WHAT DOES A LOCAL PLUMBING concern do when business starts to slow down and the Yellow Pages doesn't bring in work the way it used to?
This was the problem facing Magic Plumbing, a $2 million San Francisco contractor.
To at least hold on to existing business, if not expand it greatly, the firm decided to launch a postcard campaign targeting likely local prospects.
“We're going to mail 4,000 consumers, 500 restaurants and 500 property management companies — a series of six postcards,” said company owner Paul Rowe.
He hopes the monthly reminders will keep Magic Plumbing's name fresh in the minds of recipients, and keep as many of his firm's 14 trucks working as often as possible.
“I want to be able to add another driver or two,” he said.
The copy will be tailored for specific markets, said Ernest Nicastro, president of Positive Response, Magic Plumbing's Dublin, OH agency.
This is not Rowe's first attempt at direct mail. He used postcards about 15 years ago “to kick-start the business,” and mailed restaurants and other prospects six or seven years ago, “when the economy was still good.” In each case, he did all the work himself.
This time knew he needed professionally designed mail pieces and selected lists. “I couldn't do it myself anymore and still be a plumber,” he conceded.
And advertising in the Yellow Pages has turned out to be a disappointment.
“The Yellow Pages people say they're the be-all-and-end-all of everything and it's just not true,” Rowe continued. But he cautioned that direct mail, while generally less expensive than the Yellow Pages, “has to be done right.”
On another front, Magic Plumbing (www.magicplumbing.com) has tried Google and Yahoo! search engine optimization for more than a year, using such keywords as “plumber” and “water heater.”
Will the postcards work? Rowe's not sure he knows exactly what he's looking to reap from the campaign.
“But I know I need to be doing this,” he said.
