EDDM Marketing for home and auto insurance

Anyone want to get the ball roling here! lol

A little light on specifics, aren't you Jayson?

"I know the return on investment is all that matters"

Really? I can think of a couple of other things that just might play into it.

"so the only other variable is the response rate!"

Well, uh, I guess the offer doesn't matter then, eh?

Do you have a copy of the card you will send?

Some here may be able to guess at response rates after seeing it but beyond a guess there is nothing we can do. Testing is the only way to know.

Think about it this way I can send 200 post cards out with 100 each of two different messages to the same people.

One can say "Call this 900 number and for $5/min an angry women will yell at you"
and the other could say
"The first 100 people to bring this card into Doud Chevy will get a free car"

While both will convert it is clear one will convert better. Even if I have no idea how many you sent or what the free car is it would be worth it for me to come down and get it. On the other hand very few people would pay $5/min to get yelled at by a woman. Sure there is a niche for that but you are unlikely to find many of them (or any) with a send of 100.

There are many factors that go into response rate. And even if someone has done a similar card for an insurance agency their conversion numbers might not match yours.

I'd ask this. Have you used a similar ad in a newspaper? If so how much response did you get? That can help you judge what to expect.

That depends on who you mail to (how the list was created, i.e., which area you're sending to), on the offer you make, on the copy, on the timing.

It wouldn't hurt to expect a lower response rate. Maybe one half what you're expecting. Maybe less than that.

And you'd need to keep in mind that no one's anxiously awaiting your mailing, on the watch out for it and eager to jump on it. Maybe other things are pressing on their lives the day your piece comes in the mail. Or they put it aside intending to act on it, but neglect it and forget it. Or throw it away. So you may need to re-mail a few times.

And the offer's important. If you're looking to find buyers right now, and your offer is about buying insurance, keep in mind every one else is doing the exact same thing. How many mailings do I get where it looks like the same form letter but which they added their name and carrier to?

So what are you doing that's going to make someone call you?

What are you selling? Final Expense insurance? My suggestion: copy what the big boys do.

You may also want to speak to Reardon. He's a member here. He works in insurance.

Let's see what your card looks like. What are you offering?

I use EDDM all the time for real estate. We constantly farm the same area and offer free home seller guides. Sometimes we only get a tenth of a percent response. But, that tenth of a percent means thousands (tens of thousands) ROI.

Also, it could take months to a year for us to finally pick up a client who inquired about our home seller guide. Follow up is key!

We also use EDDM when we have a buyer looking in a certain area but no house on the market meets their criteria. We usually have over 1 percent response, and so far we have gotten a listing from each mailing. Makes our buyers happy we're doing more than just showing them houses and makes us happy because we get listings. Cha-ching!

1. As mentioned test everything before you invest. You can use AdWords to test. Easy and cheap.
2. Use a plain white envelope with a handwritten address. It gets opened. They throw cards in the waste basket.
3. Contest "Win One Free Year of Home and Auto Insurance."
4. Point them to your opt-in box on a landing page. You can use LeadPages for this.
5. Use MailChimp or similar to send your autoresponder series.
6. Lead up to a timed insurance discount to convert.
7. Continue educate your list about insurance. Stories. Funny once. Claim frauds. Then hit them somewhere down the road with another offer. You'll convert them all eventually unless they unsubscribe or change their email address.

Get your card from GotPrint or similar. Pick your mail routes and have at it.

Be sure card has call to actions and get er done.

Better yet - have 3 ads on the back side - sell two of them and let someone else pick up part of your cost . . .