Two weeks ago I received a piece of junk mail.
Not unusual, my letterbox seems to be the local junk repository despite a polite sign saying go away. However, as it was addressed specifically to me, with no mistakes in the spelling of my name, the address was complete, and it was not a windowed envelope but one that was obviously not just a standard cheapie from Officeworks, so I opened it.
Open rates on old fashioned snail mail are very high, not the junk ‘To the Householder’ stuff, the letters addressed to individuals.
By contrast, email open rates, the second best alternative for unsolicited mail vary from miniscule to around 10%, and higher, depending on a host of factors with the common theme that the better you know the recipient, and can direct the email to an individual, the higher the open rate.
Back to my story.
The note inside was short, printed on high quality paper, and focussed laser-like on a specific pain point currently on my plate. The result is that they now have what their marketing person would probably call a marketing qualified hot prospect for the sales people to convert.
So what is the point of the story?
The process of building a brand, the conversion of awareness and of the value proposition of the brand takes a long time. It is a 10,000 piece jigsaw of individual actions by the marketers and reactions from those both in the target market and in the supply chain that delivers the product. At the end of it is an individual, in every case.
When selling a small value consumer item, you do so to an individual who makes a selection where there is little risk so some level of ‘autopilot’ decision making takes place. Selling a power station is entirely different. The transaction is at the end of a long process of selling to a series of individuals and probably committees of some sort , but at the end, there will always be someone with the right of veto.
A key part of the process is the impact the marketer has on the neural systems of the intended buyer, how the branding and selling efforts impact on their senses.
Human beings evolved over millions of years depending for survival on our 5 physical senses, and the 6th one, the ‘gut’ feel that comes from the experience of the individual, and of the ‘tribes’ in which the individual lives and works.
Logically, the more of the senses you can engage in a positive way when marketing to a prospect, the better your chances.
Back again to the direct mail piece.
All my senses had been successfully engaged by this piece of direct, unsolicited mail.
It engaged my eyes, as somebody had put a lot of thought into the visual appearance of the piece. It engaged my brain, as the headline and copy were clearly directed specifically a me, and to engaged me physically, as the stock on which it was printed was, like the envelope, clearly not a standard low cost stock, it was a premium quality parchment type stock.
In the 30 seconds it took me to open, read, and understand this piece of unsolicited direct mail, the only option for me was to believe that somebody who knew me very well had specifically sent it to me in order to ensure I did not miss this opportunity to address the current pain point.
Depth of marketing to an individual prospect, building on years of building a brand with claims to quality and integrity, which is breadth, works.
The only point left to consider before I sign up is how the hell they got so much detail in advance of sending the mailer.
