Direct Mail is Dead

One of our clients is a staunch supporter of marketing automation. They manage all their lead acquisition, followup, and client nurture using email automation. And they are consistent and successful with it. That’s all they need, right?

Wrong.

Why wouldn’t they only use email for their marketing? After all, it’s cheap, easy, and it works for them.

They ran into a roadblock a couple of months when they were at a trade show and collected about 1000 leads for which they had no email addresses or permission to email. What to do?

They decided to go back to direct mail and use a series of six personalized postcards to drive these leads from ‘offline’ to ‘online’. In other words, they are sending direct mail pieces with an offer and a website for the lead to ‘raise their hand’ and request the offered material. When the lead opts in for the offer, they will also have the option to opt in for additional emails.

Offline to online.

Our client will nurture these leads by email and offer continued value to them. Concurrently, they will call these warm opt-in leads by phone to offer a face-to-face free consultation that will provide value whether or not the lead converts to a client.

The lead wins and our client wins.

Offline to online.

It’s a great way to convert leads you might otherwise ignore or lose, if you are married to using only email for your marketing media. Keep your mind open to opportunity and stop leaving money on the table.