ETS Tanning Bed Blog

Direct mail is a great way to find new customers for your tanning salon. But if you're not careful, you'll end up wasting money by paying too much postage, reaching the wrong customers, and even wasting money on printing. Here are a few ways you can make sure your direct mail campaign is the most effective.

It starts with the right mailing list.

Most people will buy a mailing list for a specific ZIP code, thinking "people with a lot of money live in that area," or "that's a younger neighborhood." Maybe those people do live there, but each ZIP code is a microcosm of your city: various ages, income levels, and races. Needless to say, not everyone is a potential customer. So blanketing a ZIP code to reach one "type" of person is not a good use of money.

But it is possible to get a mailing list that's made of people who typically come to your salon. Check your salon software. What is the average age of your customers? Are they married? Male or female? Build a profile of your typical customer and purchase a mailing list of people who fit that profile. If you want to make things even more targeted, get that list in a 5 mile radius around your tanning salon. These kinds of targeted lists will cost more than a general ZIP code list, but you're talking about a difference of spending a few more dollars to save a few hundred on postage and printing.

Send postcards, not letters or brochures

Not only do letters cost more in terms of printing, paper, and stuffing envelopes, but for some products and services, letters just aren't as effective, postcards are. And why you get your postcards, make sure they're big enough.

Most people will print a 4.25" x 5.5" postcard (1/4 of a sheet of paper), thinking they're saving postage. Smaller is cheaper in terms of printing, but your message and image can be lost with too small of a card. You can actually mail up to a 6" x 11" postcard for the same price as the 4.25" x 5.5", and get your message across more effectively. So talk with a professional graphic designer to determine the best size for your postcard.

Don't do it yourself

The biggest temptation for most people is to stick the stamps to the postcards themselves. That's a huge mistake. By sending your work out to a direct mail house, you'll be able to take advantage of postal discounts the mail houses can get that you'll never see if you stick your stamps on yourself. The savings can be as high as $.20 per piece if you do it right.

This rule also applies to the actual postcard design. Unless you or your staff have a background in graphic design, don't try doing this yourself. The quality of your work won't be up to par with the image and brand you've worked so hard to create for your tanning salon, so don't hurt that image by creating a less-than-professional card.

Direct mail is still one of the most effective ways to find new customers. Fewer people are doing it, which means your postcard is more likely to stand out. Plus targeting your mail is a great way to reach only the people you want to reach. So when you start your next marketing campaign, give direct mail a try.