Did you get my mail?

Last week we started a discussion on getting your direct mail past the gatekeeper. The first thing I suggested you do is to actually enlist the help of the gatekeeper, which can be a very successful strategy. To read my thoughts, visit my blog here. Today we’ll move on to some other strategies you can use.

One way to be sure your package gets past the gatekeeper is fear. The gatekeeper must fear blocking you and your information from their boss. If they do intercept it you want to send something that has the boss storming out of their office demanding where their package is.

3D Mail does a wonderful job in getting this reaction. I often encourage my clients to make follow up phone calls whenever possible after sending out eye-catching 3D Mail. When you get the decision maker on the phone and ask, “Did you get my bank bag, or pill bottle, or treasure chest…” you better believe if they didn’t get it they’ll be asking questions.

If you can’t make follow up phone calls, you’ll certainly want to send follow up direct mail, referencing the past messages you sent. Again, when you get through to the decision maker, and tell him you previously sent a bank bag, a message in a bottle, etc you can bet they will be asking around.

Of course I’m biased towards using 3D Mail to get past gatekeepers. But there are some other ways as well. In most offices, FedEx and UPS packages go directly to the decision maker. The same with personal courier services who drop off your material. However these can expensive and cost prohibitive. That’s another reason why I prefer using 3D Mail.

Finally, you can use fake priority envelopes. These are envelopes that look and feel like real express envelopes by the USPS, FedEx or UPS, but they are much cheaper to mail. They go directly through the USPS and the postage rate is the same as sending a “regular” 1st class letter.

We have a handful of these kinds of envelopes at our website here. They come in two sizes, 6 x 9 and 9 x 12, with six different looks. Check them out. You may want to give them a test in your next direct mail campaign.

Get past the gatekeeper

In speaking with clients each day, one of their biggest frustrations is getting past the gatekeeper, which is often why they get help from me using 3D Mail! But there are some universal truths when trying to get past the gatekeeper, and we’ll discuss a few of them over the next few tips.

But, before all you B2C’ers out there tune me out, saying you don’t have a gatekeeper, I encourage you to stay with me. You’ll soon see that many times you have to get past a gatekeeper at the home, too.

Before we get too far into some nitty-gritty strategies on getting past the gatekeeper, one thing you may want to ask yourself is if you can enlist the help of the gatekeeper to accomplish what you want. A novel idea, right?

This can be done a number of ways. One of the best ways to accomplish this is to let them know the benefits of what you do to them. For example, could your product or services lead to:A raise for the gatekeeper?

• Job security for the gatekeeper?
• A happier boss?
• Less stress?
• Or any other number of benefits related to the gatekeeper.

You need to use the same marketing and sales skills to get the gatekeeper on your side as you would with making the final sale to the decision maker. Now, for you B2C marketers, there is a gatekeeper at the home, and a lot of the same things we discussed above can easily apply to you.

For example, in a famous series of letters written by Dan Kennedy for a restaurant, the first two letters went to the husband of the house, encouraging him to take his wife to a nice, romantic dinner. A final third letter was addressed |to the wife, informing her of her husband’s “lack of love” for not bringing her in. So by enlisting the help of the gatekeeper, you can actually get exactly what you want, whether you market to consumers or to other businesses.

But what if you absolutely can’t enlist the help of the gatekeeper? Well, I think I have some creative ways around that. See you next time.

Marketing Tip Reader’s Only Special

Let’s face it, busting through the clutter and getting your marketing piece opened, let alone read, is But when you learn the secrets of using 3D Mail your marketing results will explode. That’s why we’ve created The 3D Mail Sample Kit & Sales Explosion Guide, as well as the 3D Mail Inner Circle.

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See this short video I shot about the Sample Kith & Sales Explosion Guide here.