Weekly Direct Mail Mail & Pay Weekly

FAQs

What type of mailings do you offer?

We offer several different types of mailings which we have listed below. That said, there are many nuances to each of these types of mailings that are better explained during a no-nonsense consultation with one of our direct mail experts.

Full-Service Mailing Options
(We design, print and mail for you)

• New Customer Acquisition Mailings
  • By Vehicle, Make, Model, Year, Fuel Type, Fleets, etc.

• Database/Customer Loyalty Mailings

  All we need from you, is your complete database of customers in an Excel or CSV format separated by first name, last name, address, city, state, zip. We will then run your database through our postal software to ensure all of the addresses in your database are valid and deliverable.

  In addition, for a nominal cost, we can run your database through the NCOA (National Change of Address) System. This process compares the names and addresses of the customers in your database to the NCOA database of approximately 160 million change of addresses going back 48 months.

  This process will ensure that the customers in your database have not changed their address. The benefit to you is the cost savings of sending mailers to customers than have moved out of the area and will never need your auto repair services again.

What types of vehicles can I target?

Our Premium Auto Repair files gives you the ability to select the vehicles you would like to target by Make, Model, Year, Fuel type, etc. In addition, you can target owners of RV as well as businesses with Fleets. If you are in need of a list beyond what is listed above, just give us a call and we will do our best to help you get the list you need.

Where does your vehicle mailing list data come from?

Our premium vehicle list data come from a multi-sourced database of known vehicle owners. There is NO modeling used to create our data and our data is NOT sourced from the DMV. In 1994 the Driver Privacy Protection ACT made it illegal for marketers to use information that has been sourced from the DMV for marketing purposes.

For a record to be added to our database it is required that at least two of the major sources contribute the same info including, name, address, make model and year as well as VIN info. Although we can’t give you specific partner names that we obtain this information from, we can tell you it is derived from sales and service type data, auto warranty info, aftermarket repair, scheduled maintenance data sources, etc.

Another key benefit to our auto file, is the process our partners use to assemble this data and keep It clean. Every month our list goes through an address standardization and name parsing process. It is also passed against the deceased file records, and we eliminate any bad or incomplete data. We also CASS certify and run this data against the National Change of Address database to ensure these vehicle owners still live at their address on file and have not moved.

How do I choose the best areas to target?

General Auto Repair Shops, Quick Lube & Tire Dealers typically choose to target all prospects in a specific area. This is done by identifying and mailing to everyone in a specific postal carrier route/s (further breakdown of a zip code). Targeting prospective customers by carrier route allows you to target specific neighborhoods in a zip code without having to target everyone in the entire zip code. It’s also the most cost-effective solution.

Our strategy to help you select the best carrier routes, is to take your current database of customers and append them back to the exact postal carrier route that they are located in. With this data, you will be able to make strategic fact-based decision about which areas are the most viable for you to target new prospective customers.

*As a side note, once we have your current database of customers, we can use that same list to easily suppress them from your mailing to maximize your marketing spend, if you choose to do so.

If you are a newer shop without a large database, we will use our mapping software and key demographics along with your knowledge of your local market to help you strategically choose the best carrier routes to target.
If your shop would rather only target a specific type of vehicle, by make, model, year and/or fuel type, or are looking to target fleet accounts, we can do that as well.

How much does it cost?

The cost of your mailing/s is driven by many factors including quantity, product selection, type of mailing, etc. Simply contact us for a no-nonsense transparent quote. The all-inclusive price we provide you with includes everything you need from start to finish;

A custom design, mailing list, all printing costs, postage and delivery to the USPS. There are never any additional costs taxes or hidden fees.

Why Is Your Annual Program So Effective?

Our annual program is extremely effective for a number of reasons.

• Our Annual program provides you with the ability to consistently market your shop all year long without any gaps in your marketing. Consistency is one of the keys to a successful marketing plan.
• The Annual program creates the perfect blend of Frequency & Reach.
  • Frequency is the number of times you target those prospects with your message & Reach is the total number of people exposed to your marketing message.
  • Reach without Frequency = Wasted Money
  • Take a deeper look at frequency & reach
• The use of a variety of different products to target prospects ensures your marketing doesn’t get stale.

Do I have to do an annual program

Absolutely not. Our Annual program is our most popular for all of the reasons stated above. However, you are always in control and able to choose the number of mailings that are the best for your shop, whether that is 1 or 12.

Over how many weeks can I spread my mailings and payments?

You can spread your mailings and payments over up to 10 weeks. If that doesn’t meet your goals, there are other options. Simply give us a call to discuss.

Can I change my Annual Program as I go?

Although our Annual Program is strategically pre-planned, one of its key benefits is that it is not set in stone. Whenever a direct mail marketing campaign is scheduled, you have complete control over changing as much as necessary, including your design and ad copy, mailing area, quantities, etc.

What if I need to stop the Annual Program?

Our Annual Program allows you to market your shop every week of the year consistently and does not lock you into additional mailings. Therefore, there is an easy and fair way to stop your mailings for any reason.

When you sign up for an Annual Program, consisting of 5 or more mailings during a calendar year, we provide you a discounted rate below our standard pricing equal to one penny per piece.

In the event you need to end your Annual Program prior to its completion, you are simply required to pay back the one penny per piece discount on all of the pieces you have mailed.

This isn’t a cancellation fee; it is merely the cost you would have paid based on our standard pricing, had you not been on the Annual Program.

Additionally, in the event that you end your Annual Program in the middle of a mailing and have remaining printed and addressed direct mail pieces on our shelf that have not been sent out, you simply pay us for the cost of the printing and addressing of those remaining pieces and not postage.

What type of return can I expect?

To answer this question, we have put together a Comprehensive Guide to Auto Repair Direct Mail ROI, as well as an interactive Auto Repair ROI Calculator. These resources will help provide transparency and the answer to this question.

How can I track my response rates?

There is no one perfect solution to track your direct mail response rates. However, there are two methods that should be used in conjunction with each other to track your auto direct mail response rates: match back reports and call tracking.

Matchback reports:

A matchback report compares the new customers you acquire to the mailing list of recipients that were targeted with your direct mail marketing. This gives you a transparent picture of how many new customers you acquired that received your direct mail marketing.

However, one blind spot of matchback reporting is that it only shows the prospects you have converted into new customers. It does not provide visibility to the number of prospects that have responded to your direct mail marketing but did not convert into a customers.

This is a critical differentiation. If you have 50 people call from your direct mail piece, however, only 10 of them turn in to new customers, it will skew the analysis of your response rates and may appear that your marketing isn’t working as well as it is.

It’s critical that you understand why a prospect calls but does not convert. It could be quite a few reasons, such as poor customer service, scheduling issues, insurance issues, etc. Whatever the case may be, it is critical that you understand these reasons in order to be able to not only properly analyze the performance of your direct mail marketing but also to identify and address the reasons why your prospects did not convert. This brings us to the second method of tracking response rates: call tracking.

Call Tracking:

Call tracking works by utilizing a unique phone number that is only used on your direct mail marketing. Mail Shark can help acquire a call tracking number. Anyone who calls from this unique call tracking number is documented, and the call is recorded.

This provides another layer of tracking and allows you to listen to these calls as well for training and tracking purposes.

That said, one blind spot of call tracking is that any prospect who goes to Google or to your website and calls from the number on your website will not show up on your call tracking. Thus, call tracking is not 100% perfect but does provide an extra layer of tracking.

Call tracking is very inexpensive and highly recommended to use with your direct mail marketing.

Do you use the USPS EDDM program?

For our full-service mailings that we design, print and mail for you, we DO NOT use the USPS EDDM BMEU program.

We put a physical address on each direct mail piece that is sent out, unlike the USPS EDDM BMEU program that uses a generic address on each piece. The benefit of addressing each mailer is that it gives us the flexibility to remove certain types of unwanted addresses as well as the ability to suppress your current customer database from your mailers, if you wish to do so. This cannot be done with the USPS EDDM BMEU program.

However, we do offer printed material that can be used for the USPS EDDM Retail program, where you physically take the mailers to the post office yourself.  

Can I remove my current customers from my mailing?

Yes, you absolutely can remove your current customers from your mailing.  It is entirely up to you. All we will need from you is your complete database of customers in an Excel or CSV format, separated by address, city, state, and zip.

What offers should I use on my mailers?

Our best advice is to give us a call. It’s important we first understand what has worked for you in the past before providing future suggestions. If you haven’t tried any offers in the past or simply want us to make suggestions based on our auto repair direct mail marketing expertise that is perfectly fine as well. We will not only make suggested offers; we will provide you with the reasoning and methodology used behind our suggestions.

Why is Mail Shark the best direct mail partner for my shop?

We feel that the most important characteristic you should look for in a direct mail partner is Trust. We are extremely proud to say that we have built a reputation for over a decade as the most trusted industry resource for direct mail. We pride ourselves on always doing the right thing, even when no one is looking. We believe in transparency, accountability and do what we say we will do every single time for our clients.

By working with 100’s of auto repair shops throughout the years, we are the most qualified direct mail partner to work with your shop. We encourage you to read some of our blog posts and content and you will quickly see we understand auto repair direct mail.

In addition, our weekly direct mail services and lineup of both paper and plastic direct mail products are the perfect solution for auto repair shops.  Plus, unlike many other companies, our family-owned business actually does everything under one roof, including an Onsite Post office to ensure your direct mail is verified accurate, on time, every time.