The January 2009 issue of our ‘Sample of the Month’ direct mail case study features our client Devachan, a salon and spa that caters to curly-haired women.
The story centers around how they used a simple coupon self-mailer to generate an extra $94,000 in revenue in 2 months.
Self-Mailer Details
The 4-color self-mailer measures 8″ high by 3.5″ wide and folds open to 8″ high by 7″ wide. When open, the right side contains 3 perfed coupons: $20 off Devachan Hair, $20 off for Devachan Spa and 10% off Devachan products.
Project Summary
Devachan started producing these coupon self-mailers two years ago to try to jump start their holiday sales. They are sent out to their customer database the beginning of December and the coupons don’t expire until January of the following year. We handle the printing and mailing portion of the projects.
The idea was simply to send out eye-catching, inexpensive coupon mailers to generate extra revenue all year long, especially in the months of December and January.
The first mailer went out in December of 2007 and the second one went out in December of 2008. Furthermore, per our recommendation, we applied our Soft-Feel coating to the second mailer to give it a nice, velvet finish.
Project Results
From late December 2007 to January 2008, 312 coupons were redeemed with an average order of about $74 resulting in $23,000 in revenue.
From late December 2008 to January 2009, 1,275 coupons were redeemed with an average order of about $56 dollars resulting in $71,000 in revenue. The large jump in coupon redemption is from people ALSO using the previous coupon before it expired.
So the 2 mailings generated $94,000 in revenue in 2 months with project costs that totaled only $21,000, which includes postage. And the $94,000 doesn’t even factor in revenue generated from the coupons last year between holidays!
Some Takeaways
Obviously, results like this aren’t typical, but here is what we think is important to mention:
- If it’s possible to promote your product or service with coupons, you should at least test coupon mailers. For retailers, this is a must.
- The results above prove that customers pay attention to expiration dates. By using a 1-year expiration period, Devachan was able to get a double hit this holiday.
- The economy this holiday was likely the cause of the reduction in Devachan’s average order per sale, but the mailer still managed to bring in a flood of coupon redemptions. Did the Soft-Feel coating help? It’s hard to say for sure, but it probably caused more people to at least fold open the piece to reveal the coupons.
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If you would like us to send you samples of the self-mailer featured in this case study, please send your address to: ryan (at) ballantine.com
8 comments ↓
If feasible, you might have tried dividing the second mailing into two halves, one with Soft Feel, the other without, and then tracked the redemption percentages. If the result were in Soft Feel’s favor, then Ballantine would have an added marketing point for itself.
Good point Sarah. For their next holiday mailing, they are going to use different coupon codes so they can tally up how many coupon redemptions are coming from the new mailing and how many are coming from the previous mailing (customers using the coupons before they expire). And maybe we’ll also suggest splitting up the mailing like you said.
As a Devachan customer (I go for cut every 3 months and color ever 5 weeks), the mailer was great. I had never tried a spa service before, but with the coupon, I decided to try their eyebrow service and am now going to add that to my Devachan routine! Devachan customers are really loyal!
Thank you Dana. I passed your nice testimonial onto our contact at Devachan. They are going to be really happy to read that their coupon mailer was well received!
Will they be sending out coupons again this year ? I have been watching my mail for one to come. I travel up from NC and the coupon is a good way to help justify coming to NY instead of getting my hair done down here. It would be helpful if the mailer went out a bit earlier to have more time to plan the trip. I also saved my coupon from last year, so I will check that expiration date.
Good question Angela. I will check with them and give you an update here on our blog.
Hi Angela, Devachan just told me that we WILL be sending out another coupon mailer for them this year. That being said, it might not mail out until sometime in December.
Thanks for the update. I checked my coupon from last year and it does not expire until this Dec 31, so I am going to plan a trip ! Even before I get my new coupon. : ) They can really target out of town people like me with these coupons.
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