Direct mail can still work for local business prospecting. We have used it over the years with strong results. But before we pay for printing and postage, we want to know whether our message connects with the right people.
That is where testing comes in. Our current plan starts with cold email to test reports and target audiences. Once we find a report that gets traction, we can test it through direct mail.
The point is not to choose between email and mail. It is to put them in the right order. We test the offer first, then spend more to reach people with it.
Has Direct Mail Worked for Us?
Yes, although we have not recently tested it within this specific process. That distinction matters. Past success gives us a reason to include direct mail in our plans. It does not mean our next campaign has already been proven.
We have done a lot of direct mail over the years, and it has been very effective. We also connected one of our tree service contractor clients with a direct mail company. That contractor has gotten good results from the work.
In that case, we did not run the mailing ourselves. We made the connection, and the direct mail company handled the campaign.
So we are not starting from the idea that mail is outdated or useless. We see it as a channel worth testing. The question is when to use it and what to send.
Give Direct Mail a Place in the Larger Plan
We are building direct mail into our demand interception system as part of the X Multiplier process. Rather than treating mail as a separate tactic, we want it to support the same offer we test through other channels.
For a tree care company we are working with now, the whole engagement centers on this demand interception system. We are creating direct response marketing reports and finding out which ones connect with the people the company wants to reach.
These reports are the offers we are promoting. They give us something specific to put in front of prospects and test for interest.
Our promotion plan includes:
- Cold email to test reports and target audiences.
- Direct mail after we identify reports that get traction.
- Paid ads as another way to promote the reports.
- Videos built to support report promotion.
- LinkedIn outreach for the company’s commercial prospects.
We do not need to launch every channel at once. Each has a place in the plan, but the first job is to find a message worth putting more money behind.
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Test Both the Report and the Audience
Right now, we are using cold email to test two things: which reports resonate and which customer profiles respond.
An ideal customer profile, often called an ICP, describes the kind of customer we want to reach. A buyer persona helps us focus on the person we are trying to connect with.
Those choices belong together. A report might be a good fit for one group and a poor fit for another. If we only think about the report, we miss half of the test.
We want to learn:
- Which report gets interest from prospects?
- Which audience responds to that report?
- Which report and audience pairing shows enough promise for another test?
This is more useful than asking whether cold email works in general. We are looking for a clear match between an offer and a group of people.
The goal is to find what resonates, not just to send more messages. Until we have that signal, moving to a more costly channel would mean carrying the same unknowns into a bigger spend.
Why Cold Email Comes Before Printing and Postage
We do not want the client to pay for printing and postage before we know which reports are getting traction.
Cold email gives us a lower-cost starting point for this work. We can use it to test interest before adding the costs tied to physical mail.
That does not make email better than direct mail in every case. It makes email a useful first step in this campaign.
If we mail an untested report, we are trying to learn about the offer while also paying to produce and deliver it. Our approach separates those steps. First, we look for an offer that connects. Then we test whether mail can help us reach more of the right prospects.
There is still more to learn when we move to direct mail. A report that gets a response by email is not a promise of the same result in the mail. It gives us a stronger starting point, not a guarantee.
Match the Channel to the Customer
The tree care company we are working with wants more commercial tree care projects. That makes this a business-to-business, or B2B, campaign.
Because we are trying to reach business prospects, LinkedIn outreach belongs in the plan. It fits the audience we are targeting.
We would not choose LinkedIn in the same way for a campaign aimed at typical residential tree service leads. A homeowner and a commercial buyer are different prospects. We should not assume that the same channel is right for both.
This is an important part of local business prospecting. “Local” tells us where a business works. It does not tell us who buys its services.
We still need to be clear about the customer. For this campaign, the focus on commercial projects helps guide both our report testing and our choice of outreach channels.
A Simple Order for the Campaign
Our current approach follows a clear order. We can keep the plan focused without making every step complicated.
- Choose the target audience. We define the customer profile we want to reach. For the current tree care campaign, that means commercial prospects.
- Create the reports. We develop direct response reports to promote to those prospects.
- Test with cold email. We look for the reports and audiences that produce interest.
- Identify the strongest matches. We use that response to decide which offers deserve more testing.
- Add direct mail. We bring printing and postage into the plan after the early tests show traction.
- Use other channels where they fit. Ads, video, and LinkedIn can support report promotion based on the audience and campaign.
Direct mail is in the pipeline, but it is not the first move. We are still doing the early work that will help us choose what to mail.
Start With the Message, Not the Mail Piece
Our answer on direct mail is simple: we have had success with it, and we plan to test it in this system. We have not yet run that new test.
For now, we are focused on finding reports that resonate with the right customer profiles. Once we know which combinations get traction, we can put them into direct mail and test the next stage.
We want to spend on a message that has earned another test. That keeps direct mail tied to the wider prospecting plan and gives the client a clearer reason to invest in printing and postage.