FedEx Direct Mail Campaign Renders "Advanced Warrior" Destitute

Pardon the title... Practicing my headline making. Ok, lets get right into it.

Recently, I built a list of restaurant owners. 50 to be exact. 40 of them were directly from the pages of one the daily deal websites. We put together packages with a "cover letter" that had some very specific information on their deal (sold, price, etc.). We also included a gorgeous 20+ page PowerPoint like presentation. We enclosed business cards and sealed it with two fingers for good luck. My first FEDEX CAMPAIGN was out the door!

Results:

1. 0 people called.
2. 0 people agreed to a follow up appointment with appointment setter.
3. 0 e-mail addresses obtained (so far).

Welp - THE JURY IS IN FOLKS! THERE'S YOUR PROOF, DIRECT MAIL DOESN'T WORK!

After this brutal result, I hit the streets. Actually, I just went to places I know where the owners know me but WHO HAVE BOUGHT AND ARE USED TO BUYING from me. Not just guys willing to tell me anything I need to hear so that I tip the bartender well.

Value proposition checked out... No problem there. Messaging in cover letter was on point - it was all about them not us... No problem there...


I went back and looked over old notes, projects, and experiments. I found a campaign that was successful back in 2013.

I used priority mail to send out 25 envelopes. Included in the envelopes were a cut out of an advertisement they were currently running with a handwritten POST IT note that said; "love this! I have an idea you're absolutely going to love! Call me back!" The outside of the letter and inside of the letter (the note) featured MY NAME not my company.

Result:

1. 5 Calls back - All Set Appointments.
2. 3 Appointments set by phone for a total of 8 appointments.
3. 1 fairly large sale.

Now - you guys who are experienced pros can probably see instantly what went wrong this time around. But for those of you who are not DM pros... here is my self diagnosis.

1. Bad Target: I targeted daily deal restaurants becasue I thought THIS WOULD BE GREAT FOR THEM. Yes, in fact my offering is better than deal sites, but this target audience was HORRIBLE for us. That's because these folks fell fro an awful deal because they have NO DESIRE TO ACTUALLY PAY FOR TRAFFIC.
2. Too Much Garbage In the Envelope: A freakin post it note attached to an ad which was taped to an 8.5x11 sheet of blank paper got me a 20% response rate. I decided that in order to "scale up" I had to "lard up." That is lard up these FedEx envelopes with 20 plus pages of sales materials.

Also - regarding the envelope, clearly gatekeepers called and said; "you have this fedex here, should I open it since you're (with the kids, at home, tending the other location, etc).?"

The owner said "who is it from?" She said; "{COMPANY NAME} NOT {PERSON NAME}. Strike one.

Then when she opens it, its no way for her to summarize what the hell she's seeing quickly so she says; "looks like they are selling something." He insta says; "chuck it."

Now, when that same scenario occurred in 2013 the convo went like; Owner; "What's in it?" Gatekeeper: "Some guy named John has your ad from X paper and says you should call him back." My theory is that by completely wiping out any curiosity and suspense, I would have been better off mailing dog poop.


Moral of the Story

1. Don't re-invent the wheel when it comes to marketing.
2. Don't use FedEx / Priority Mail to send folks world almanacs.
3. Trust your process. Trust that you'll close if you stick to the process. I got "mentally lazy" and decided that I would put 50 out there and at least 1 would be calling with a credit card... Not...
4. Never give up - optimize and be willing to fail again until you get it right.