The advantage of direct mail is that you can reach an unlimited number of people simultaneously.

If you’re in a business-to-business (b2b) environment, ask yourself how easily you can reach 500 to 1,000 prospects in a matter of days? By doing some research, and getting together a list of appropriate leads to target, your company name and product/service offer can suddenly be in front of prospects that might be predisposed to buying.

But don’t stop there. Put together a compelling offer in your direct marketing piece, and drive the recipient to do one of two things: (1) to call your company for further information; and/or (2) fill out an online request form for a call back from your sales department.

Often potential buyers will poke around your website before calling, so you’ll want to ensure that the direct mail piece has a specific website address (often referred to as a Landing Page) that provides a shortcut to the offer you are promoting. For example, if your company sells brooms and cleaning products to industrial companies, the website landing page you direct them to might be something along the lines of: www.cleaneasycompany/fall-specials.

By having a webpage set-up to explain the offer, you not only eliminate navigational confusion when a prospect is on your website; but you’ll also have the ability to analyze your landing page traffic data to see how many leads clicked on the page, how long they stayed and whether they left any contact information or request for a follow-up call.