It’s the start of a New Year and you’ve got new targets to meet. Did you meet your lead generation targets in 2017 or did you fall short of your goals? If you didn’t, you’re not alone. Very few companies meet their annual lead targets – in fact, only 17.3% of B2B companies pull off the task. With the New Year comes new opportunities. You’ve got another chance to meet your targets. What are you going to do differently this year?
Top performing companies list outbound telemarketing, email marketing, and digital marketing as their three most effective lead generation channels. They’re followed by social media, conferences and tradeshows, and direct mail.
Why does direct mail get a bad rap? Lead generation company 360 Leads identifies poor campaign quality, poor media selection, and insufficient budgets as the leading reason direct mail doesn’t work for many. But they’ve found that their own direct mail campaigns have resulted in up to 74% recalls and thousands of qualified sales meetings for their clients.
How to Succeed with Direct Mail Marketing
Direct mail stands out in a crowd today because it isn’t an email. B2B buyers are constantly bombarded by email marketing and it’s easy to filter these emails out without even going past the headline. When you move into bulky mail, which really gets attention, response rates are even better. Even average response rates to direct mail (3.7%) outperforms the average response for email marketing (0.62%). Meanwhile, B2B lead generation companies like 360 Leads have successfully conducted direct mail campaigns with double-digit response rates.
Direct marketing remains the most effective way to reach a targeted audience. With a 13-to-1 ROI, direct mail is worth your investment. The most successful thing you can do for a direct mail campaign is to integrate other channels like digital and telemarketing. Direct mail introduces your brand and your message – and 48% of recipients hold onto direct mail for reference – while a phone call or an email turns brand awareness into a conversation.
Customer Retention and Win-Back Growth
Customer retention and win-back is often overlooked by companies trying to grow, but it’s an incredibly cost-effective way to increase billings. Neglecting your current and past customers is leaving money on the table, but you can learn how to increase customer sales purchases and reduce churn with a lead generation company. There are several strategies that go into customer retention and win-back:
- Upsell campaigns that drive up customer billings. The goal is to improve customer stickiness and billing depth.
- Reducing churn rate. With an average B2B churn rate of 24%, churn is expensive and it can critically hinder growth.
- Campaigns to generate demand for new products and services. When you launch a new solution, the companies you already work with should be the first to know.
- Win-back campaigns that target past customers who have lapsed or moved to the competition.
Through direct mail and telemarketing, you can target existing and past customers to grow your billings and reduce churn rate. A lead generation company can help spearhead your campaign.
Originally posted on February 17, 2018 @ 9:17 am