Here's the formula for a successful direct mail dinner seminar campaign!

Our Best Practices are the guidelines we outline to help you get the most out of your turn-key campaigns with Steep. 

You can read a full list of our Best Practices on this page, but here is a shortlist of the most important items:

• Venue: Restaurants with private dining rooms (steakhouses are preferred, high-end American, Italian and seafood restaurants are good alternatives). 
• Time of Day: Start time between 6:00 and 7:00 PM
• Days of Week: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays
• Date Spacing: No more than 1 week between event 1 and 2
• Number of Seminars: 1 or 2 events per mailer is ideal 
• Location: Your venue should be in the center of your marketing area (15 mile radius max)
• Frequency: Leave at least 45 days between campaigns in the same marketing zone
  
  

TIMING OF YOUR ORDER

• We need your order 40 days before your seminar event. 
• Orders should be submitted through the Steep Portal at least 40 days before your first seminar date. Mail should be in homes 14-18 days before your seminar date, and we budget additional time for design, list management, printing, and transit. 
• Rush Fee: $500. If you require the proof for your mailer faster than 4 business days after submission, or if your mailer must be printed sooner than 3 days after payment, or if you submit an order less than 40 days before your event, you will incur a rush fee.

Best Practices (full list)

In running hundreds of seminars a month for advisors across the country in various markets, we know what works, and what doesn't. Why fix what's not broken? We have put together this list of Best Practices to help you get the best response possible, so you don't have to try to figure it out on your own. 

DAYS OF THE WEEK

• Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays are the best nights for seminars.
• Multiple Dates: No more than 2 dates on any one campaign. 2 date campaigns should not be more than 1 week apart.
• Only 1 venue should be used on any one campaign.

TIMING 

• Start times should be between 6 and 7 PM. We also recommend a 1-hour presentation length.

 VENUES

• The best performing restaurants for dinner seminars are higher-end steakhouses (ex: Fleming's, Ruth's Chris, Ocean Prime, etc. ). Higher-end American or Italian restaurants can also work well as alternatives to steakhouses (ex: The Keg, Maggiano's, etc). 
• All restaurant venues should have a private dining room for your seminar. 
• Steep is proud to offer a corporate partnership with Fleming's Steakhouse to our advisors. This arrangement provides you with exceptional discounts, zero booking fees, and other amenities at no cost. To request a Fleming's event, fill our our exclusive discount request here. 

Please note it is your responsibility to secure your venue space and obtain any insurance required by the venue. Please share any venue specific regulations with our team related to marketing your event in the special instructions on your order.

MAILING LIST & LOCATION

• Your mailing recipients should be no more than 15 miles from your venue, and your venue should be centered in the marketing area. 
• All mailing lists will be the Steep's Wealth Blend, our exclusive first party data and proprietary blend of targeting parameters. You can customize the Steep Wealth Blend with these preferences: Target Investable Assets, age, and location. Request list counts here. 

 FREQUENCY

• Each seminar campaign should be 45 days after the previous campaign to allow a “cool down” period in the marketing zone.
• Marketing to the same zone sooner than 45 days can cause market saturation sooner and could reduce your response rate.
• If you want to do seminars more than 45 days, we recommend choosing a venue in a different sub-market.

 ATTENDANCE AND CONFIRMATION

Confirming seminar registrations is critical. We'll take care of automated reminders, and most advisor prefer to do their own phone confirmations. 

What we will do:

• Automated Email Confirmations: We'll send 3 automated reminder emails to your seminar registrants (1) right after they register, (2) the day before their event, (3) the day of their event. For advisors wishing to prequalify their seminar attendees, we have an alternate email sequence. Ask your Success Coach for details. 
• Real-Time Registration Notification: You will receive notification emails in real time as registrations are made. You can also reference all registration data on the Steep Portal. Each registration will include: Name, Email, Phone, Number of attendees, guest name, and mailing address. 
• Automated Text Confirmations: We'll send 2 automated text messages to your seminar registrants (1) right after they register and (2) the day of their event. These texts will include the details for the event, an option to add to their calendar, and a Google map link for driving directions. 

What you should do:

• In additional to our emails, we recommend you call each registrant to confirm their attendance, and make a confirmation call 24 hours before the event.

 ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES:

• Your seminar venue should be in the middle of your marketing zone. 
• Delayed Launches: If you marketing is delayed due to non-payment, late approval, or rush order, your response rate could be impacted. 
• Cancellation Charge: If you cancel your campaign you will incur a cancellation fee. This fee will vary depending on the stage of your campaign. The full fee schedule can be seen in your campaign agreement. 
• Change Fee: If there are major changes to your campaign (ie: add/remove date, campaign type), there may be a change fee of $250 if work has already been started.
• Custom Campaign Work: We customize each campaign within our design templates. If you require completely new artwork or a new mailer format, you will be charged a $1,000 custom fee before work begins on your mailer. 
• Payment Before Print: Steep requires full payment before printing your mailers. Your campaign will not be printed without full payment.

COMPLIANCE: 

• Broker Dealer and RIA Compliance: You are responsible to get your marketing approved by your BD/RIA. Please budget in approval time on top of our 40 day lead time if your compliance will take more than 2 business days. 
• Most of our distribution partners have reviewed and approved our content, so let them know the event is being marketed by Steep.

MARKETING IS A RISK:
Marketing is a risk no matter how you go about it. Following the best practices outlined on this page help give your campaign the best possible shot at success, however it is not guaranteed. Factors outside our control such as weather, launching late, custom requests, holidays, or advisor-written mailer copy, can impact your campaign. It is our Client's responsibility to accept this risk and also keep track of the performance via the provided roster. 

Campaigns that conform to best practices have a consistent track record of success. By following this proven formula, you’re on the fast track to great results.

See you at the top!

After mailing millions of invitations for dinner seminars,  we've learned a thing or two about what it takes to execute a GREAT dinner seminar with direct mail. This page is designed to help you achieve great results too by following our proven Dinner Seminar Best Practices. Please read these carefully to give you the best shot at a high converting seminar campaign. Sometimes it's impossible to stick to all the Best Practices, but sticking as close to this formula as possible will help you achieve consistent results. 

Direct Mail Best Practices

Direct Mail Dinner Seminar Best Practices