How to Use Direct Mail for Lead-Nurturing Campaigns

Lead nurturing is one of the most widely discussed topics in the marketing world, but can you really use direct mail to effectively nurture your leads down your sales funnel? Yes. Yes, you can.  

So, you’ve incorporated direct mail into your marketing mix, and the leads are flowing in. Way to go! You’re ahead of the game, but your work doesn’t stop there. Now it’s time to nurture those relationships and move your leads down your sales funnel.

Sure, it would be great if leads would just automatically convert into paying customers once you generated them, but the reality is, only a small portion of those leads are ready to buy from you off the bat. As a matter of fact, almost 80 percent of new leads never convert to paying customers, but companies that engage in lead-nurturing strategies generate 50 percent more sales-ready leads at a significantly lower cost.

When it comes to lead nurturing, people tend to assume that email is the most efficient way to get the job done, but it is a strategy that can (and should) be executed through a variety of channels. Direct mail, for example, is the perfect medium for lead nurturing due to its high response rate, specifically when personalization is used to communicate directly to your recipients.

So, what exactly is lead nurturing, and how can you use direct mail to execute your strategy? You’ve got questions; we’ve got answers.

What is lead nurturing?

According to Marketo, lead nurturing is “the process of developing relationships with buyers at every stage of the sales funnel, and through every step of the buyer’s journey.” Lead-nurturing campaigns allow you to establish sound and consistent communication channels with your prospects to ensure that you remain top of mind when they have a buying need. Otherwise, you could fall off of your prospects’ radar, making room for another company to build and nurture those relationships.

How can you use direct mail to execute and enhance your lead-nurturing campaign?

Direct mail continues to boast response rates that are 5 to 9 times greater than any digital marketing channel. In addition, consumers trust direct mail marketing far more than digital channels, which makes recipients much more receptive and excited to hear from you, and more motivated to take your desired action.

Here are a few strategies to employ when using direct mail to nurture your leads.

1. List segmentation

When it comes to marketing, there is no plug-and-play approach. Your leads come from a diverse set of demographics/firmographics with different needs and communication styles. Therefore, it’s best to segment your list according to factors such as age, gender, location, and product and/or service so you can tailor your communication and speak directly to each group’s unique pain points.

2. Personalized content

Now that you’ve segmented your list, it’s time to personalize your content, or create targeted messages, for your groups of audiences based on their varying preferences and needs. Targeting your content will help you craft messages that resonate with each segment, ultimately allowing you to move leads down your sales funnel more seamlessly. While personalizing your content does take more time than sending blanket mailers out to everyone, it is well worth it and can result in 20 percent more sales opportunities than universal messages.

3. Utilize a multichannel approach

Direct mail alone boasts an impressive response rate, but when coupled with digital media, response rates can skyrocket. Creating personalized URLs (pURLs) is another way to personalize your prospects’ experience while also incorporating digital strategy into your direct mail efforts. All pURLs lead to your website or campaign’s landing page, but each URL is customized for individual recipients. For example, you can include each person’s name in the URL and the copy on your site. Not only does this enhance the experience for your recipients, it also allows you to track each person’s movement and measure the overall effectiveness of the campaign.

4. Frequent touches

When it comes to lead nurturing, visibility is the key to staying at the forefront of your prospects’ minds. On average, it takes anywhere from six to eight touches to generate a viable B2B sales lead, and direct mail is an important component of your nurturing streams. According to a recent study, people’s brand recall is 70 percent higher when exposed to direct mail pieces.

For the best results, combine direct mail with follow-up emails to those who engaged with your campaign using pURLs. This will help drive conversions by delivering the right messages to the right people at just the right times.

Need help crafting a lead-nurturing campaign using direct mail? Drop us a line.