Why you should use direct mail in your outbound sales strategy

In our increasingly digital world, direct mail often falls by the wayside.

This is a major oversight, though, as direct mail offers the kind of efficiency and ROI rates all businesses lust after.
In addition to the fact that 56 percent of customers trust print marketing more than any other type of marketing, 70 percent of Americans say that mail is more personal than anything on the web.
If that's not enough to get you to include it in your outbound sales strategy, we're just not sure what is.

What Is Direct Mail?

Direct mail is a type of direct marketing that uses letters, postcards and other physical, promotional materials. 

Companies send these items to leads, customers or past shoppers to promote engagement and drive people through the sales funnel. 

5 Cool Direct Mail Items to Send to Your Customers

If you thought direct mail was all about brochures and marketing materials, think again. The industry has evolved, and now you can send these five cool items (among others) to your leads:

1. Cookies

Sweeten the deal with cookies.  Services like Sendoso (a partner of Outreach) work with Doughbies to overnight ship cookies or cupcakes to leads around the nation. 

A great way to stand apart from the crowd and give the entire team something to remember your company by, cookies are a welcome addition to any mailbox. 

2. Seasonal Items

Seasonal items like footballs in fall or hats and gloves in the winter can be a great way to remain relevant to new leads and let them know you're thinking about them. Looking for an extra personal touch? Include a handwritten note and branded color crinkle paper.

3. Anything From Amazon

Have an idea that's a bit out-of-the-box? Some services can find it on Amazon, re-box it, re-package it and send it along to your lead with custom packing tape and a personalized note. How cool is that?

4. Socks

Keep their toes warm and your brand on their mind with a pair of high-quality, branded trouser socks. A fun, unique and unexpected gift, this is a great way to move a lead through the funnel a bit further.

5. Postcards

Postcards are ideal for driving connection and sending out to prospects on an on-demand basis. Use them to add variety to your mailing sequence and advertise things like webinars and events. 

How to Integrate Direct Mail into Your Sales Strategy 

Now that you've got some ideas of what to mail your prospects, let's talk about how to do it. Here's a general sequence to follow:

• Email the prospect
• Call the prospect
• Mail the item
• Follow up with more emails and calls

To personalize the process even more, tease your prospect about the mailed item during the initial call. For example, you might call a prospect to tell them you're sending a surprise their way a day before you ship the cookies out.

This builds anticipation and makes you more memorable. 

How to Track ROI

As with all things, you'll need to track the ROI of your direct mail efforts. Here are some tips:

• Consider the cost of the items you send plus their shipping and handling in relation to the deal size that is acquired through the program
• Use multi-touch attribution and regard direct mail as a significant event for the deal

When you track the ROI of your direct mail efforts, you have a better idea of how well it's working and what you could do to improve it.

The Case for Direct Mail in the Digital World

While the digital world has enabled communication in forms we couldn't have imagined just a few years ago, direct mail stands out as a welcome addition to any sequence. Personal, unexpected and unique, direct mail is a fantastic way to engage your leads and help your brand stand apart from the rest.