Many people ask, “Should I send something to my prospects before calling them?”
Our answer is most frequently, “No!”
But in some cases, the answer is YES.
Let’s start out with the reasons why it’s not a good idea.
Reasons to Avoid Sending a Mailing
It’s almost impossible to know exactly who your decision maker is when you’re relying solely on a purchased mailing list. Why do so many mailings get recycled and emails go unread? Often, it’s because they’re sent to the wrong person. And If the decision maker doesn’t read the message, it’s almost like you never sent it in the first place. Think of the time and money you’ve wasted!
Secondly, a single mailing is rarely effective. Four, five, or six mailings need to be sent in advance of the campaign for a message to be effective. Furthermore, you often have to target multiple people in the company to be sure you’re reaching the decision maker. For emails, track who opens your messages and call those people. Most companies only send a message a single time, which is just not enough.
Finally, for most products and services, even a series of mailings or emails won’t do much to enhance the results of a cold telephone prospecting campaign. In most cases, if a decision maker needs a product or service, he or she will respond just as readily to a phone call or voice message.
Our experience shows that sending mailings in advance doesn’t actually increase the number of decision makers who talk to us, return our calls, or take the next step in the sales process.
In virtually every case, sending information by mail or email before a lead generation campaign does not enhance results and is a drain on your marketing investment.
But of course, there are those rare circumstances in which rules should be broken. Given the right scenario, direct mail can significantly boost the results of a campaign.
Reasons You Should Send a Mailing
- There’s a need to invest time and money in preparing your audience for the campaign.
- You’re able to send multiple mailings and/or emails—not just one.
- You know how to reach your decision maker(s) or are willing to spend the time doing your research.
- Your product or service solves a universal need rather than one that’s specific to only a small slice of the market.
- You offer a unique, highly competitive product or service that many of your prospects are completely unaware of.
- You can present the information succinctly so decision makers can glance at it and understand it quickly.
- You know the time of year when your prospects are likely to make decisions (such as when their current contract is renewing or when they’re determining their budget) so you can time your message send.
If and only if these conditions are met, you will see dramatically better results from a lead generation campaign preceded by a series of emails and mailings. Ultimately, it all comes down to targeting the right decision makers with a message that’s meaningful. Mass mailings only achieve this when your product or service is universally beneficial, you can reach the right decision makers, and you have the budget to do so repeatedly.
In most cases, though, your time and money will be better spent elsewhere.
If you’re looking for additional ways to make your lead gen campaign more successful, contact us today! We can help you ensure that you’re using the right ingredients to achieve your goals.