Body: | Direct Mail Distribution
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The Universal Direct Mail or Windshield Flyer!
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The only rule of evangelism: "Anything you do will bring results, with
proper follow-up." In the past I have tried everything from putting flyers
on windshields of cars in malls, to telecomputer auto telephone dialers
that play pre-recorded scripts at supper hour. Everything works! Some
better than others! Follow up is the key to success! This article will give
you details of something we have done at least 10 times, that is highly at
malls, as a handout at summer fairs and distributed successful! We have
used this coupon for windshields it via direct mail.
The double sided flyer pictured opposite page, is actual size and colours
of what we used. It was distributed by the postal service within a "coupon
envelope" which contained between 20-40 different flyers varying from Elvis
collector plates to pizza coupons. (Similar to Val-Pak.)
What Will It Cost You?
I got a price quote for two major US cities from Val-Pak in Jan. 2001.
Prices vary. Best way to find the cheapest mail distributor in your local
area is to merely collect the many coupon packs that come to your house and
phone each of them for a quote! Our total cost to distribute this flyer, as
pictured, was $1400 for 100,000, so shop around!
Distrib.
100,000
200,000
Size
1/3 pg.
Full pg.
1/3 pg.
Full pg.
Economy
$2,750
$4,800
$5,100
$8,400
Premium
$3,000
$9,000
$5,600
$11,000
Economy: (1 sided, 1 colour, coloured bond paper.)
Premium: (2 sided, full colour side 1, 2 colour side two, glossy white
paper.)
Costs include ad design, printing and distribution. This may sound
expensive, but the US post office charges $9000 to deliver 100,000 bulk
flyers and you must pay for printing!
Design features:
Bigger is better. As you can see, double sided is only 10% more cost than
single sided and you will need both sides to get the information in. ALWAYS
offer them, a way to enroll by phone! Use a members number who is always
home. Since 75% of your responses are by phone and only 25% mail the coupon
in, results start coming the morning they hit the mailbox. This means you
get to talk to the enrollee right away. Subscribing to call display is
essential for too many reasons to list! Do not use "church of Christ" on
the coupon, but something generic like, "Bible Blueprint Course". I have
done it every possible way and this one phrase, "Learn the Bible Blueprint"
always brings in the most responses. Make sure you ask the enrollee two
critical things right on the coupon: their phone number and age. Ask for
their phone number for easy follow up. Ask their age for the sole purpose
of identifying children. 90% will gladly give both if you merely ask!
It is also best to avoid exotic coloured backgrounds on the flyer. Simple
black text with red highlights on white paper stands out better than a
rainbow smear of cluttering colour. Black on yellow paper is nice or full
colour with black and red text with a single full colour photo of a Bible
is nice. Keep it simple. Finally, make sure the key words BIBLE and GOD are
very large and bold. As people go through the coupons, it is these large
words that will catch their attention.
What to mail them when they enroll:
I always send them lesson one of my 3 lesson correspondence course. (Send
me $5 for a sample set you may reproduce as needed on your photocopier.) As
well, they get an invitation to the church with full details of location
and service times. I also include an exact reproduction of the flyer they
got in the mail to remind them where we got their name!
Involve the congregation:
After all the enrollments come in and the materials have been mailed out, a
large number will not return lesson one. Divide these up and give them to
willing members for follow-up! This way, even if no one is baptized, there
is a net benefit to the congregation by being involved in evangelism!
Follow up is the key!
Since 75% enroll by phone, you have a tremendous opportunity to set up an
immediate personal Bible study. I always ask them two questions: "Do you
attend church every week?" and "Which church do you attend?" Start by
offering them a personal Bible study. Tell them you have a study series
with outlines they can keep or you can tell them about the "overview of the
Bible" video tapes or film strips. Invite them to church... and when all
that fails, send them the second lesson of the Bible correspondence course.
Always date the enrollments and phone them up one month later when they
fail to return lesson one.
Over time, put them on a mailing list or have each member write a personal
handwritten letter inviting them to your next gospel meeting! Then phone
them up the day before and invite them by phone!
Results:
From three separate mail drops last year totaling 228,000 flyers, we got
173 responses. So far there were four baptisms, and there certainly be more
baptisms since the last drop of 100,000 was only 1 month ago. Although we
will get few new responses, fruit generally takes about 2-6 months.
Steve Rudd
Results:
Distribution
Phoned to enroll
Mailed coupon
Total returns
Return Ratio
Mailing 1
168,650
65
24
89
1:1938
Mailing 2
26,200
17
3
20
1:1310
Mailing 3
31,500
15
4
19
1:1658
Mailing 4
102,000
32
14
46
1:2200
Totals
328,350
129
45
173
1:1768
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100,000+
250,000+
1/3 pg.
Full pg.
1/3 pg.
1/3 pg.
Economy
28M
$48M
26M
26M
Premium (1/3 page)
$32M
$32M
$28M
$28M
Economy (full page)
$48M
$48M
$42M
$42M
Premium (full page)
90M
90M
8.5M
8.5M
Click to View
100,000+
250,000+
Economy (1/3 page)
28M
26M
Premium (1/3 page)
$32M
$28M
Economy (full page)
$48M
$42M
Premium (full page)
90M
8.5M
Click to View
100,000+
250,000+
1/3 pg.
Full pg.
1/3 pg.
Full pg.
Economy
28M
$48M
26M
$42M
Premium
$32M
$90M
$28M
$8.5M
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