Marketing Mix

Direct mail marketing campaigns for consulting firms

McCarthy & King Marketing is a direct response marketing agency that helps consultants and consulting firms plan, create and implement direct mail marketing campaigns to support their lead generation and brand building efforts.

Whether you are selling a consulting engagement or a pre-packaged product or service, you need to generate leads – qualified leads, not tire-kickers and information-collectors.  Let us help you get your message into the hands of real prospects – people who actually buy what you sell. 

A quick summary of what you’ll need

  • a custom-designed mailer (any format)
  • a fully researched mailing list or lists
  • a lead generating offer
  • a lead converting landing page
  • a lead qualifying survey (or phone call)
  • a series of automated lead follow-up emails

Direct mail success starts with a strategy

It’s easy to get bogged down with the mechanics of direct mail – things like printing, personalization, mail handling and, of course, postal regulations.

But real success can only be achieved with the right lists, offers, formats and creative – and that starts with your strategy. Let us help you develop a strategy that makes sense for your sales objectives, brand identity and budget.

Find a list, build a list or do both

It may not be the most exciting part of the process, but it is the most important part.  No matter what else you do, nothing will work if you’re not reaching the right people.

If you are mailing to your own House List, that’s great.  You are mailing to the best possible list because you already have a relationship with those people.  You should expect your House will produce the highest response rate.

But much of direct mail is intended for new audiences using outside lists.  And this requires a process of customer profiling, list research and list acquisition and assessment.

We can help you with this process and help you find the right lists for your campaign.

Choose a format – letter mailers, postcards and more

Let us help you choose the right format for your direct mail campaign.

There are multiple direct mail formats available – and we all have our personal favorites.

But there is actually a strategic process for determining which format will work best.  It’s a process that takes into account your audience, your objective, your message and your budget.

Mail anytime … with any quantity

Many marketers wonder if they can or should use direct marketing when they only have a small audience – or a smaller budget.

The answer is “yes, of course.”  Quantity should never be an issue.

Quantity may dictate your strategy in how you use direct mail – and there are ways to plan ahead to get the most out of a limited budget – but small quantities should never deter you from direct mail.

Give your prospects a reason to respond with the right offer

It is often seen as an afterthought – something you add just before you go to press.  What a mistake!

Aside from your list, the offer has the greatest impact on your response – by far.  Your offer can also be used to manipulate your response to fit the needs of your sales team.

But you need to take the offer seriously – and you need to plan early.

And don’t forget the follow-up

Your direct mail is not the end-game, not in most situations anyway.  You need to have a plan for follow up.

In some cases, when you have smaller quantities, you may want to follow up with a phone call to everyone.  For large quantity mailings, you will probably only be able to call those who respond.

You should also have a follow-up email campaign ready to go.  Email is a fast and affordable way to reach your target audience multiple times if you want.   Email can also be fully automated so you don’t have to worry about leads falling through the cracks.

Working with us

If you are interested in working with us, we offer two types of service engagements – monthly Programs and individual Projects.

Programs are best used for continuing work involving multiple marketing activities. Projects are a good way to get started and get acquainted.

Learn more about our Direct Mail Marketing services

If you have a question, want to discuss a project or would like a proposal, contact Bob McCarthy at 508-473-8643 or bob@mccarthyandking.com.  In the meantime, check out these additional resources

Article – Direct Mail Planning & Execution – a 19-point checklist

Article – Mailing Lists:  Should you buy, rent or build your own?