AN POST | FEATURE
Benefits to Being Direct
Having launched last year by An Post, Admailer.ie is an excellent service for local businesses to target specific addresses and get their products out to the masses. SeĂĄn Travers speaks to Amie Peters, Head of Direct Mail at An Post, about this useful new technology.
D
irect mail has often been perceived by businesses as a complicated service with many preferring the more straightforward local press or radio to gain exposure. With Admailer, An Post is trying to make direct mail more accessible and affordable for businesses who want to advertise. "Admailer is a really useful tool for any businesses to get their product or service out to a wide range of customers in their local area. We call it 'turning your neighbours into customers'," says Amie Peters, Head of Direct Mail at An Post. The Admailer.ie website uses an easy three step process in sending out a local postcard campaign. The first step will take the user to a map screen where they can type in an address around Ireland and the map will automatically zoom into that address and pinpoint the location. The user will then be able to use a "radius or slider tool and a pencil tool", to control, customise and select a number of addresses within that specific area. The second step involves creating a highly customisable postcard to send out to their target market. Admailer provides a great variety of templates which in themselves are highly customisable. Businesses with no creative resources can use these templates with great ease, while others, which are more design-friendly, can upload their own templates online. Businesses are able to upload their own logos on the site, write related text or include images that are suited towards their market. The third step involves payment. Admailer's price includes the data, print and postage and to send out a postcard costs just 58c, which is "less than the
price of a stamp", according to Peters. Admailer has a minimum of 200 addresses that they can deliver postcards to, which means the minimum cost of direct mail on Admailer is just â‚Ź116 ex VAT. Peters says: "There is no maximum number of addresses so users of the service can customise how far reaching their direct mail is or just target specific locations." Peters assures users that the service will be able to tailor everything to their business needs and that it is not an "all or nothing service". Many businesses are taking advantage of Admailer's high customisation. "John's Meats Company from Monkstown are one of the early adopters of our service," explains Peters. "He got his staff to stand behind the counter with all beautiful meats on display and took a photograph on his iPhone. He uploaded it to Admailer and put a very simple offer of a 15 per cent discount on the back of the card. He initially decided to test one side of his street to which got fantastic results. Many customers loved the personalised postcard. He then sent the postcard out to the other side of the street. What I love to see is that he tested it first, used his own image of his staff and he very cleverly put a very simple offer on the back. Businesses that are doing that are getting the best results from our service." It's not just small local businesses that are using the service. Dominos Pizza and Magnet Networks are two of their biggest clients who regularly avail of Admailer.ie. With Admailer being such a successful and innovative tool for An Post, they are now gearing themselves up for the 2014 An Post Direct Marketing Awards
which will launch at the beginning of next year. Peters says the awards have grown exponentially over the years with more and more companies entering. She says the significance of direct marketing is that "businesses are looking for measurable marketing and they realise that they can be recognised for this at the Direct Marketing Awards". Last year, Cork-based Forza Direct Marketing picked up the award for Best Creative Campaign in promoting thermoform provider, Tekpak. Peters says the team at An Post are excited to see what candidates will bring to the table for next year's awards amid a time when more companies are seeing the tangible benefits from direct marketing.
Amie Peters. InBusiness | Q3 2013 27