5 Ways Direct Mail Helps B2B Marketing Campaigns

While many blue-collar businesses specialize in residential and commercial ventures, marketing to each audience is vastly different.

For one, while there may be a larger market for residential services, commercial projects are often extensive and more profitable.

Furthermore, most businesses have an allocated budget for routine maintenance and commercial services, while the homeowner may only require a one-time service charge. 

Direct Mail for B2B Marketing

In many respects, Business-to-Business (B2B) marketing requires a careful approach to reach their target audience.

While Business-to-Consumer (B2C) marketing needs to connect with one decision maker – often the homeowner – B2B marketing needs to impact multiple people within an organization.

Depending on the business structure, there may be several advocates and final decision-makers your business needs to appeal to before making its first sale.

With this in mind, here are five ways direct mail can help those in B2B target their audience and appeal to the decision-makers: 

1.) Multiple Marketing Touchpoints

Because business decisions are often done through group collaboration, the advertising medium should have multiple touchpoints available to accommodate this experience.

A search or display ad can only offer a single touchpoint – the link or image – to one user. Even forwarded emails only offer one touchpoint for each person – when someone opens the document.

Direct mail, on the other hand, is a physical presence that is easily read and understood. According to JIC Mail, direct mail on average is passed around 1.2 times and read 4.2 times by each recipient.

While this is particular observation is in the context of households, an office setting could likely bring similar results.

Every mailer can make an impactful touchpoint on someone within an organization. And depending on how that person interacts with direct mail, more marketing touchpoints can occur in the future.

These marketing touchpoints include actions such as opening the mail, reading the mail, putting it on display, filing it for later, and leaving it out for others to see.

All of these actions are considered marketing touchpoints that can influence a person’s memory and recollection at the moment their need is recognized. 

Related: Direct Mail: Multiple Marketing Touchpoints

2.) Target Decision-Makers

Often enough, the major decision-makers within an organization tend to be populated by Baby Boomers.

Fortunately, this generation is the most receptive to direct mail, as 80% of Baby Boomers trust print mail, and USPS notes that 50% prefer to read promotional material through direct mail over all other advertising mediums.

Not only is this generation more receptive to marketing mail, but your mailers and messaging can also leave a greater impact if they are personalized to the specific audience you wish to target.

These unique variables such as addressing someone by name or using relevant messaging, can help improve your campaign performance by addressing your customer’s unique preferences.  

3.) More Trustworthy

While an individual can undertake a higher amount of risk with their decisions, businesses – specifically the decision-makers – are much more hesitant to do so.

Because if something goes wrong at the house-level, the individual accrues all the losses, which could be a certain monetary amount.

But for the business’s decision-maker, a poor business outcome could risk their job and livelihood. Which is why these leaders are often far more critical on behalf of their company.

There is also no risk of opening an envelope and reading its contents. Unlike questionable emails or search ads, direct mail does not hold the same risk of malware that employees are trained to avoid. 

4.) Better Targeting

One major difference between residential and commercial markets is the amount of public information available for the audience you are targeting.

Besides the name and address of the business, other information such as number of employees, estimated revenue, and even estimated business growth are all valuable data points for marketers.

This type of business data is essential for proper audience targeting.

Too small of a company may not have the funds to accommodate most services, and too big of a company may already have ironclad contracts in place for day-to-day operations.

Even knowing when a company was founded can give an insight into determining if the organization is a viable lead.

Marketing to a new fast-paced business, for example, may yield a far better ROI than a business that has been steadily operating for 50 years.  

5.) More Retargeting Opportunities

In addition to better targeting data, direct mail offers far better retargeting opportunities for B2B marketers.

This means that repeatedly marketing to the same businesses for better brand recognition may be a viable strategy to increase the likelihood of a sale.

Likewise, each retargeting mailer is another chance to engage and build a strong relationship with your client.

As B2B has a greater emphasis on building lasting connections between companies, retargeting to them helps keep your business in mind when a client is ready to initiate again.

As stated above, more retargeting mailers offer a greater chance for more marketing touchpoints and help establish your brand recognition to further improve ROI. 

Related: The Omnichannel Approach to Direct Mail Retargeting