Every now and then when you ask for directions you’ll hear someone offer the less-than-helpful opinion that, “You can’t get there from here!” What people really mean is that you may have to retrace your steps and take a more circuitous route than you originally planned.
Online marketing is a little bit like that. Businesses are anxious to move more of their marketing efforts online. It’s faster. It’s (usually) cheaper. It’s easier to change if new information comes along. It allows you to make as much information available to your audience as they could possibly want. And most important of all: It’s where the people are.
Or are they?
Sometimes we forget just how massive the Internet is. The number of pages out there grows all the time, but one figure cited these days puts the number at around 8 billion pages. Sure the people are out there on the Internet—but they can’t get there from here.
Just because you have a site (even if it’s really attractive) doesn’t mean that the people you want to find it will find it. That’s where a medium like direct mail can really shine. It can be a perfect “gateway” to help the right people find you—and your message.
A simple card mailing can grab someone’s attention, raise an issue, offer a solution—and then direct people to the appropriate page on your website for more information and action.
A word of caution is in order. Have you ever received a card in the mail that was so jam-packed with copy and images that it was really hard to read? Don’t do that to your prospects! You have unlimited space on your website to go into as much detail as people want. Use your card to hook them—then take them to the information.
Here’s another word of caution. Don’t take prospects to your home page. You may know where everything is on your website but your visitor doesn’t. Don’t make her search. Take your visitor to a specific landing page that addresses the exact issue you raised with your card mailing (answers to their questions or a free download of useful information).
Your website can be an incredibly powerful tool. But it doesn’t do anything if people “can’t get there from here.” Use a little old-school technology to drive customers and prospects to specific information on your site.
Need a little help figuring out who to send your card mailing to? We can help you with list selection so that you’re getting the right message to the right people.
Blog Post Written by Taylor Vowell
Taylor Vowell is a certified inbound marketing specialist with a background in graphic design and website development. www.tmrdirect.com