwart small business advertising efforts, only 36 percent of Americans say they love trying new brands and products, Nielsen reports. Therefore, catching the attention of new customers before they establish loyalties to your competitors is crucial.

Our Town America offers a unique twist on traditional direct mail advertising. “We welcome new residents to the community with housewarming offers to local businesses. Moving is stressful, so receiving these offers provides a welcome solution for new movers,” says Michael Plummer Jr., president of Our Town America.

By targeting residents new to the area, Our Town America not only enables your business to reach impressionable new movers, but also makes it possible to keep your marketing costs low.

Better yet, the U.S. Data Corporation found that 39 percent of consumers try a new business for the first time as a result of receiving a direct mail piece. So, it’s no wonder why many small businesses utilize direct mail marketing.

Traditional Direct Mail Marketing
However, while businesses can mail to an abundance of recipients, most standard direct mailers require postage fees, are not targeted to a specific demographic, and the results are not trackable. Many times, recipients of repeat direct mailers become immune after seeing the same piece multiple times – especially if they have pre-established habits to competitors. In these cases, it’s unlikely they will choose the “new” business over the one they have loyalty to – which is a recipe for a low response rate.

The average response rate for traditional direct mailing lists (not targeted to new movers) was only 4.9 percent last year, according to Fundera, a small business resource.

This is one big differentiator between traditional direct mail and New Mover Marketing.

New Mover Marketing
As mentioned earlier, New Mover Marketing is a cost-effective alternative to blanketing a community with direct mail advertisements and, because of the targeted approach, recipients are actually in need of the tailored one-time use offers. In fact, your business is put in front of a brand-new audience each month – made possible by a thoroughly scrubbed new resident mailing list compiled from multiple reliable sources, such as utility connections, deed transactions, etc.

More than 10 percent of the U.S. population, or 32 million people, moved in 2018, according to Moving.com, an online resource. Our Town America’s welcome package reaches these new movers shortly after their move or change of address — before they’ve formed loyalties to other businesses. The program also allows you to lock out your competition in your chosen ZIP codes – meaning you are the only business in your industry in those welcome packages!

The company, which opened its doors in 1972, sends residents an enticing, personalized package that compels the new mover to look inside. Each month, Our Town America prints more than 1 million personalized gift certificates and welcomes over half a million new movers across the country to their new communities by introducing them to local businesses.

“We spent $20,000 for a direct mailing. The mailing only brought in 20 to 30 people,” said Brian Scott, owner of Village Wines and Spirits. “Why are we going to spend that type of money on a [traditional] direct mailing when we could spend less money, give them something for free, and have more people show up? We can give them decent customer service, and they will come back.”

Our Town America’s proven offers are digitally trackable so you can view your response rate. With the TruTrak™ mobile app, businesses can track their return on investment, gather detailed demographic data of new customers, and trigger a follow-up mailing offering a secondary gift or simply thanking the new mover for their first visit.

If you’re ready to save money and increase your customer base with a new mover marketing program, visit Our Town America to learn more.