Door Hangers do they work?

They worked. My business partner and I distributed them ourselves. Take a day and distribute a few thousand in choice locations. Make sure they're good quality. If you really want to impress and you have the budget, include some kind of free gift, like a Home Pro Spotter. Count on around 1% success rate Better with free gifts). Better would be nice, but be realistic. Treat those customers like gold, get some referral business going. Many of our foundational customers came out of grueling door hanger campaigns.

Mine is almost all driven by door hangers that I do by myself.  I find that by sticking to the same neighborhoods every month I do get a better result from the marketing efforts.  Name recognition is what marketing seeks to achieve.

Most people call that red sauce dumped on burgers and fries Ketchup. 
When they blow their nose they use a Kleenex.

Ketchup is a trademark name for Catsup.  Only Heinz can use the name but we all ask for it by the Ketchup name.

Kleenex is a trademark name for Facial Tissue.  Only Kleenex has Kleenex products, but most people mean Facial Tissue when saying Kleenex.

Name Recognition.  Using the product name of one company's entry in the field of players whenever meant to refer to the generic.  In my household growing up SKILsaw was interchangeable with circular saw.  Do you take Advil or do you ask for an ibuprofen tablet?  When you cut yourself do you ask for a Bandaid or a bandage?  That is the power of effective marketing.

When customers in my target areas think of Carpet Cleaning I need to get their minds off Stanley Steemer and Rug Doctor.  I can't do that by hitting a neighborhood once every few months. 

The more often I work the target neighborhoods the greater the chance that the name of my company will be on the lips of that little voice in their active heads.  At least my doorhanger is usually on their frig (came from Frigidaire the manufacturer).

Victrola was what we called any record player.  That was RCA's name for it.  Others made turntables too.  Blenders were referred to as Osterizers ( a company's product name), cameras were called a Brownie (kodak's product), photocopy machines and their process are still referred to as Xerox.  Computers are called PCs but in fact that was IBMs name for the Personal Computer.  In the 80s & 90s those copycat systems were very simply called PC Clones.

That is the power of effective marketing.  We live with it in our lives everyday, right?


Edited by duckcountry - 05/May/2010 at 3:55am

I refer you to the following Wikipedia entry for clarification of genericized trademarks:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genericized_trademark

That's a great system.  Some go as far as 5 houses on either side of the client's home and then match it on the opposite side of the street.  Yours I like better because these days the chance that anyone know the people further away than next door or directly across the street is fading fast.  Good suggestion.

Great Idea! I will give that a try.  Thanks.

Door hangers can be pretty effective, but like any marketing tool, it depends on a few factors. The key is targeting the right neighborhoods. I usually focus on areas where my potential customers are more likely to reside.

Distribution is the fun part. You can go the traditional route and hang them manually on doorknobs, which can be time-consuming but personalized. Alternatively, you could explore local businesses or community boards willing to let you leave a stack. Some folks even partner with local newspapers for insertions.

One trick is to make them stand out. A catchy headline, a tempting offer, or a memorable design can make the difference between someone tossing it in the recycling bin and giving your business a second glance.