Valpack or Moneymailer. Do they work?

The value is an ad, to see a business you may not even know exists.  The coupon is secondary.  The value is cutting it out and sticking it on your fridge ad seeing it there every day. 

I believe these value books & mailings do serve a purpose for certain types of businesses and for certain markets.  I know that for my market and my business they do not work.  I tried one in the first 1-2 years of being open.  We thought it would help 'spread the word' since we are not in a highly visible location.  Only a waste of money. 

Any type of print ad is only good if the reader is in the market for your service right then.  Restaurants have better average of return on investment because if that person is a regular patron, they will keep it for their next use.  People do not plan a trip to a B&B every week or two, but they do (usually) go out to eat at least that often. 

One thing your group may want to consider is a magnet mailout.  Does your group have a website?  Have something enticing on the magnet with the groups website.  You will have a good percentage keep the magnet on the fridge and it may get used multiple times.  Have a code for a discount or a freebie with the stay, that way you can keep up with how well it worked and contiues to work. 

We sent out magnets to 2 of our neighboring subdivisions back 6 years ago, I still get reservations with these magnets -friends, family coming to town, even a couple of getaways without getting away, and this lead to several good business contacts that help keep me booked during the weekdays.  It is the only advertising we can say works well- other than internet. 

Coupons? People use coupons? Say it isn't so.   

 We open them because often our favorite Mexican restaurant has a coupon in them. I usually look to see if there is any local companies that have something that I can use.

Riki

I open mine for the coupons.

It might be a good way to increase awareness of your existence.

Let us know what happens!

=)
Kk.

 We open them sometimes for the restaurant coupons.  This will hit about 30,000 homes where if I mailed my own,  $100 would not send out very many.  Probably a wast of time and money, but I will let you know.

I do open them here because they have great coupons for landscaping companies, restaurants, and a few other  businesses that we already frequent. 

But for me to advertise as a business in there would be a waste of money because we really don't get local people very often (1% of our business).  This is true of our other B&Bs as well. 

Do you think this will increase the number of people that you're already getting from those zip codes?  Maybe spending $100 on Google AdWords would even be a better ROI. 

No. They won't be my customer base. I toss those puppies.

Sorry, but for me...that is not a wise investment for your money. I personally never even open them...the few times I did, they were just for things I never use so I toss it in the trash. I would look for some other type of marketing strategy.

If it's any help, I throw those mailers out. I have a short attention span and they all run together after looking at a couple of them.

Can you, as a group that is already planning an expenditure of $100 each, do your own mailing? The Post Office will help with learning how if someone doesn't know how to bulk mail to a zip code. It could be a simple postcard with a scenic photo of your area with your blurb on the back.

That way it is just your group that's getting the attention and people read postcards if for no other reason than they don't have to open an envelope.