With the popularity of online marketing, wedding planners often forget about mailing postcards to attract brides. However, mail can be a very effective way of reaching them, here’s how to start a campaign.
Question
I’d like to do a postcard mailer to attract brides. Where can I get a reliable mailing list? What’s the best way to do a mailing?
Answer
The best list is the one you create yourself from information you’ve collected at bridal events. But, if you haven’t been in business long enough to create your own list, here are 3 places that sell them:
1) Bridal show management companies – they often sell lists of brides who have attended their events.
2) Bridal magazines and wedding websites – they sell lists of their subscribers, contact their advertising sales offices for information.
3) There are also list brokers who are in the business of just selling lists. You can Google to find some of the top companies. Most of them get their contact names from bridal magazines and wedding catalog companies.
Here are tips to help you be successful with you list:
- Have a well thought-out budget, in other words, know how much you can spend on lists, creative design or photographs for the front of your postcards, printing and postage.
- Be very clear about who the brides are that you are trying to reach, know their age, income, zip code, wedding budget and their wedding dates. You must really narrow it down so you can request lists that have the brides you want.
- Don’t just send out sales pitches. Share information and marketing messages that show your brides that you understand their wedding planning problems.
- Make sure you have a call to action that sends them to your website or an opt-in page where they can leave their email address to get a list of wedding tips or a checklist that you have created (your webmaster can help you set this up). With their email addresses you can start marketing to them less expensively than you can with mailers.
- Plan to do a series of mailings, not just one or two. Research has found that you won’t catch a bride’s attention until she’s received something from you at least seven times.
And if you have a pressing question about starting or running your wedding planning business, you can send me an email at [email protected]. I will answer them on this blog or in my ezine, “Wedding Planner Tips,” which you can subscribe to here.
