Strong marketing campaigns generate leads. And leads generate revenue. And you already know that. But just how successful are your company’s marketing efforts? Is your marketing budget being used efficiently enough? Believe it or not, the phone you’re using could be the thing that takes your marketing efforts to the next level.
Mr. Wrigley of Wrigley Chewing Gum is said to have once been recognized on an airplane by a man who asked why he continued to market Wrigley’s different flavors of gum when the company had total control of the market. Mr. Wrigley replied, asking, “How fast do you think this airplane is traveling?”
The man paused, and said, “around 300 miles an hour,” I suppose. Mr. Wrigley responded, asking, “Do you think that’s fast enough to shut off the engines—surely we could coast to our destination from here”? Smiling, as if Mr. Wrigley simply didn’t understand aircraft physics, the gentleman said, “No, we can’t. In fact, the second the engines stop, the plane will begin falling.” Mr. Wrigley smiled and said, “Well, it sounds like you understand why we continue to market after all.”
Chances are, just like the very successful Mr. Wrigley, you’re already doing a great job of marketing your business, strategizing for your social media campaigns, and crafting SEO keywords and web copy. But how are you tracking all the non-digital marketing you’re doing? How are you ensuring that your ROI on your print and direct marketing is enough?
Print marketing is still one of the most effective branding and conversion methods—garnering a higher response rate than many digital platforms. According to a 2016 article by MarketingTech, “79% of consumers act on direct mail campaigns compared to only 45% who say they deal with email straightaway.” This results in targeted direct mail’s 4.4% response compared to email’s minuscule 0.12%.
Now, assuming you and your marketing team understand the importance of running physical marketing campaigns—everything from billboards, to ads in relevant magazines, to company-branded swag—you’ve probably realized it’s much harder to track the effectiveness of these efforts than it is to check your social media analytics or SEO results. In reality, there’s a simple fix we call DID, or “direct inward dialing” phone numbers. A DID number costs far less than what digital marketing efforts do—for only $2.50/month, you can track each of your mail campaigns or print ads separately.
Here’s how it works:
1. Choose a phone number for your campaign (make it toll free, or even better, pick an area code that appeals geographically to your target audience).
2. Add a prefix to that number’s caller ID. That way, when you get a call for your direct mail campaign, you’ll know exactly which campaign it’s coming from, and rather than seeing an unknown number pull up, you’ll see the word “MAIL.”
3. Track your inbound calls easily with call detail reports (at no additional cost), and determine which of your marketing efforts have been most effective, and which no longer merit a chunk of the budget.
