Variable Printing Boosts Merry Maids’ Direct Mail Response

A variable data printing system has helped Merry Maids standardize direct mail from franchisees, raise response rates and cut mailing costs over the last two years. 

The Memphis, TN-based company and its 450 franchisees sent out about 1.25 million postcards last year, at a cost of about 39 cents each. The variable data system has helped the company save more than $55,000 on postage largely through volume and pre-sorting discounts. 

Using DirectMail.com, local franchisees can upload their own images and copy for direct mail pieces into a standardized template, says Stefan Figley, vice president of marketing for the cleaning service company. 

The postcard mailings are sent to prospects in local neighborhoods based on demographic data from Experian like gender, household income, age, home value and education level, says Figley. 

Previously, individual franchisees produced their own individual marketing materials. This led to a diluted brand message since individual offices took care of their own direct marketing efforts, often independently from parent company, says Figley. 

Merry Maids' 6.5-by-8.5-inch postcards are sent each month to prospects and customers in both the U.S. and Canada, getting response rates of 1.5 to 2%. 

After the initial response, the company bids on individual house cleaning jobs. Final conversion rates run at about 0.32%, he says. 

The postcards direct recipients to Merrymaids.com, which features cleaning tips, customer testimonials, information on local franchisees and a toll free number. The company is also testing other mail formats, including self-mailers.

Merry Maids services range in price from about $95 to $150 per week depending on the size of the dwelling space and frequency of cleaning activities, he says.

The company also markets itself through paid and organic search, and online partnerships with sites like HGTV and Working Mother magazine. On Google search, Merry Maids is ranked number one under the categories of house cleaning and maid services, respectively and number three in cleaning services

In the past year, Merry Maids has also stepped-up customer engagement efforts on Facebook, running contests and user stories.

 "We've asked for stories from folks about things like the dirtiest room they've ever had," Figley says. "We started providing more posts like tips and tricks of cleaning, more stuff of interest for folks to engage in conversation."