When it comes to marketing professional services, consultancy and coaching businesses, you’d be forgiven for thinking that digital marketing is the only way to grow your business. There are certainly a lot of self-styled marketing gurus out there who are only too keen to tell you this is true. But, we don’t buy into that.
Maybe it’s because we’ve been around long enough to see shoulder pads come into fashion, go out of fashion, and come back in again, or maybe it’s because we’ve both successfully utilised strategies that span multiple channels. Whatever the reason, we think – actually, we know – the best way to grow most businesses is to choose the right mix of marketing techniques, including both digital and ‘traditional’ elements.
Better together
When you get on and offline marketing techniques working together, in sync, there’s a compound effect. You’ll see far better results than you could achieve by using just one or the other.
We often recommend carrying out a direct mail campaign to our clients – and they’re often surprised to hear us say this. But, there are many reasons why we still love direct mail for marketing consultancy businesses, coaches and professional services – here are a few of them:
- Not everyone does it.
Direct mail just isn’t as popular as it used to be – so when your mailing piece lands on your target audience’s desk or doormat, it will automatically stand out and be more likely to get opened, read, and acted upon. I’m far more likely to open a piece of mail addressed to me – even if I’m not expecting it – than I am to open an unexpected email. And I’m not the only one – now that it seems like the whole world has gone digital, receiving something in the mail has become unusual and almost a bit of a thrill! So, your business can benefit from that opportunity to stand out. - Some people don’t read emails, or use social media or Google.
If that sounds like your target audience, then you’ll have to find other ways to grab their attention with your message – a carefully crafted mailing piece could be your most effective route in. For help in crafting the copy for your mailer, check out our guide to creating irresistible content. - It’s highly targeted.
Just like email or Facebook ads, direct mail can be targeted with laser precision so it goes directly, and only, to the decision-makers you’re targeting. Better targeting = less waste (of time, money, and resources), so it’s worth spending time and effort researching and refining your mailing list before you mail anything. - It’s more easily used to explain and showcase complex ideas, new concepts or highly visual examples.
For service-based businesses this is key. If your service is hard to explain in a few words, or what you offer is new, or very different to your competitors’ services, you may need more space to convey that message. A direct mail piece can include images, words, 3D items, even video player cards – so that you can use the right format and media to tell your story, without the limitations of character counts or pixel sizes. - Direct mail can drive visitors online and feed your marketing funnel.
Just because it’s offline doesn’t mean your direct mail piece can’t integrate with your website. You can include links to your website URL (maybe shorten them first using Bitly or a similar link shortener, so they’re easier to type in) – you can even use a QR code so recipients can visit your website on their smartphone by scanning the code with their camera. (For all of its highly-documented faults, the NHS track and trace app has taught everyone how to use QR codes comfortably, so any offline piece can now link seamlessly to a website, and people understand what the QR code is for.) This means that direct mail can be a great tool for the top of your marketing funnel; introducing your business to new prospects and helping them to take the next step in getting to know you better.
- Not everyone does it.
I’m sure there are more reasons, but I think you get my drift.
So, what’s stopping you from planning a direct mail campaign of your own? If it sounds a bit daunting and you need some help planning it out, you know where we are. Give us a bell or you could even send us a postcard!
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