October 13th, 2008 §
Regular readers know I’m a fan of lumpy mailers. They’re powerful self-promotion tools – the kind of tactic that invariably finds your pitch on the desk of decision makers.
Of course, they’re not just a short-run tool used for self promotion. They’re also a damned effective direct mail tool.
And yes, as email and other ecommunications take the place of physical mail, I can make a cogent argument that the perceived value of dimensional mail is climbing, not diminishing.
Direct Mail magazine published a roundtable discussion of “dimensional mail” in a recent Technique article, and yes, I get all tingly when I see intelligent thought directed at one of marketing’s most-overlooked techniques.
Simply put, it’s worth a couple minutes of your time. To whet your appetite, here are a few excerpts:
What you’ve created is that moment where it’s just your target and your offer. And if your present is something they can play with for a moment, that’s good. If it’s something they show to their neighbor, even better. If it’s something they keep and use often, that’s great. And when they respond, you hit the jackpot.
“So the next time your creative department comes to you with the choice of another No. 10 letter for $1.25 per piece, or a box — that present — that rattles full of opportunity and costs $5 more, don’t dismiss it — not if your goal is to get your message into your customers’ hands.”
-John Brogan, Executive creative director, Catalyst Direct Inc.
“Dimensional print offers an even more potent marketing alternative than just any piece of direct mail. Viewed from virtually any angle, dimensional mail is a best-of-breed hybrid.”
-Mary Bittel, Manager of marketing& communications, American Slide Chart
Intrigued? Read the whole article here.
At the very least, dimensional (or lumpy) mailers are another tool in your copywriter’s toolbox – a truly effective one that few new copywriters understand.
Keep writing, Tom Chandler.
dimensional mailer, lumpy mailer, direct mail, direct mail news
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August 11th, 2008 §
For some freelancers, acquiring new clients is a hit-or-miss process, and many wait for work to come to them.
In the past, I’ve detailed my tried-and-true Six Point Lumpy Mailer Plan designed to put you in touch with high-value contacts at the companies you want to write for.
This Freelance Switch post details a cold calling plan that eschews the lumpy mailer step, focusing instead on calling 300-500 prospects.
The article goes into a lot of detail (scripts, etc) that I didn’t. You might find Martha’s plan more to your liking than mine.
After I left my second agency job, I made a lot of cold calls, and yes – collected new clients. Success is in the details, and Martha does a good job of outlining the steps. (Build a client profile, write a script, follow up, etc.)
I prefer my system because it’s more selective and lumpy mailers are fun, but either method will find you on the phone with your target companies.
Cold calls? Lumpy mailer?
You decide. Just don’t decide to do nothing.
Keep writing, Tom Chandler
April 21st, 2008 §
Say you wanted Double Chocolate Fudge ice cream, but the ice cream folks kept handing a single scoop of Mango Fruity Bubblegum across the counter.
You’d leave and go where you got to pick the flavor, right?
So why do so many copywriters passively let the universe pick their clients for them — when they should be actively picking their own?
The Part Where I Take My Own Advice
I’ve long told my readers to pick their own clients — that waiting for clients to pick you renders your copywriting career about half as gratifying as it could be.
And no, I’m not talking about the basic marketing activities everyone does.
Instead, I’m talking about targeted pitches, where you pick the clients, projects (or causes) that interest you, and then pitch them. In a rare example of me taking my own advice, that’s exactly what I’ve done.
How? (I lay out a six-point plan for pitching higher-value clients in this post.)
Once again, I’m firing up my favorite foot-in-the-door tactic; the lumpy mailer. I covered it in some detail in this post, but in simplest terms, I’m defining a short list of high-value prospects, and sending something fun and three dimensional (in this case, a toy).
It’s Fun. It’s Affordable. And It Works.
The lumpy mailer is designed to stand apart in a pile of mail (it’s a parcel, after all), and once opened, it delivers a fun, short, powerful message (via a drop card attached to the toy).
In this case, I sent two clients wind up chattering teeth (communications being the common thread), and customized the message for each client.
The goal here isn’t instant success. It’s to open the prospect’s door to a pitch, softening them up so my phone call isn’t a cold call.
And yes, it almost always works.
That’s not to say I always close the deal; the prospect may have little interest in what I’m offering. But the lumpy mailer demonstrates interest, creativity and yes — that I’m fun to work with.
It’s Working
The score so far? Excellent. My highest priority target received the mailer last Thursday, and sent a very promising email over the weekend (I’d planned to call this week, but now don’t have to). We meet in two weeks.
I called the recipient of the other mailer, who immediately recognized me (Oh yeah, you’re the chattering teeth marketing guy.")
While their budget doesn’t include the project I pitched, I was asked to get back in touch in two months, when the new budget would be drawn up.
Sure, the dance has just begun, but at least I’m out on the dance floor. And yes, I’ll share my upcoming lumpy mailer results with you (including the results of my engagement marketing project pitch in two weeks).
The moral? Pick your client and projects instead of letting them pick you. Years from now, you may not be any richer, but you will be a lot happier.
Keep pitching, Tom Chandler.
October 23rd, 2006 §
I’m a big advocate of pursuing companies you want to work with instead of blindly marketing and accepting whatever comes back. But turning a short, carefully vetted list of prospects into a roster of clients has never been easy.
Enter the Lumpy Mailer
It’s the digital age, I’m online, so my first contact would come via the digital pipeline, right?
Wrong.
Are Hopping Smile Teeth the key to prosperity? Strangely, yes…
Imagine crafting a sales e-mail. Well written, carefully crafted and hugely persuasive, it’s a paen to lyrical copywriting – yet it’s likely to be wholly ignored, surrounded as it is by a tidal wave of other communications.
For all the prospect knows, it’s one of ten thousand mailed that morning.
It’s not unique. It doesn’t make them feel special. And the client has to act on it immediately, or you’re sunk.
Now imagine holding a padded envelope with a lump in the middle. Or a Priority Mail box that rattles ever so slightly. And then pulling out a fun toy attached to a strong sales message.
Bingo.
Put Them on Notice
By mailing a three-dimensional object – through a channel that’s fast becoming “obsolete” in so many marketers’ eyes – you’ve tapped into the very human desire for something unique.
Many years ago, I sent an ad agency a battered bowling pin, asking if they were truly bowled over by the work they were currently getting.
As part of another agency pitch, I once shipped a large toy robot arm with a pitch card in its grippers. It told them the edgy creative they’d always wanted was now within their grasp.
Last week’s prospect received wind-up chattering teeth attached to a card, which asked the prospect if they wanted the online world talking about their products.
Why go to all the trouble? Simple. I hand-picked this very, very small group of prospects, and I want them to feel “hand picked.” And I want to get my message across with clarity and humor.
And finally, I want them to take my phone call.
Don’t Forget to Ask
Once you’ve created a lumpy mailer, don’t assume you’ve dazzled them into submission. Readers still need to know what you want, and the mailer isn’t a complete sales pitch. It’s simply a foot in the door.
My goal? A phone call, though I sometimes create a landing page so the client has an option. (If you have even mediocre Web skills, landing pages are fast, affordable, and continue the dialog that began with the mailer.)
Still, don’t expect the lumpy mailer to do the whole job for you; it’s an amuse bouche — a single taste of your communication skills. It’s not designed to do the whole sales job for you, but gets you in the door so you can make your pitch.
It’s not a silver bullet (if the prospect doesn’t need you, they don’t need you), but it is a powerful way to grab a little mindshare and make a prospect smile — especially given that cool objects tend to live on the recipient’s desktop for a while.
Lumpy mailers aren’t cutting edge. They are, however, damned effective, and belong in every copywriter’s arsenal – for you and your clients.