I spend a lot of time writing about the components of direct mail response – list, creative, offer and marketing timing. Today I want to concentrate on Direct Mail Offers for Water Dealers. Because even if I sold you the best mailing list in the world (which we will), if you aren’t making a worthy offer – forget it.

The offer is the theme of your communication. In the Water Industry, I often see the offer being tacked on as kind of an “Oops – I almost forgot it” kind of thing. You need to begin with it. Restate it. Denote its key benefits. You will want to create the actual copy around it so it’s incorporated into the entire program.

Depending on the nature of the communication, there are different kinds of direct mail offers for water dealers:

Lead generation offers

Lead generation offers are typically free offers designed to get someone to raise their hands and say “I’m interested!”  (and give us their info so we can connect with them). In the Water Industry, these are some tried and trued, well-tested, common lead generation offers. As a result, we see gifts like family-sized tide, diapers, soaps, coupon books, and gift cards to home improvement stores.

Order generation offers

Order generation offers are paid offers.  “Buy Now / Pay Later”, “No interest until 2017”. When people respond to these offers, they are committing to pay at a later date. In the Water Industry, there are offers like we will install your unit now / pay in 6 months.

Continuity offers

Continuity offers are for companies that sell products on a monthly basis.  “Try us before you commit”. The offers used for these types of companies are usually free trials for a specific period. This is then followed by an agreed-upon monthly billing. A common direct mail offer for water dealers is, “Try our salt delivery service – and if you like it, sign up for our convenient monthly service”.

Traffic building offers

Traffic building offers are most often used by retailers who want to see their stores packed with customers.  The most common traffic building offers are discount coupons, BOGOs, Gift with Purchase or free event promotions. In the Water Quality Industry, these are mostly used by the “big box” stores like Home Depot, Lowes or Sears.

Two more things:

The offer is an implied contract between you and your prospect. Consequently, you need to be clear in what you’re committing to.  “Buy 1 Get 1 free” can also mean “Buy 100 Get 100 free”.  Can you afford that? When we talk about direct mail offers for water dealers, make sure you really understand what you’re offering. Your customer will want to hold you to it.

Finally, everyone can “see through” lukewarm offers. You want to avoid that. Free In-Home Water Testing as a standalone offer doesn’t make the phone ring. The Water Test is a means to the sale….but offering it is not what will generate the actual lead.

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