email promotions have many benefits over mail for b-2-b campaigns - especially postage costs for high volume distribution. Creating a mailing piece, inserting in an envelope, producing address labels and franking soon racks up the cost, so for general promotional messages email will probably be cheaper and achieve higher open rates as well. It can also be linked directly to a landing page offering a seamless 'call to action'. But this does not mean that mailing should be ignored. Using direct mail for carefully targeted campaigns, using novel mailing pieces and including QR codes can be very effective.
A well constructed database should allow the selection of some quite specific target audiences which for many b-2-b companies may be relatively small numbers. This list might be augmented by profiling the target group against the total population and bringing new prospects into the campaign. The mailing piece itself can be quite creative - it doesn't have to be a letter of leaflet. 3D objects are often more memorable that sheets of paper and far more likely to be opened than regular mail. This is where a creative agency can add value to the campaign. The campaign could in fact be a short series of mailing pieces that build into a complete story. Now with QR codes smart phone users can link directly to a landing page or video, but a follow up telephone call can be very effective if made soon after the mailing while the visual impact of the mailing piece is still fresh in the recipient's mind. This sort of campaign can work well for introducing the company to prospective clients and setting up meetings.
So when reviewing marketing communications budgets, remember to include some resource for selective direct mail campaigns, but plan these thoroughly right through from getting the target audience right, being creative in the execution to following up and establishing the level of lead.
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