A small, highly targeted direct mail campaign by online advertising services and technology provider Interadnet has kicked up a significant response rate in less than a month.
The company mailed 15 pieces late last month containing a shoebox and a toddler-sized work boot. Attached to the shoe was a personalized tag with a sales representative's name and an invitation to call for more information. The piece went to eight vice presidents of media services and directors of interactive media at ad agencies and to seven vice presidents of marketing at Fortune 500 companies.
Interadnet, Raleigh, NC, has received 12 responses so far.
The theme of the company's first major integrated marketing campaign is “give complexity the boot,” said Clark Williams, Interadnet's director of marketing. It conveys that message by using a boot print on the outside of the box along with the actual boot inside. The outside of the box reads: “Take the first step towards simple Internet media.”
“The language used by most of our competitors has made things very complicated to understand,” Williams said. “We want to show potential clients that our services and solutions are much easier to use and understand than our competitors.”
By calling the sales rep identified on the tag in order to set up an appointment, respondents receive a free pair of adult Timberland boots. The tag, resembling the tags that accompany shoes purchased in a store, contains instructions telling respondents that they can either wait to hear from the sales rep or call themselves. A brief explanation on the solutions offered by Interadnet also is included.
“The goal of the campaign is to generate good strong leads,” Williams said. “This is why the call-to-action isn't to just visit the Web site or get additional information but instead is to set up an interview with a member of our sales team.”
Williams would not discuss the overall cost of the campaign but said each pair of children's boots costs $18 to $20, while an adult pair of boots costs $150. He said that signing one of the recipients as a client would result in a minimum income of $4,500 per month.
“The people we are contacting [are] a very select group, so it is worth spending what we did on the piece,” Williams said. “This is well targeted, and we are not just spraying the entire market.”
Those 15 names came from a list of contacts with whom Interadnet had spoken in the past but had been unable to get follow-up meetings. Williams felt the piece would be a good way of getting their attention again.
“It has been very helpful in moving the relationship we have with these people to the next level,” he said. “It's a way to give the whole process a kick in the butt.”
A larger mailing of 50 to 100 pieces will go out the first week of March. This mailing will be targeted to people whom Interadnet has not spoken with previously.
Other components of the campaign scheduled to get under way next month include a print campaign in trade publications such as Mediaweek and Advertising Age. An e-mail campaign will also be used along with a number of banner ads on ad industry sites.
Interadnet worked with Renegade Marketing Group, New York, on the campaign.
