You’re a direct mail firm. When you launch a 1000 piece mailing for your client, what do you want to happen? What is your goal? Do you want to generate a certain number of phone calls, visits to your client’s business?
I hope your first goal is revenue. (Increasingly, research shows, clients are becoming less patient with any other ROI metric). But, the goal that should be second in importance to revenue is phone calls. How many phone calls do you drive your customers? That’s the question every direct mail firm should ask.
Why is that such an important question? Why do phone calls matter to direct mail so much?
The Importance of Phone Calls
According to research from BIA/Kelsey, a phone call is the single most valuable interaction a business can generate. Leads generated from phone calls are the most valuable leads local businesses can receive. They’re more valuable than web leads, web visitors, coupons brought through the door, or any other metric. Phone calls are valuable.
Someone who calls a business is almost 10x more likely to purchase than someone fills out an online form.
And, as smartphones continue to proliferate, the number of calls to businesses will increase, not decrease. According to BIA/Kelsey, the number of calls to businesses could actually increase by 80% or more in the next 18 months.
So, in summary: calls are more valuable and they’re becoming more common.
If you, as a direct mail agency, can show your clients that you generate calls for them, your clients will love you. They’ll be loyal to you. And they’ll make more money because of you.
Calls and Direct Mail
Okay, calls are important. But why are they particularly important to direct mail?
1) Calls are the easiest call-to-action. Making a phone call is simple. If a mailer hit a nerve with the consumer, they’ll likely pick up their smartphone and call immediately. Calling is easy.
2) Because calls are the easiest thing to measure. Some direct mail firms insist that their clients collect the coupons that customers bring in to determine success. This doesn’t work. Generally consumers forget to bring the coupon in and/or the business fails to collect them and/or keep track of them and/or report the results to the direct mail firm.
There are alot of potential failure points.
Saying, ‘Bring in the coupons and we’ll track success that way,’ doesn’t work. It sounds good, but it doesn’t work.
Calls, on the other hand, are easily tracked with LogMyCalls. The data flows into the analytics dashboard in real-time. Results are easy to monitor. Your clients are impressed.
The bottom line is simple: if you want accurate ROI data, measuring calls is the only way to get it.
3) Calls are valuable to your clients. Except maybe sit-down restaurants, all of your clients value calls.
Conclusion
Calls are the best leads. They’re the easiest leads for direct mail to product. They’re the easiest leads for direct mail to track. AND, your clients desperately need calls to survive.
Calls are truly the King of Direct Mail.
If you are a direct mail agency and you want to be a LogMyCalls reseller, call us at (855) 889-3939.
