Boost Your Direct Mail Response Rates with Mapping Technology

On Superbowl Sunday, Domino's Pizza delivered more than 900,000 pizzas-and mapping technology helped. How do 60,000 pizza outlets serving 3 billion pizzas per year compete in an industry where reputations and dollars are dependent on "fast, hot and delivered to the door?" Global Positioning System (GPS) technology!

Here's how you can use this great invention to increase your direct mail results--even if you've only got one store with local customers.

GPS may be mapping from outer space, but desktop mapping technology can be a "weapon of mass destruction" for competitive marketers. With it, you can visualize your database information to see patterns that have a geographic component. For retailers and service businesses, that translates into "Which locations or neighborhoods am I best positioned in to serve my customers?"

Retailers typically serve a trade area of up to 10 miles. Service companies like to set up "routes" to maximize their travel time. By seeing a visual of your customer data, it's easy to see where you should bulk up your marketing efforts and where you should scale back--neighborhood by neighborhood--instead of by zip code, which is the way most companies think of their target area.

Rather than sending mail to "everyone in a 3-mile radius," marketers can use mapping to analyze demographic trade areas at a finer level, such as carrier routes, zip+4's or Census Block Groups, to monitor their return on investment. Eliminate underserved areas, and you'll decrease advertising costs and increase results!

Future mailings can suppress weaker or non-responsive neighborhoods and increase mailing quantity to "like" demographic areas, resulting in a mailer's dream: Fewer mail pieces, more results. You can even overlay demographic information, such as home value, income, business population, etc., onto these newly mapped areas for an additional layer of intelligence.

Competitive Analysis

Mapping is also a solution for competitive analysis. By plotting yours and the competition's store locations, then profiling the markets for age, income, home value, zip code penetration, etc., you'll find kernels of truth that can lead you to an offensive marketing strategy or better site selection.

Mapping can be a valuable tool even when the business's only marketing asset is a customer list of names and addresses without transaction (purchasing) information or anything else because critical geographical information can be appended and then analyzed. Franchisors and chain stores rely heavily on mapping technology to assign territories and drive customer traffic based on natural and man-made barriers (highways, rivers, bridges, etc.). Business marketers can improve "inquiry to closing" rates, plan sales calls more effectively, realign sales territories and measure sales force activities.

Mapping projects can be performed "in-house" with a relatively inexpensive software purchase of approximately $300-$400 or projects can be hired out for more sophisticated results that link back to spreadsheet or database information for ongoing analysis and can cost from $50 - $2,500. Whether your business delivers pizzas or manages a dealer network of 1,000 HVAC technicians, mapping technology can add a visual dimension to data analysis that is often more understandable than spreadsheets and graphs.

Lori Feldman is president of Aviva, a mailing list and database marketing and Internet consulting firm and an ACT! Software Certified Consultant. She is this year's Direct Marketer of the Year, awarded by the Direct Marketing Assn. of St. Louis. Reach her at http://www.aviva-aviva.com/mapping.html

---

Direct Mail Offers: Eight Steps to Making them Effective

Every direct mail package you drop in the mail should... Read More

5 Ways to Upgrade Your Existing Marketing Materials for Practically Nothing!

In addition to direct marketing strategies you want to be... Read More

Four Essential Marketing Plan Components

Preparing a Marketing Plan for your product or service is... Read More

Collecting Customer Data The Easy Way

Market research is a critical component of any marketing strategy.... Read More

How to Really Get Your Customers

What Really Makes Your Postcard Mailing Successful? The biggest single... Read More

Off the Shelf Small Business Mapping Software

All small businesses can benefit from inexpensive off the shelf... Read More

Defining Moment

Do you know your audiences? I mean really know... Read More

Discover 7 Hidden Profit Producing Secrets

Would you like to learn the lessons of the businesses... Read More

Five Cheap Tricks for Promoting Your Business

If you're like me, you're always looking for ways to... Read More

CD ROM Business Cards - Offline Marketing For Online Promotion

It's a great concept, - and it has a 'cool... Read More

Trade Show Marketing ? Getting Prepared for the Big Event

With the increase in number of tradeshows being held across... Read More

Peddling Your Own Wagon Through Local Exposure

In my e-book "Articles That Sell", I've shared the secret... Read More

Make Your Prospects Say Yes!

6 Secrets to Stellar Sales PresentationsEvery sale is won or... Read More

Work Backward And Make More Sales!

It goes against the grain, especially for those of us... Read More

Direct Mail Sales Letter Mistakes to Avoid

Some companies that use direct mail to sell their products... Read More

Open Doors by Building Relationships

"You can make more friends in two months by becoming... Read More

Freebie Seekers? Turn Them Into Clients and Referrers - or Turn them Far, Far Away

Many service business owners these days are "giving away" their... Read More

Importance of Endorsements And How To Use Them

Customer endorsements are an inexpensive and easy sales tool, particularly... Read More

Top Five 2004 Required Marketing Tips Needed to Succeed

When marketing your practice, as well as designing yourbrochure, web... Read More

10 Proven Ways To Accelerate Your Profits

1. Make copies of your web site in many different... Read More

How Do You Know Your Clients Cant Pay More?

"My clients can't afford higher rates."When more than 330 business... Read More

Turbo-Charge Your Viral Marketing- Five Easy Ways

The world of marketing has changed. With increasingly better educated... Read More

Corporate Cleavage

I enjoy cleavage as much or even more than the... Read More

Effective Marketing

For any business to be successful whether on or offline... Read More

Secrets of Trade Show Success

The ropers at Annie Oakley's Real Western Dudette Ranch were... Read More

Marketing Planning Made Simple - Another Small Business Power Tool

Marketing planning must be really difficult and complex, otherwise why... Read More

Fundraising Letters Are Easier To Write With AIDA

Learn a lesson from professional direct mail copywriters. They follow... Read More

Why Do You Need to be in the SERPS?

Why does your business need to be in the Search... Read More

Provacative Research Works

If you want to double your business, then you need... Read More

Using Flyers In Your Business

If you are not using flyers in your business you... Read More

The Top 10 Ways to Market your Business or Professional Practice Without Networking

While focused, strategic networking is usually the most efficient way... Read More

Knowing When To Charge More and To Charge Less

More And MoreIt was notable that when I started my... Read More

Increase New Customer Traffic to Your Business

One person tells another, who tells another, who tells another... Read More