Funny isn’t it? Two marketing forms, direct mail and telemarketing, that fell out of favor with ad gurus years ago, is back on top. Everything old is new again. And while the debate rages on between brand builders and direct marketers, the DM practitioners seem to cut a much wider swath through the commercial clutter.Now, telemarketing appointment setting firms are joining forces with their direct mail brethren and the result is enough to make you take notice.
A daily newspaper in the Midwest published a special section recently showcasing businesses in the community. These special sections are a fine way of pumping up a sagging bottom line in the newspaper business not to mention building reader interest. A multi-channel ad campaign was launched and a telesales firm was hired to schedule qualified sales appointments for the paper’s ad reps.
Before the first phase of the sales appointment setting calls, the newspaper sales department sent direct mail pieces to a select number of prospects. Calls were placed and the telemarketing firm hit a home run. Those prospects that received the direct mail piece knew about the special section and were receptive to scheduling an appointment with an account executive. It was the closest thing to sales heaven some of these veterans had seen.
The second and third phases of the calling campaign had no direct mail component and the appointments were tougher to schedule. The awareness factor was missing. More education was needed.
When the numbers were tallied and crunched, appointments were set at a better than 2 to 1 margin with those prospects who got a direct mail ad first.
Telemarketing and direct mail work well independently, but when you put them together you’ll really stoke your sales fire.
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