For business-to-business marketers, finding a way to get past
screeners and reach well-qualified prospects has always been a
major challenge. Now, a lesser-known mode of direct
marketing--dimensional mail--is producing record-high response
rates for smart marketers nationwide. Last year, dimensional mail
averaged the highest overall response rate, at 5.49 percent, of any
direct response medium, according to the Direct Marketing
Association's Response Rate Report, with campaigns for
some businesses yielding astronomical response rates of close to 16
percent. (The average response rate for other direct mail last year
was just 2.73 percent.)
What exactly is dimensional mail? For one thing, it's not
flat, and it typically arrives in a box or a tube. Consumer
marketers selling cereal or soap, for instance, have traditionally
used boxed mailings to send product samples to thousands of
consumers at one time. Unfortunately, only extremely deep-pocketed
companies can employ this form of sampling to reach wide consumer
audiences. The good news is, when used to target
business-to-business prospects, dimensional mail campaigns can be
dramatically effective in producing results from small,
well-qualified, in-house prospect lists. So if you're a B2B
marketer who wants to influence a group of 100 prospects or less,
dimensional mail is an affordable and effective choice.
Follow these three tips for creating your own dimensional mail
campaign:
Content Continues Below
1. Pre-qualify your list. Because mail that arrives in a
box can be hard to resist, dimensional mailings are rarely
discarded or opened by screeners, making them a great way to get
your sales materials seen--and noticed--by your prospects. And
although dimensional mail has a higher per-unit cost than simple
flat mail, the cost for your overall campaign can be kept within
modest bounds by mailing or hand-delivering your boxes to a very
small group of prospects. It's therefore critical to get your
mailings in the right hands.
Begin by reviewing your company's database and selecting
your top B2B prospects. Do everything you can to clean and
pre-qualify your prospects list, including making multiple phone
calls to each business on the list until you're satisfied
you've found exactly the right decision-makers.
2. Create a memorable campaign. In order to open doors or
move prospects further along in the sales cycle, your dimensional
mail pieces have to be clever and demonstrate how you'll meet
your prospects' needs. So tie your campaign in with your
company's overall marketing messages and copy platform so the
campaign builds on and reinforces those ideas. And in these days of
heightened security, particularly within larger companies, be
certain your boxes are well labeled, even if they're hand
delivered.
What should you put in your box? It all depends on the message
you want to convey. Just be sure the object is something your
prospects will want to keep, and even display, for a while. Avoid
overdone advertising specialty items, such as imprinted mugs, and
go for something unique. For example, a Washington-area
speechwriter once sent a "relaxation kit" to targeted
decision-makers at major PR firms. His box included an aromatherapy
candle and a neck pillow with his logo on it, along with clever,
illustrated instructions on how to use the kit for maximum
relief--and the message imparted was that hiring him would relieve
the stress of too much work. So take some time to think about just
what objects would work with your primary message--and what objects
your clients would find unique or useful.
3. Make follow-up a top priority. In most cases, the
primary purpose of dimensional mail is to capture the attention of
prospects and open the lines of communication. That makes immediate
follow-up within one to three business days essential. If your
dimensional mail is successful, it'll warm up your prospects
and make them more receptive to your phone call. So send only as
many pieces at one time as you can effectively follow up
with--perhaps as few as five or 10 boxes a week. Of course, with
the high response rate of dimensional mail, if your campaign is
truly effective, prospects will soon be contacting you.
Kim T. Gordon is the "Marketing" coach at Entrepreneur.com and a multifaceted marketing
expert, speaker, author and media spokesperson. Over the past 26
years, she's helped millions of small-business owners increase
their success through her company, National
Marketing Federation Inc.