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Direct mail campaign helps Web site sales exceed expectations for Best Western Inn of Sedona

by: Admin on Date: Tue, 1 Dec 2009 Time: 2:56 PM

When John Tolliver, general manager of Best Western Inn of Sedona, Arizona, hired Mark Peebler of It’s All Good Companies (IAG) to design and manage his new Web site early last summer, he hoped that it would generate between $20,000-40,000 in revenue by the end of the year. To his astonishment and delight, when the receipts were tallied, his site had produced $102,919 in individual and package sales, more than 250% over his greatest expectation.

Tolliver reports further that his revenue from the Web site during the first three weeks of January, traditionally one of the slowest tourist months in Sedona, has been $16,240, leading him to believe that the site alone will generate over $250,000 in 2003. All this for an initial investment of $7,000.

Inn of Sedona also saw excellent results from a new marketing service called MailStakes, for which IAG, partnered with Pulitzer Newspapers, Inc., is the exclusive representative. In this method, a targeted direct mail piece is mailed (in this case to meeting planners) promoting an attractive prize (they offered a weekend getaway at any Best Western in the U.S.) and including a unique MailStakes number. 

Respondents enter the company’s Web site, punch in their number, and fill out a short marketing questionnaire prior to notification if they won. Direct mail professionals cite a 2% response rate to such a campaign as successful. Inn of Sedona saw 5% respond within the first three days of the mailing, with 6-1/2% response overall. With the hot leads generated by the questionnaire, their sales force was able to secure nearly $100,000 in new group business for 2003. They plan another mailing to the bridal market, offering a Sedona honeymoon package as the prize.

Tolliver expressed his gratitude in a letter to Peebler: “Integrating our direct mail program with our Web site was a stroke of genius on your part and accomplished in three days what would have taken my sales office a month. Quite honestly, the new Web site has been the best marketing investment of my 30-year career. Our ability to track sources and to make price and package revisions quickly in response to market conditions places us miles ahead of the competition…”

Inn of Sedona also owes part of the success of its new Web site to taking advantage of another IAG service: guaranteed top-ten placement on the major search engines.

About the Author

Founded in 1994 by Mark Peebler, IAG Companies offers a host of cutting-edge services in Web development, marketing, photography, and graphic design, serving over 500 clients to date. Headquartered in Sedona, AZ, IAG has satellite offices in Los Angeles, New York and Phoenix and can be reached at 888-828-4171 or on the Web at www.itsallgood.com.

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