Top 6 Steps on How to Generate B2B Leads With Direct Mail
The B2B buying journey consists of three significant phases: Knowledge, Consideration, and Decision Making. Thus, you may need to put a lot of extra effort into generating B2B leads and pushing them ahead of the sales funnel!
But how to generate B2B leads, and what marketing channels to use?
Before you decide, please note that it can take six to nine months to get results via inbound marketing. Thus, it is high to use a multi-channel approach to accelerate responses and produce valuable leads!
This blog explores the steps to generate B2B leads and nurture them! Let us begin!
How Can Direct Mail Be an Integral Part of Your B2B Lead Generation Strategy?
Direct mail marketing may be one of the oldest advertising channels, but it still drives more engagement than online platforms!
Here are some Canada Post statistics highlighting the significance of direct mail for B2B lead generation!
- 36% of snail mail recipients below 30 look forward to checking their mailboxes daily! Furthermore, 95% of customers between 18 and 29 years old respond positively to getting letters and personal cards via mail.
- Another reason you must incorporate direct mail into your program to convert B2B leads is the level of attention it gets. 74% of Canadians sometimes or always notice marketing messages in direct mail.
- 81% of Canadians read their mail items daily, and 85% open their mail when it appears intriguing!
The direct mail era is still strong, allowing you to generate B2B leads more systematically and effectively than ever! Your clients may get a thousand emails every day, but none of them beats a handwritten letter personalized for them!
Also, traditional mail is apt for establishing personal relationships because you reach your prospects directly! Hence, it offers a solid solution to your question- how to generate B2B leads to expand your business.
Read the following section to unlock an action plan and how to begin!
How to Generate B2B Leads Using Direct Mail?
Offline marketing tactics work throughout the sales funnel, from Awareness to Decision! Below are a few steps to help you generate B2B leads effectively and persuade them to purchase from your brand!
Step 1: Define Your Brand Objectives
Lead generation involves reaching out to targeted prospects and creating trust. Direct mail can help you do just that- but you must know the whats and hows.
Write down your marketing and sales goals to focus on during your campaign. For instance, you can decide you want to generate at least 20 new B2B leads using direct mail. Or you want to convert five fresh leads into paying clients by the end of the month!
These objectives help you understand what you must do and avoid! Ensure that your motives are relevant to your business or industry and realistic.
It is also advisable to consult your sales staff before defining your marketing objectives. Your efforts must back up their actions to get in touch with more B2B leads and move the conversation forward.
Step 2: Decide Which Marketing Channels You Want to Integrate With Direct Mail
Direct mail is an excellent standalone marketing strategy, but you must combine it with other channels to get better results! If you want to know how to generate B2B leads and what platforms you must use, decide on a budget!
Your marketing budget dictates how many platforms you can afford to work with to produce B2B leads and water them regularly. However, using direct mail services like PostGrid can help you save costs on your mailing campaigns and make room for other strategies!
The most popular combination to employ a cross-channel marketing program is direct mail and email. You can launch a drip email campaign for B2B leads around your mail arrival dates to reinstate your message and its impact. It also increases visibility and brand awareness—improving your chances of producing a higher ROI.
Additionally, you may add social media marketing, PPC ads, etc., to your marketing mix. PostGrid’s API integrations help you incorporate our print and mail solutions into your marketing CRM to conduct data-driven campaigns effortlessly.
The more you diversify, the better B2B leads you can generate! Thus, drafting a multi-channel marketing program is one of the initial steps to driving conversions.
Step 3: Define B2B Leads and Create Targeted Content
Generating leads is not a one-time process and therefore needs dynamic marketing plans. As every prospect moves ahead in its buying cycle, you must adapt to the changes and offer tailored solutions. An excellent idea to fulfil this plan is to score your B2B leads according to different criteria.
Here are some factors to help you develop a lead-scoring mechanism:
- Location.
- Age and gender to fit in your buyer persona.
- Online browsing and buying behaviour. (For example, the pages a client visits on your website).
- Purchasing power.
- Interest in your products or services.
- Past interactions between your B2B leads and sales staff.
These factors help you know your target audience better and explore new markets. Also, they allow you to create interactive and customized offers to intrigue your B2B leads and convince them to talk to you further.
B2B businesses must focus on account-based marketing (ABM) to develop tailored content to:
- Answer any client inquiries
- Discuss benefits and features
- Showcase industry expertise
- Highlight why a client must purchase from you, etc.
You can post this content in the form of blogs and then include the links in your direct mailers. Also, you can print QR codes that redirect your B2B leads to your blog section to increase engagement and online traffic.
Also Read: B2B Direct Mail Best Practices, Ideas, and Statistics
Step 4: Diversify Your Touchpoints and Add Trackable Features
You cannot treat fresh B2B leads and first-time buyers the same way as your long-term clients. Loyal clients need more attention and time because they offer the most business for your company.
Similarly, a prospect who just found out about your brand must get a different message than a client who is ready to purchase. Of course, you cannot offer exclusive, discounted deals to every one of your B2B leads right at the top of the funnel. Thus, diversify your touchpoints and create various versions of the same marketing message.
Here is an example:
TOFu leads: Talk to us now to unlock a secret offer!
Message to a prospect at the MOFu: Get a flat 5% off your first purchase.
Message to B2B leads at the BOFu: Buy before 5th October and get 20% off instantly.
You can add custom QR codes and personalized URLs to track your campaign responses. These features can help you trace your B2B leads and their actions—to provide them with more relevant information.
Your direct mail items can also consist of:
- Coupon codes (to encourage clients to order goods online) or
- A dedicated toll-free number (to get them talking).
Step 5: Personalize Your Mailers and Follow Up on Time
Apart from QR codes and pURLs to track your B2B leads, your mailers must carry several other aspects, like:
- Mail artwork
- Copy: Headlines and marketing message
- Offer
- Contact details
- Postage information
- Mailing address
It is advisable to use personalized aspects to garner better results. For example, B2B leads in Ontario can get the contact information of your branch office in the city. Similarly, clients in Quebec City must receive the details of your sales staff in Quebec.
However, your work isn’t over with sending personalized mailers to your B2B leads—you must have a robust follow-up plan. It isn’t surprising that your prospects can forget you if you don’t keep in touch with them. Or they can confuse you for other brands and contact them, making things more complicated for your staff.
Hence, try to contact the same group of B2B leads over and over to develop brand recognition. Also, it is better if the same representative talks to the client every time because people like to speak to other people, not a company!
Step 6: Automate Direct Mail
Handling a direct mail campaign in-house is possible but not convenient. Also, it is expensive, daunting, and time-consuming—hampering your marketing performance. You may need to focus more on your campaigns than your acquired B2B leads, which does not make much sense.
We have a one-word solution to address such concerns—automation! It can help you reduce expenses and double the efficiency of your mailing activities. Also, PostGrid’s direct mail API for generating B2B leads offers numerous features to help you conduct the best campaign possible and beat your competition.
Thus, you can nurture your B2B leads exclusively without worrying about menial jobs, like buying printing paper and managing logistics. Furthermore, PostGrid lets you complete several tasks via automation that are impossible to do in-house, like:
- Presorting direct mailers
- Conducting bulk campaigns
- Direct mail commingling, dropshipping, etc.
- Acquiring discounts on all-inclusive pricing
- A/B testing of direct mailers
Also Read: Best Direct Mail Marketing Companies
Best Practices to Get Valuable B2B Leads Via Direct Mailing
Now that you know how to generate B2B leads, let us discuss the various methods to do it well:
Align Sales and Marketing
Account-based marketing strategies need you to get all your company departments on board. For example, your sales team can hand you a list of cold and hot B2B leads while your marketing team figures out how to close deals. At the same time, your logistics department can communicate with marketing to give updates on your mailers.
Working in conjunction has several advantages, like improved coordination, laser-focused targeting, and, you guessed it right—more sales!
Additionally, aligning your teams helps you present a unified front to your B2B leads, which is crucial to success. You don’t want your marketing team sending out an email to a client- which says the opposite of what they agreed to with your sales staff. It leaves a negative impression and can slow down conversions. Thus, have regular meetings and conduct a more result-focused direct mail marketing campaign.
Experiment With Different Direct Mail Formats
You have several direct mail types to choose from; therefore, don’t restrict yourselves to the same old-school mailers! Some examples are postcards, letters, newsletters, branded gifts, etc. However, remember that not all formats are apt for B2B leads or clients.
Mailers like brochures and flyers are ideal for handing out at B2B trade fairs or during a seminar. But, they aren’t apt for direct mail to your B2B leads because you have more professional options, like corporate letters.
Each format has different features and advantages, so select according to your needs and preferences. Postcards communicate a small marketing message to your B2B leads, whereas newsletters help you discuss several things simultaneously. Similarly, letters allow you to explain your offerings in more detail and offer further customization.
Measure Your Campaign Results
You require accurate campaign reports and analytics to measure results. Your custom QR codes, phone numbers, pURLs, etc., can help you record your B2B leads’ responses. Furthermore, PostGrid online direct mail solutions enable you to access such reports directly from your dashboard—without you doing anything!
Use Direct Mail for Several Purposes
Here are some ideas to help you conduct direct mail campaigns frequently:
- Invite your B2B leads to an event, online or offline.
- Send them postcards and encourage them to subscribe to your online newsletter.
- Create seasonal or holiday offers and send promotional mailers to increase sales.
- Send appreciation and onboarding letters to new customers to create an excellent first impression.
Thus, you need not wait for an occasion to launch a mailing campaign. Direct mail campaigns can help you create more B2B leads in your pipeline and keep your revenue flowing throughout the year!
Also Read: B2B Payment Automation
How Does PostGrid’s Direct Mail Service Help B2B Companies?
You already know that PostGrid’s direct mail API and automation software enables you to conduct successful campaigns for B2B leads at all-in-one rates. Below, we discuss how we enhance your operations and sales at every stage of your clients’ buying journeys:
Brand Awareness
PostGrid allows you to create custom mailing lists based on demographics, like location, income level, number of employees, etc. Hence, you can target new prospects and generate more B2B leads for your business.
Also, our Zapier integration allows you to connect with over 1600 apps to expand your customer base. It is the perfect opportunity to tap into new markets and spread brand awareness.
Demand Generation
After learning how to generate B2B leads and increase visibility, you must generate demand for your products or services. Our automated direct mail solutions help you achieve this goal by using our pre-built design templates and employing variable data printing.
Hence, you can send eye-catching mailers to B2B leads- that are relevant to their current requirements! Also, you may send postcards and marketing letters to your cold leads through the Hubspot integration that allows you to connect your marketing and direct mailing efforts.
Please note that PostGrid is HIPAA, PIPEDA, and SOC-2 compliant, letting you send secure mailings and keeping your data confidential.
Client Retention
PostGrid makes it simple to launch client loyalty programs for retaining your clients and making them feel special. Thus, you can work with your new B2B leads while you generate repeat business!
If you are worried your old client lists are outdated, our address verification capabilities can help you. PostGrid cross-verifies and standardizes every mailing address before the campaign to combat mail returns. Also, it runs your lists through the NCOA data file to update your clients’ delivery details.
Request a demo now to know more about how PostGrid can help your business generate and nurture B2B leads at low rates!
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