How to Leverage Direct Mail Marketing for Your Brand (Stories & Examples)
Celonis, a $2.5 billion, used unconventional marketing tactics like sending 1,500 handwritten letters to win over big customers. Isn’t it a 19th-century marketing tactic? So, I tried their tactics to break the clutter & grow faster. Here’s what I’ve learned.
My Story About Direct Mail Marketing (Lessons)
Backstory, I was one of the founders of ECOMPLY, and I sold my shares in 2018 (because we didn’t grow fast enough).
Most importantly, we were a GDPR software, and due to privacy issues, we could not use cold emails or any kind of tracking software to follow a customer journey (got to eat our own dog food).
Btw, it’s completely GDPR-compliant to send direct mail to office addresses. Aazar, but why direct mail? — Well, it was cheaper — You could actually delight your prospects with it — Direct mail is harder to ignore — Less crowded compared to other marketing tactics.
So, I prospected 500 companies from Germany & the UK. It took me around 20–30 hours (Ghosh!) We wrote the 2-page letter, and 1st page was all about direct mail tactics. Making them think like “what could go wrong in their business if they are not GDPR compliant?”
Then, we manually sent 500 letters, 490 were actually delivered. You wanna know the result? I got 5 demos (one of them was Rakuten), and then the whole deal died. Nobody converted. A nightmare for a founder who invested 150–200 hours on this tactic.
**Here’s how I would do it differently:** — Hire a VA to prospect — Sending books, reports, and letters — Track the hell out of it — Use it as a conversation starter, not closer — Adding second follow-up letter and mix it with digital — Apply all the copywriting principles.
In short, I couldn’t figure out direct mail marketing but there is a company that has. It’s http://Sendwithscout.com — It’s great for account-based marketing. Here are some examples of Direct Mail Marketing:
1 — Direct Mail Marketing Example — The Offer
The offer template is focused on providing customers with an offer that’s so insane they can’t refuse. It must have a clear expiration date, be focused on a killer good deal, and be very simple to understand. Perfect for products where price is a huge motivator.
2 — Direct Mail Marketing Example — The Pain
The Pain is all about jobs to be done. It reminds people of the pain and then conveniently provides a solution. Power outages? Yup, we can fix those for you. Getting acne? Yup, we got you.
3 — Direct Mail Marketing Example — The Just For You
It is hyper-personalized. It’s focused on data for the exact recipient. In this case, it’s about their roof. But you can use this template easily with satellite pictures, street view, unique product images, text about what your customer has bought previously.
Such a great opportunity to delight but we don’t do it right.