Direct Mail

Direct mail campaigns can generate leads, promote special offers, support other campaigns, communicate with customers and raise your visibility in your market. Campaigns can be very simple or wildly creative, depending on your goals. For example, you could use:

• A handwritten note
• A simple but effective sales letter
• A postcard with a four-color image on one side and a printed message on the other
• A digitally-printed brochure with the prospect’s name appearing in the headline and body copy
• Custom collateral developed for a specific purpose

In B2B, it’s useful to think about mail as an integral part of a larger campaign. Don’t just send out mail and wait for the phone to ring. Instead, plan a campaign that starts with an introduction via mail, and then perhaps follow up with a phone call from a sales rep and a demo invite delivered via email.

With the right strategy and execution, direct mail can be a strong addition to your marketing arsenal.

Direct Mail Value

Direct mail can be an efficient vehicle if you focus on strategic, targeted mailings, rather than large bulk mail campaigns, which draw very low response rates at much higher costs than online marketing. Instead, consider using mail for small campaigns:

• Invite current customers and top prospects to an event you’re holding at a trade show
• Send product literature with the prospect’s name and custom specifications printed directly in the brochure (via digital printing)
• Announce a compelling sale

With Growth Panel, you can determine how to integrate direct mail into your marketing mix. Direct mail campaigns can increase the effectiveness of many other campaigns, and, when used effectively, can increase the top line without increasing selling costs.

Direct Mail Tools in Growth Panel

• Direct Mail Brainstorming:  Identify potential campaigns.
• Direct Mail Campaign Strategy:  Identify the audience and the offer, project response rates, and outline the list strategy, fulfillment requirements and measurement criteria.
• Creative Guidelines and Testing:  Create the structure to deliver a compelling offer and dynamic design, format and copy. Identify specific criteria for testing to improve results.
• Set Budget and Measure Results:  Identify all items for the budget. Record quantitative and qualitative results, as well as thoughts for measuring and improving campaigns.
  
  

You might benefit from direct mail if:

• You have a small, well-defined target market
• Your response rates on other campaigns are below industry standards
• Your sales process could use a personal touch
• You have special messages to deliver