Business-to-Business Internet Marketing, Fourth Edition - Lifecycle ...

44 BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS INTERNET MARKETING
postcard”—a postcard mailing that includes a tear-off business reply
card that can be returned by the prospect. Such a mailing can be mailed
to the same list as the original mailing, using the same offer, at a very
low incremental cost. Typically, a follow-up mailing lifts the response
rate by half the response rate to the original mailing. If the original
mailing achieved a 2% response, the follow-up is likely to achieve an
additional 1% response.
Is a 1 or 2% response rate really good enough today to justify continued
promotional investments in traditional direct mail? Are there proven
strategies to lift response rates—and more important, to generate a higher
percentage of qualified leads? How can you get your share of the other
98% of the audience who, for whatever the reason, did not respond?
One answer is leveraging your direct marketing across several complementary
media. Yes, direct mail is still the proven lead generation medium
that can be most effectively and precisely targeted, tested, controlled,
and measured, but when it is enhanced with other media, direct mail
becomes even more effective and efficient in getting the job done.
Enhancing Direct Mail with Telemarketing
Some b-to-b direct marketers are achieving significant success boosting
response rates by adding telemarketing to the media mix. Industry experience
suggests that telemarketing seems to have the most positive
impact on direct mail when it is used as a follow-up medium. Here are
two examples:
1. If an individual responds to a mailing or an ad, or attends an
event, a call from a telemarketer can often further qualify that
person’s interest. This individual can then be prioritized and placed
in the appropriate response or lead category.
2. If an individual receives a direct mailing and does not respond, a
follow-up call from a telemarketer may prompt a response. In
fact, there is some evidence that aggressive telemarketing that is
conducted right after a direct mail campaign can increase overall
response, even if the target audience has not yet responded.
Telemarketing does have some drawbacks, however, when applied
to lead generation in the b-to-b market: