What is a good direct mail response rate?
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Founder, ProveWorth
I found no published direct mail response rate you can trust for a local service business. The rates on printer sites cite reports that sit behind a sign-in, and they mix years and measures. Measure your own with one small test mailing.
One public case gives a single data point. PostcardMania reports a landscaper's 4,233 postcards drew 20 responses, about 0.47 percent, and 15 became customers. It used a purchased list plus matching online ads, not Every Door Direct Mail.
The catch is the vendor's 714% ROI. It subtracts mailing cost from revenue and leaves out the cost of doing the jobs, so it is not profit.
Why is there no standard response rate?
Response depends on your list, your offer, how often you mail and when. The rate that matters is the one from your own route.
The Association of National Advertisers does publish ROI figures from a self-reported online survey run in 2021. Postcards to house lists showed 92 percent, and letter-sized envelopes to prospect lists showed 112 percent. Those figures measure ROI, and they say nothing about how many people respond.
What counts as a response?
A call, a form or a code you can tie to a mailer. Count responses and customers separately, because the landscaper's 20 responses became 15 customers.
Write down the delivered quantity, the inquiries, the customers and the work they bought.
How do I measure my own response rate?
Mail one small route with one offer, and give the mailer its own phone number or web address. Then divide responses by pieces mailed.
Keep the design and the route on file. Repetition changes results, so note whether this was the first mailing or the third.
Does the mailing pay for itself?
Divide the full cost by the new customers, then compare that with what a customer leaves you after costs. On the vendor's numbers, $3,686 and 15 new customers is about $245.73 each.
The page does not say whether the $3,686 includes the online ads, so treat that figure as rough.
What do I do next?
Price the postage in Every Door Direct Mail cost, then work out your own number with what is CAC. The longer version is Every Door Direct Mail for service businesses.
A mailer can send people to look you up, and reviews on your own page give them something to read. You can get your free page or see how it works.
Sources
Key takeaways
- 1No public primary direct mail response rate exists for a local service business.
- 2One vendor case reports 20 responses on 4,233 postcards, about 0.47 percent, with matching online ads running.
- 3ANA's public figures are self-reported ROI numbers, not response rates.
- 4The vendor's 714% ROI in that case leaves out the cost of doing the jobs, so it is not profit.
- 5Mail one small route with its own phone number or web address, then divide responses by pieces mailed.
Related questions
What is a good direct mail response rate?
No trusted public figure exists for a local service business. One vendor case shows about 0.47 percent, with online ads running alongside.
What does ANA report for direct mail?
ANA reports ROI from a self-reported 2021 survey: 92 percent for postcards to house lists and 112 percent for letter-sized envelopes to prospect lists. Those are not response rates.
What counts as a response?
A call, a form or a code you can tie to a mailer. Count responses and customers separately.
How do I measure my own response rate?
Mail one small route with one offer and give the mailer its own phone number or web address. Divide responses by pieces mailed.
Does direct mail pay for itself?
Divide the full cost by the new customers it brings, then compare that with what a customer leaves you after costs.