T65 Direct Mail Typical response rates

[Travis Price]

I am not (yet) doing DM but about to start (T65 Inbound) and letting the pro get my lists. However I did choose the zips based on proximity to my home with x-referenced demographics based on income, home ownership and median age.

My online fishing hole targets mostly females age 64+ in my state. I get a few males but my target is females.

Males don't spend time online looking for information and if something arrives via USPS that even smells like a solicitation it is rarely opened.

As for the men marrying younger women, I think it is the other way around. Younger women are marrying older men. When I see an age difference of 5+ years with the man being older, he often will be working past 65. If there is a big age difference he may never retire because college tuition is coming up in a few years.

I've also found it's almost always the wife calling to figure out what her husband is going to do. I usually do the whole thing with the wife, then the husband sits down at the final meeting and we do the application after I make sure he doesn't have any questions.

Women are general the buyers, regardless of who it is...

 

[Travis Price]

So are you doing it to generate calls to schedule an individual Medicare 101? Or to do webniars with multiple people at the same time?

Using T65Inbound myself, I'll tell you I don't set webinars. They call in, we talk. After our discussion, I usually ask for an e-mail and keep in touch. I also like to send a thank you card. I bought these letter openers for like .60 each that I mail out when someone calls in, regardless of if they're going to join Medicare at age 65 or wait until 66.4+ (which is happening more now anyway.)

I send a small note with it saying thanks for the call. I'll keep in contact and if you have questions, feel free to ask. I'm sending you a present to keep you from paper cuts. I have a feeling you're going to need it...

 

[somarco]

So are you doing it to generate calls to schedule an individual Medicare 101? Or to do webniars with multiple people at the same time?

My hope is they will call me direct for one on one phone time.

The multiple partner thing is not my gig . . .

 

[Travis Price]

My hope is they will call me direct for one on one phone time.

The multiple partner thing is not my gig . . .

Here's what I find:

A number of them will call and some of them want off the list, or it's their dead parent/spouse. I just say okay.

Today a guy called demanding to go off the list. I said no problem, what's your date of birth and I'll happily remove you.

I don't want to share that info with you.

Okay, well it's hard to remove you if I don't know your birth month.

He got feisty, I said okay. I ended up finding him and removing him off the list after I called him back to verify his first name.

However, it makes my life easier.

 

[Alston]

My online fishing hole targets mostly females age 64+ in my state. I get a few males but my target is females.

More women than men respond to my online marketing, maybe it is because men are more likely to retire by 65. I target 64 year-olds exclusively now.

I didn't think about the genders retiring at different ages until I saw your comment above. I just googled for the stats. Women live longer, but retire earlier.

That seems unfair, but women have to put up with men. Maybe that's how the scales are balanced.

I don't have a gender select in my online targeting, maybe I should. Connecticut is so small, I target almost everybody 64 to get the volume I target.

When I figure out DM, I can be more selective online.

TYhere are still more people offline than off, although it doesn't always seem that way. So, I can put more filters on my DM. It's still an experiment and it always will be, but for now I'll see how I'll do with my current selects.

in the end it's just algebra. By limiting myself to males, my initial sales may go down by X and my spousal sales may go up by Y. I don't know either factor. So I cannot solve for N yet.

 

[somarco]

I didn't think about the genders retiring at different ages until I saw your comment above. I just googled for the stats. Women live longer, but retire earlier.

That seems unfair, but women have to put up with men. Maybe that's how the scales are balanced.

I don't have a gender select in my online targeting, maybe I should. Connecticut is so small, I target almost everybody 64 to get the volume I target.

Women generally take better care of themselves including 1x and 2x yearly exams.

Men go to the doc when something hurts.

Men die earlier because they want to.

OK, I made that last on up.

While I use Fakebook, Twister and LinkedIn for social media FB is the only one with paid ads. Most of the FB users are female.

Men who are online are looking for something else . . .

more people offline than off

I think you meant more offline than ON, and I will agree. But folks who are online are generally better educated and higher income.

That made me sound like China Joe but it was not meant to be that way.

Most of my clients are white collar and college educated. I do have blue and pink collar folks as well as some that are HS grads.

I need folks who are somewhat computer savvy and have the $$$ to pay premiums.

By limiting myself to males, my initial sales may go down by X and my spousal sales may go up by Y. I don't know either factor. So I cannot solve for N yet.

I was told there would be no math . . .

 

[somarco]

Women are general the buyers, regardless of who it is...

Even when I wrote U65 health insurance, most of my clients were women. In 2 parent homes they are usually the CFO.

Single moms are also the CFO plus handling everything else

 

[kgmom219]

Single moms are also the CFO plus handling everything else

You're my favorite for that! <3 <3 <3

 

[kgmom219]

Even when I wrote U65 health insurance, most of my clients were women. In 2 parent homes they are usually the CFO.

Single moms are also the CFO plus handling everything else

I sell U65 and a lot of microgroup. And I have a rule, if the wife can't take the kids to THE pediatrician or pay a $20 copay, nobody is happy. And that includes me, because if my phone rings before 8am, its ALWAYS a husband, who has been getting his butt chewed about an insurance issue and I have to fix it.

True Story: Last Nov, I had a man tell me to move his 1/1 husband/wife group to HMO. Told him the above and to talk to his wife and then email me the next day to confirm the changes. He told me she was fine with the switch and move everyone to the HMO.

Fast Forward to the second week in January. Guy calls me up at 730 in the friggin morning and apologies for LYING TO ME. He didn't check with the wife, the daughter can't see the pediatrician and the ass chewing the night before ended with him drinking 2 bottles of wine. Moved back to PPO on 2/1.

 

[Alston]

My online fishing hole targets mostly females age 64+ in my state. I get a few males but my target is females.

Males don't spend time online looking for information and if something arrives via USPS that even smells like a solicitation it is rarely opened.

All this time, I thought it was the excessive sex appeal I've been burdened with all my life. Most of my clients from FB are women too.

I target both genders equally at 64. Apparently I'm targeting men at an age when they are less likely to retire than women.

(I haven't entirely abandoned the first theory.)

Now I'm rethinking my whole strategy.
I'M very happy with my CPL and ROI, but If I tweak the targeting, I should do even better.

Thanks Bob.