An accurate direct mailing list is very important if you want to effectively market your company to both potential and current customers. In the age where digital advertising is very prevalent, studies show direct mail can give your company a distinct and meaningful competitive advantage. In 2019, the U.S. Postal Service teamed up with Temple University to prove this. The study found that printed ads, like direct mail postcards or letters, are the best way to create an emotional connection with a customer. There are various options available for business owners who are looking for an accurate and effective direct mailing list, and they each offer different things. The first, and cheapest, is to build a list yourself. This is done manually by plugging in the address of your business and choosing area routes, streets, and blocks to target. Putting together this type of direct mailing list is challenging and time consuming, and you also have to consider additional costs involved from start to finish including design, print and postage. The most common way of acquiring an accurate direct mailing list is to purchase one from a company that specializes in them. These companies use data to create lists that can target different ages, purchase preferences and even professions. Figuring out the right target audience for your specific business is often a challenge. However, targeting people who have recently moved to a new home is a great way to narrow down your direct mailing list. This method gets your business in front of people who are looking for their new go-to stores, restaurants, hair salons, dentists, etc. near their new homes – a critical target audience for any business hoping to create loyal, long term relationships with customers Our Town America uses a new mover mailing list backed by decades of data that saves businesses time and money. Our associated new mover program takes the guess work out of direct mail and reaches those people who are new to town before they establish a connection with any of your competitors. Our Town America’s new mover direct mail lists are incredibly accurate, making the process more efficient and cost effective. For example, each month, Our Town America gets lists of every individual who has filed some sort of address change in the past 30 days. Our Town America then takes that list and filters out any duplicate names and addresses creating a direct mailing list that is about 95 percent accurate. While mailing lists are never perfect, Our Town America works to make sure its new mover mailing list is as precise as possible, eliminating wasteful spending. Our Town America doesn’t stop once the list is complete. The new mover program includes designing, printing, and shipping each direct mail piece. This amounts to a stress-free process for any busy business owner who doesn’t have the time to stick labels and stamps on hundreds of postcards, or the expertise to design those postcards. Direct mailing lists can be an excellent way for a business of any size to attract new customers and build brand loyalty. Our Town America’s direct mail marketing program is THE all-inclusive program that gets results for businesses while saving valuable time and money. Are you ready to stop wasting time and money on self-starter direct mail marketing campaigns so you have more time to spend on running your business and building meaningful relationships? We’re here to help at Our Town America. For more information, visit ourtownamerica.com today. Brittany N. JohnsonBrittany is the head of Our Town America’s corporate marketing department. She specializes in digital and print media, social media, and public relations. […]
Tag: Framingham
Our Town America is a State of Mind (or Two States)
Ken Sultar was the last of a dying breed. He was a phone book consultant. For 16 years, he worked for a company that advised business owners on how to get their company the most efficient advertising in the yellow pages. In those 16 years, Sultar helped businesses save millions of dollars on their advertising. So naturally, the Our Town America franchise, a business model that relies on direct mail, was right up his alley. “There’s a misconception that direct mail doesn’t work,” Sultar says. Sultar was guilty of believing in that misconception at first. He was a bit hesitant to purchase his franchise as he thought that direct mail might be heading the way of the phone book. He did his homework and soon learned that the direct mail industry was thriving and, actually, the Internet and digitalization of the world have actually helped the direct mail industry. “Studies show that Millennials love direct mail – mostly because they don’t typically receive much mail in general. It’s much nicer to read about a business you’re interested in on paper, rather than scrolling through your phone. Our mailings are personalized, and people just don’t get anything like that anymore,” Sultar says. Sultar obviously thought there was something special about Our Town America and liked the concept of targeting people who are moving into a new neighborhood. In 2012, Sultar became the owner of Our Town America of Connecticut. It has gone very well, so several years later, he also bought Our Town America of Massachusetts. He now splits his workweeks, traveling between the two states. How Ken came to Our Town America As noted, the phone book industry has seen better days. We aren’t ragging on them. We like phone books. As door stops. (No, seriously, we’re rooting for them, but the Internet has certainly done a number on the industry.) As Sultar puts it, “I saw the writing on the wall.” He adds that two other top salespeople left the company shortly after he did. “I was the leader, though. I started it,” jokes Sultar. And so, in the months before he left, Sultar wound up talking to a franchise broker. “I was chatting with my brother-in-law who lives in the Cleveland area and a friend of his happened to be a franchise broker,” Sultar says. Sultar spoke with that franchise broker, who was actually considering buying an Our Town America territory himself. The closest Our Town America franchise, at the time, was in Columbus, which was too far away for the broker. However, he thought Sultar, who lives in South Windsor, Connecticut, should look into buying a franchise. After all, Sultar had 16 years of experience in both business and in business sales, both of which are a major part of the Our Town America business model. As mentioned, Sultar bought Our Town America of Connecticut in February 2012, the very next month attended his Our Town America on-site franchise training, and by April, he was a full-time franchise owner soon landing clients. “It’s a great franchise for those that are dedicated, have a strong work ethic, enjoy chasing leads and like meeting new people. It’s rewarding helping people grow their business while also making the transition to a new area easier for new movers,” he says. It’s not just about money Sultar says that a big part of the attraction of owning two Our Town America franchises is the flexibility it affords him. When he bought his first territory, his son Zack was a sophomore in high school, and on the baseball team. Sultar was able to manipulate his work schedule so he could attend nearly every game. Previously, Sultar coached Zack’s baseball from when he started at age 5 through Little League at age 12. At age 11, Zack also started playing travel baseball. “You get tired of asking permission to get off work an hour early to go coach or watch games,” he says. “I wanted that flexibility of being able to leave the office when I wanted to — and to work later other times.” Zack is now about to graduate college. Our Town America has also given Sultar more time with his wife, Alanna. He mentioned how, last fall, he won a contest for growing his business. The prize: A 10-day trip to Hawaii for Sultar and his wife. “If you work hard, with this company, you can earn that type of stuff,” Sultar said. Obviously, Sultar knows what he’s doing. If you are a business owner in Connecticut or Massachusetts and want to learn about the benefits of targeting new movers, you know who to call. Brittany N. JohnsonBrittany is the head of Our Town America’s corporate marketing department. She specializes in digital and print media, social media, and public relations. […]