Quality vs. Quantity?

5 replies
Hi there, I put together our first postcard mailer this weekend and was hoping to get some feedback on the most effective way to use this medium Our company rents arcade games to offices for their break rooms and we wanted to microtarget HR directors at tech companies in our area by sending out postcards.

Since we're on a budget and our target is relatively narrow, we spent the time to hand write our pitch on the back of the postcard, to hand address each mailer and personally address the mailer to a carefully cultivated a list of human resource directors, that was cross referenced by the number of employees that they have and the types of industries that would be amendable to offering this type of workplace benefit. (tech, marketing firms, video game publishers, etc)

We started by sending out our first 100 and plan to send 100 per week for 10 weeks and then gauge our response rate. After dropping the first 100 in the mail, we're optimistic about our chances, but I was also a bit discouraged by how long it took us to write and hand address just 100 postcards.

In looking at our approach, I wanted to get some feedback to see if this seems like the best way for us to go about advertising in this way. Would it be better to save the hours of labor by using preprinted labels/pitch that are addressed generically to HR departments on bulk business mailing lists and then send out more of them or should we expect enough of a higher response rate with the handwritten cards/cultivated lead lists, that it will make up for giving up my weekends to take on this project? (I've attached a copy of the front of our postcard if you have any advice for improving future iterations of our mailer) What do you think that average response rate would be for a bulk mailer for our services vs. something that is more personalized, but time intensive? Thanks for the advice.
#quality #quantity
  • Profile picture of the author Alex Cohen
    You've got a bigger problem than deciding whether to print or hand write the address portion of your post cards.

    The postcard doesn't mention that the arcade games are for the company break room.

    Ask yourself, will the recipient of your postcard think to himself, "One of these would be great for our break room."?

    Probably not.

    Alex
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    • Profile picture of the author allyoucanarcade
      Thanks for the advice, we're definitely looking to improve on this as we go. When we designed the mailer we wanted to also be able to use it to solicit home customers by partnering with a local pizzaria for distribution, so there is room to make it even more focused. It wasn't until after they were printed that we thought about targeting HR customers instead. For the copy on the backside, we wrote:

      Hi there,

      We rent classic arcade games to offices, for their breakrooms and wanted to introduce you to our service. Check out our list of games online at (our web address) or you can contact me directly at 415-555-5555 if you're interested in renting some games.

      Happy Gaming,

      Seth Peterson
      Co-Founder and CEO

      I'm not in love with the pitch and after doing a bit more homework on copywriting we're going to go with this instead for next week's mailer:

      Hi (prospects actual name),

      Do you remember the thrill that you used to get when you were about to play your favorite arcade game? We can help you relive the experience by adding a classic arcade game to your breakroom! Rent any game we own for only $75 per month. Choose from a wide selection of games from the 80's, 90's and beyond.

      Happy Gaming,

      Seth Peterson
      Co-Founder and CEO

      P.S. If you call me before Friday at 415-555-5555, we can let you try out the service next week for free.
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  • Could you make it a truly irresistible offer?

    The "try it for free" is good from the companies view.

    But wouldn't it be great to give the employees free credits to use the machines for the week?

    This way they get used to them, enjoy them, start having competitions with each other, and all in all really look forward to playing them.

    Just get them started and chances are they won't want to finish.


    Steve
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    • Profile picture of the author allyoucanarcade
      It's an interesting idea. We're definitely looking to get them started. Almost all of the customers stay on once they join. All of our games our on free play, so they don't need any credits, but if we redesigned our mailer as a free 1 week coupon we may be able to get more offices to respond.

      Do you think it's better to target the decision makers with the pitch directly or would we have more bang for our buck sending it to IT heads and then trying to get their employees to push the idea? One advantage to going with a generic attn: Human Resources is that the guy in the mailroom gets to decide who the best person to give it to is. What are some good ideas for incentivizing the "kids" to bug mom and dad about it?
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  • Yea fair point Alex.

    So, maybe the employers can keep the machines on "free play"

    Might save on the vandalism, and "we shouldn't have to pay, cos I bet the bosses make the profits"

    And/or the "entitlement" mentality.

    And it may help keep the workforce a little bit happier.

    Could be a good selling point that Seth could use.

    And to answer his question I would get get the employees to bug the employers to get a machine.

    But if the postcard arrives in the mail room - it's got a brilliant chance of arriving on the decisions makers desk.

    Hopefully with a post it note attached saying "Read this - We definitely need one!"


    Steve



    P.S. If all of us copywriters had a pin ball machine would we ever do any writing?
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