After discussing the benefits of both email marketing and direct mail individually on The XIC Blog, it seems only natural to discuss the powerhouse that is both online and offline modes of direct marketing working harmoniously together…multichannel style, ‘pimp my response rate’  if you will!

Why use both?

Well, combining the two has the power to double your response rates.  Maintaining consistency in theme and message in both mediums will only strengthen your brand and message.

It’s not always likely that a recipient will respond to a direct mail piece but once they receive the follow up email it will remind them of you and your offer, and of course give them an opportunity to directly click on your respective links to your website, offer or landing page, it’s entirely up to you.

Integrate with Social Media too?

It would be rude not too! Don’t forget you can easily run your campaign on your social media platforms, whether it’s creating a corresponding tab on your Facebook, or just simply repeating the same message and offer in order to further your message and reach.

…And here’s one we made earlier: just to give you an example, we ran an email campaign to advertise a marketing Lunch & Learn and in conjunction we built a Facebook landing page for people outside our customer database list to use & interact with too. You can check it out here: http://on.fb.me/ykyWIO

28.5% of recipients responded through our landing page and increased our reach on the existing email-campaign, a winner all round.

Get in touch

If you would like to know some more please leave a comment here on The XIC Blog, or if you have a swatch to the right there, you can follow us on Twittter (@xicdotcom) or ‘Like’ us on Facebook we’d be happy to chat.

This one’s a heads up about our direct mail service, because we know some of you might not have heard. This suited and booted little blog entry comes complete with what direct mail can do for your business, the benefits and some tips, because we’re generous like that

Now to the good bit, in an environment where we are all bombarded with email spam, there is less businesses utilising good old fashioned direct mail, meaning there are opportunities for your business to be seen and heard with a bespoke piece that connects and communicates the right message to your clients or prospects.

Here is a list of benefits:

• Personalised: This offers the chance for you to speak to your clients or prospects individually, allowing for engagement and ultimately increased response.

• Targeted: This allows for your message to reach the right person and cuts out all the wastage.

• Measurable: One of the best benefits is being able to measure response, which means every time you send out a direct mailer you can refine your reach.

However, if you’re going it alone and need some tips, tricks or trade secrets, look no further, we have a few we can share :

• Tease your audience: whether it’s a catchy tagline or an intriguing statement you want to encourage your recipient to read on and respond.

• Be human: people spot buzz words a mile off, try to connect to your targets by being yourself.

• Be creative: Don’t be afraid to show your personality and be bold with design, it could be the difference in colour or graphics that gets your mail piece noticed.

• Split testing: split your mailers by making a change in either copy, design or the call to action. This is an easy way of testing responses and will give you feedback on how to communicate going forward.

And that’s it folks! If you want any further info about direct mail, just give us a shout here on the blog, or you can find us tweeting @xicdotcom or facebook.com/XICsocial

After being inspired by an article expressing the on-going and topical debate about the differences between outbound and inbound marketing (http://bit.ly/bRRtOC ), we thought we would get creative and write an entry for the XIC blog.

Traditionally, marketers would push a company message through various channels such as cold calling, advertising, outsourced telemarketing, and promotion for example, to try and communicate with that one in a million prospect, and these are still very prominent activities for companies across industries. This kind of outbound marketing is still heavy practised but the debate points out that much outbound marketing should be replaced by inbound marketing. We are now living in an age where consumers are much more sophisticated at ‘dodging’ and filtering out information that they don’t perceive as valuable, in fact we would go as far as to say that techniques such as cold calling marks you as human spam, and in your face advertising can make you a pest or worse, be muted!

As a result of this shift in consumer awareness, inbound marketing presents much more effective opportunities to be found by consumers who actually want to be a part of your community and expertise. Be it through your website, social media presence or relationship marketing, it is now possible for you to interact directly with your existing and prospect client base. We at XIC are inclined to agree with the article that a sustainable ratio of inbound versus outbound marketing is much heavier on the former and only backed up by the latter. However, it is also important to do what’s right for your company and tailoring to what suits your products and services. No one size fits all!

It seems that we are all playing catch up with developments regarding the web and how we harness it to build our brands, but either way it is essential to become a part it. There are many positive outcomes in adopting inbound marketing techniques, whether it’s to increase customer loyalty, generate leads, educate your fans on company specific issues or just simple communication, inbound marketing should now, if it isn’t already, play a much heftier role in your marketing strategy.