There is no lack of tactics today in the marketers toolbox. In building your lead generation strategy, you’re looking for the best combination of tactics that deliver the highest quality lead at the lowest price.
Today two extremely popular lead generation tactics go toe-to-toe: Direct Mail vs PPC.
Practice the Second Habit
Before getting too bogged down in tactical conversation, lets pause for a question.
In Stephen Covey’s book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, his second habit is to begin with the end in mind. This is a habit that every business owner and marketer needs to master when planning out their lead generation strategy.
So here is the question: what is the end game?
Direct Mail
What is the end goal for your direct mail campaign?
- Drive more foot traffic?
- More calls into the office?
- Build brand awareness?
This goal dictates the messaging on the card and the call-to-action. What do you want a prospect to do once they have read your piece? Then, why should they do it?
Your goals dictate the metrics that you need to measure to determine the bottom line impact (aka. new business) of your direct mail campaign. Before you start spending money, make sure to have a system in place to measure the impact. If you can determine a ROI from the campaign, then it makes sense to keep it up.
Come up with a goal that is measurable and desirable for the end user.
PPC
What is the end goal for your pay per click campaign?
- Drive more traffic to your website?
- Generate more free trial sign-ups?
- More calls into the office?
If you’re planning on paying a lot of money to Google and the rest to drive more traffic to your website, then you better make sure that your website is ready to convert these leads. Paying per click means that your throwing money down the drain unless the visitor converts into a lead on one of your offers.
This is why it is a best practice to send PPC traffic to a special landing page that is 100% relevant to the search term that brought them to the page. Make sure your goal is clearly defined and your landing pages and lead nurturing are ready to convert the prospects you’re paying for.
Where is the beef?
Today’s buyers need to see value in your marketing. They want to know what is in it for them.
Research shows that 57% of the buying process is complete before a prospect ever contacts sales directly. This means that today’s buyers are doing their own research. They’re reading blogs, reading customer reviews, and searching social media for answers.
Direct mail and PPC are both tools to deliver value. Your value proposition is the motivation for the prospect to act on the mailer or the paid ad in search results.
Is it a Pivot-Ready Strategy?
The recent economic downturn has shaken up the economy and left many marketing departments with smaller budgets than ever before. Simply put, you can’t blindly spend money and say that it’s working because it’s what you’ve always done.
Marketing analytics make it possible to measure the result of your marketing efforts as you go. These strategies help you double down on what is working and pivot away from what isn’t working.
If you’re running a direct mail campaign, start with a small batch. Measure the response. If it meets your goals, then make the strategic changes you need to improve.
If you’re running a PPC campaign, look at the percent of visitors that are coming to the page and converting into a lead. If this number is too low, try targeting another keyword or split-testing a different design of the landing page. (Don’t forget to think about the color of your buttons!)
Conclusion
Both tactics can bring quality leads into your funnel, but when not handled well, both tactics can drain your marketing budget and leave you with no way to showcase a return on the marketing spend.
It is best practice to use marketing analytics to measure the impact of your marketing activities. In this free guide you can learn what key metrics to measure that will help you determine your marketing ROI.