Your Packaging Source Uses Dimensional Cross-Channel Marketing to Drive Results - PODi Case Study
Vertical Market: Printing Services/Packaging
Business Application: Direct Marketing/Lead Generation
Business Objectives
Your Packaging Source provides distributors and print providers a variety of top quality boxes, dimensional mailers, and custom creative packaging products. To promote its services, Your Packaging Source needed a direct marketing campaign that would:
- Reach key C-level decision makers at large, multi-location resellers of print and promotional products
- Stand out from the clutter of messages this audience receives
- Demonstrate the effectiveness of Your Packaging Source’s marketing solution: Using targeted, relevant dimensional mail for lead generation
- Provide a best practice model for lead generation programs that could be used and sold by other print, promotional and marketing service providers
Results
Your Packaging Source developed a personalized, dimensional mailer that directed recipients to a Personalized URL.
- 400 percent ROI: campaign led to new jobs including a lead generation campaign, custom packaging products and personalized manuals/binders
- Sales in excess of $140,000 are attributed to this campaign
- 57 percent visit rate—recipient visited their Personalized URL. Several recipients visited multiple times, either returning themselves or sharing the Personalized URL with colleagues. 65 percent of the targeted companies visited the campaign site
- 28 percent response rate—recipients who completed the online survey. 35 Percent of the targeted companies responded
Campaign Architecture
To gain the attention of its target audience Your Packaging Source sent a dimensional mailer that was 17"x6"x1.5". Live stamps were used instead of a mailing permit indicia to enhance the noticeability of the mailer.
The outside of the box contained a marketing “To Do” list that was personalized with the recipient’s first name. The side and the bottom of the box contained a Personalized URL with a play on the person’s name and job concerns: FirstNameLastName.WantsBigResults.com.
Upon visiting the Personalized URL, responders were asked to complete a short online survey which helped Your Packaging Source qualify the leads. Questions were used to help qualify the prospect and give the sales team from Your Packaging Source vital information to enhance their ability to engage the prospect in meaningful dialog during the follow up process.
Your Packaging Source called all individuals who visited the campaign site and used the survey responses to direct the conversation.
The timing of the mailer was a significant part of this campaign. The personalized box was sent so that it would arrive at recipients’ desks a day or two after New Year’s Day. With the start of a new year it was thought that executives might be willing to explore a different marketing approach. In addition, an Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) show was scheduled for the following week. Your Packaging Source was exhibiting at the show and knew that a lot of the targeted companies would be attending. While there was not a direct tie-in between the mailing package and the ASI show, it did serve as a conversation starter. Your Packaging Source also displayed the personalized box in its booth for additional exposure and an illustration of its capabilities.
Target Audience and Messaging
The audience for this campaign was a highly select group of decision makers at large promotional product distributors with national sales forces. The targeted group included presidents, owners, C-level executives and vice presidents. The targeted group of 47 individuals at 34 companies represented purchases of over $2 billion in annual sales of print and promotional products. These individuals were identified through Web searches and published lists of key executives.
This audience has a need for marketing programs that will gain the attention of new prospects, qualify their interest and collect information to improve the productivity of their sales forces. Both the dimensional mailer and the landing pages used in the campaign demonstrated the ability to engage high level audiences and collect valuable information to improve the productivity of sales teams tasked with lead follow up.
Creative
The outside of the dimensional mailer was designed to look like a sheet of yellow legal pad paper. Inside the recipient found an oversized pencil with their Personalized URL printed on the side. The large pencil was a different and memorable promotional product that might be shown to co-workers. The paper look and pencil tied in with the executive to do list on the top of the box and the “Big Ideas, Big Results” theme. This creative was carried throughout the personalized campaign microsite for a cohesive user experience. Branding for Your Packaging Source was not included on the dimensional mailer in order to generate curiosity and improve response.
- Your Packaging Source hoped to create intrigue that would drive recipients to open the box and then visit the Personalized URL for more information.
- Your Packaging Source wanted to spur high-level discussions about targeted, relevant marketing with senior executives and not get labeled as the “box guys.”
- Minimal branding prevented the perception that the campaign was specifically to promote an interesting ad specialty product.
- The campaign was designed to be something that could be easily repurposed by a potential client.
Future Opportunities
Your Packaging Source intends to reuse this campaign to promote their services in the future. One lesson learned from this initial campaign was that while recipients of the dimensional mailer were more receptive to taking a sales call, they may not have had the time to have an in depth conversation about their marketing strategies. A follow-up lead nurturing program is needed to maintain top of mind awareness for Your Packaging Source as these leaders face future marketing challenges.
Another change that will be tested in future campaigns is simplifying the personalized landing page and online survey. Reducing the amount of time it takes to complete the survey and driving home the ROI message quicker may be more impactful.
Reasons for Success
This campaign won a PEAK Award from PSDA in the Integrated Marketing Campaign category.
“A dimensional cross channel campaign gives companies the opportunity to truly differentiate themselves from the competition and gain the attention of top level decision makers,” said Jeffrey Becker, director of business development of Your Packaging Source. “Now there is no excuse for not having relevant conversations with high value prospects and filling your pipeline.”
Best practices learned from this campaign include:
- Use offline marketing to drive online interaction. As people are bombarded with e-mails, online ads and Web banners, dimensional mail can effectively earn the attention of customers and prospects. Combining innovative dimensional mail with a call to action that drives recipients to a Personalized URL, QR Code or other mobile link can begin a relevant conversation and generate qualified leads.
- Modifying existing best practices, like this campaign does, can minimize the barriers to entry and improve the return on investment for lead generation campaigns targeting senior executives. Your Packaging Source created a marketing solution that could easily be repurposed by its potential clients.
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Source: PODi.
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