People crave the latest technology and fastest service. They’re willing to pay for it, too. You just have to ensure they know about it, which is where direct mail comes in.
Design Distributors has worked with a variety of telecommunications companies throughout the years, learning what works and what doesn’t. We’ve compiled the best practices every telecommunications company should implement in its next direct mail campaign.
Direct mail can be your company’s ticket to winning over a new customer. While other companies use email to garner new clientele, set yourself apart by sending a highly designed self-mailer or letter.
With an estimated 256 billion email exchanges daily in 2019, an email can easily get lost in the clutter. Plus, if someone is a current customer of Telecom A, for example, they’re more likely to open an email from Telecom A, to check for a bill or upgrade offer. They're less likely to open an offer email from Telecom B, because they’re unfamiliar with the brand, or treat it as spam.
When looking to acquire new patrons, it’s best practice to utilize direct mail to grab their attention. One study has shown consumers trust advertisements and catalogs received in the mail more than many other channels. In addition, direct mail had a response rate of 4.9 percent compared to email’s .1 percent, according to the Response Rate 2018 Report.
Direct mail also works in cooperation with other channels to inform and remind clients they can upgrade from 4G to 5G, buy a new modem or router to support faster internet speeds, or switch services. To engage with customers and non-customers, you’ll need to cultivate a strategy that implements all channels: mail, web, and television ads.
If you’re trying to attract a new consumer to switch television providers, you’ll create a television ad promoting a channel bundle or discount offer. In addition, you’ll create an email and mail campaign, reminding non-clients of that promotion. An email may be your first effort to a purchased mailing list. Then, you’ll suppress the respondents and send a mailpiece to nonresponders. (There’s nothing worse than receiving an offer you’ve already responded to, especially if it’s a better offer.) This can be followed up by an email, and finally, the fourth communication could be a postcard. If you’re marketing a new product or upgraded service to a current patron, you’ll want to use the same email/mail strategy on a segmented house list.
Whether they’re a current customer or not, you want to get your prospect on the phone and commit to your service right then and there. Every mail piece, whether a letter detailing the various channels included in a package or a postcard reminding interested purchasers about the bundle, should include a call to action, asking clients to dial a specific number. This way, consumers can easily contact customer service, and representatives can use the opportunity to close the deal and upsell products.
The rest of the mail piece, including text and graphics, should tell a brand story. Studies have shown people “make sense of stories within the narrative of their own daily lives.” So, mail pieces should incorporate family and friends connecting or achieving a common purpose through telecommunications services. For example, in 2017, Verizon created a campaign called “Humanability,” which told stories about how their tech products eased traffic in California and supported advancements in the healthcare industry.
This message doesn’t just have to be conveyed in a long-form letter. The same feelings of connection can be elicited with a few words, a call to action, and a picture on a postcard.
When adding graphics to your telecommunication direct mail, they should fall into three categories: brand, lifestyle, and product.
Ensure you’ve included your logo, and brand the piece with your company’s colors. Incorporate a lifestyle image to continue telling the story. For example, if you’re a television provider, you may want to add a photo of a family sitting on the couch watching a movie together. A product picture is necessary to complete the piece if you’re trying to sell a specific product with your offer. For instance, if AT&T offers customers $400 off the new iPhone with every new, 12-month contract, it would want to add a photo of that phone.
Before sending your finished design off to the printer, ensure all offer exclusions and legal jargon have been applied in accordance with federal and state regulations.