Expand Your ISP Marketing Reach With Direct Mail Automation

With the internet industry filled with endless digital noise, are you failing to reach your audience? 

There is one solution – adopt ISP direct mail automation. 

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) can reach untapped areas and build relationships with existing customers. With direct mail automation tools like Postalytics focusing on ISPs, you can utilize this strategy and garner more leads and conversions.  

In this guide, we’ll talk about direct mailing and why you should adopt it for your internet business. We’ll also explore the tools you can use to manage these campaigns with ease. 

What is Direct Mailing? 

Direct mailing involves sending physical correspondence to your customers or prospects to nurture, convert, or retain them. These marketing materials include;

• newsletters
• brochures
• catalogs
• event invites
• discount coupons
• subscription reminders
• retargeting messages

With direct mail automation tools, you can create, send, and track these campaigns as easily as you manage email campaigns. Many businesses are now adopting this marketing to cut through the noise.
For example, J.M. Sells Law Ltd., an Ohio law firm specializing in tax law, wanted to stand out in a crowded market. So, they started using information about their potential clients to create automatically triggered, personalized letters and postcards. 

Image source

The results were extraordinary – a 5% response rate and a 75% conversion rate. Read the full case study here.

Why is Direct Mail Effective for ISPs? 

In a world full of social media and emails, 41% of Americans look forward to checking their mailbox daily. Direct mail is much more exciting than another email in an already flooded inbox. 

If this is not enough, here are five more reasons to convince you to adopt direct mail for your ISP business. 

Tangible Communication 

The one thing that sets direct mail apart from other digital marketing campaigns is its tangible nature. Its physical form makes it difficult to ignore or delete when it arrives in your mailbox. 

People tend to spend more time with it, increasing the chances they’ll engage with the content and remember the ISP’s message. For example, if you receive a direct mail postcard with your name on it and a targeted visual, you’d want to read it and even take action. If it has a QR code, most of us would scan and check out what it is about. 

Brand Awareness 

When customers think about ISPs or want to select an ISP provider, your brand should be at the top of their minds. To achieve that, you need to focus on brand awareness and recall. Sending direct mail campaigns can help ISPs build and reinforce brand awareness. 

For that, you need consistent, well-designed mailers to establish a strong brand presence in the minds of consumers. For example, if you’re regularly sending newsletters or brochures about your services, your audience will remember the brand name and logo if they wish to change or start an internet plan. 

Targeted Marketing 

We all dislike getting marketing material that is generic and not relevant to us. That’s why businesses, over the years, have started creating more targeted campaigns. It hits the right chord with your audience and benefits your business in many different ways.

Direct mail marketing campaigns allow ISPs to target specific geographic areas or demographics. For example, marketers can send automated direct mail campaigns to neighborhoods where they want to expand their services. Or they could communicate with households that match their ideal customer profiles. 

With direct mail automation software like Postalytics, this becomes even easier. You can use the different customization features available in the platform and create personalized direct mail campaigns that increase the chances of acquiring new customers. 

Information Delivery 

As an ISP, you likely offer different internet plans and services. You might also have many additions and variations to your packages. How do you communicate this to your prospects or existing customers? 

One way is through direct mail campaigns. You can provide detailed information about your services, pricing updates, and promotions. It is especially beneficial when you want to convey complex technical information or distinguish your offerings from competitors.  

For example, a landing comparison page between your services and competitors is great. But you can also send direct mail to those prospects who are at the bottom of the funnel and need a nudge to subscribe to your brand. 

Multi-Channel Marketing 

You don’t have to choose direct mail marketing over other forms of marketing. All you need to do is complement it with your other marketing efforts to get the best results. By making it a part of a broader multi-channel marketing strategy, you can reach a wider audience and increase your chances of conversions. 

For example, marketers can include QR codes or personalized URLs (pURLs) in their mailers. These direct the recipients to your landing pages or sign-up forms. You can even send direct mail marketing campaigns to those prospects who aren’t active on email. 

What Makes Direct Mail Better than Other Outreach Strategies? 

As an internet service provider, you’re not selling a one-time subscription or a product. You need to pay equal attention to attract and retain customers. It’s why marketing strategies that work well for other industries might not bring the same results. 

Here’s a comparison of different outreach strategies and why you should prioritize direct marketing over others. 

Direct Mail Vs. Social Media Marketing 

The number of social media users is growing by the day. It’s never too late to start; many businesses are creating and launching different social media campaigns to reach and convert their audience. 

There are many benefits of social media marketing. You can partner with influencers to generate hype around your brand, or you can create bite-sized videos in the form of reels to capture attention. It can also help form a community around your brand and improve customer engagement. 

But should you rely on social media alone? What about those people who are not active on social media? Or the ones that don’t follow brands? 

That’s where direct marketing wins the game. Unlike social media, it allows for a more personal and tangible connection with your customers. With its tangible nature and personalization elements, you can better engage your audience. 

Direct Mail Vs. Email Marketing 

Well-made email campaigns are still going strong. For example, many SaaS companies often use email campaigns for different purposes like welcome emails, retargeting, or onboarding. This helps them stay connected with their audience and keep them engaged. 

You can also generate leads and personalize various elements of email campaigns. These campaigns fare far better than generic campaigns, and you can create different email lists for different purposes. 

But the main disadvantage of email marketing is that you’re dealing with a lot of clutter and noise. Many people now choose to unsubscribe to brands because they send a lot of emails. Some even ignore emails if they come from an ID they don’t know. 

You can even face deliverability issues and low response rates. Direct marketing faces far less competition, and you also get higher engagement and response rates. 

Direct Mail Vs. Content Marketing 

Content marketing strategies can help you gain the visibility you require for your ISP business. For example, you want your website/content to rank high for certain keywords like “best internet service providers” or “internet service providers in XYZ location.” 

Content marketing makes that possible. 

The process includes many activities like SEO, keyword research, content planning, content creation, etc. By focusing on creating valuable campaigns, you can become an authority leader in your niche. 

There’s one caveat, though – content marketing generally takes some time to get results. It’s not as simple as publishing five articles and getting a lot of leads. You need to invest time, money, and energy to generate desired results. 

By pairing direct mail with content marketing, you can bring traffic to your content and accelerate its promotion. You can even persuade users to subscribe to your blog and get daily updates.  

Top 7 Direct Mail Automation Platforms for ISPs 

Direct mail automation platforms can help manage your direct campaigns seamlessly. They have a lot of features that you can use to create and send these campaigns in no time. Here are the best seven tools for ISPs. 

#1 Postalytics 

Postalytics is a direct mail automation platform that offers many helpful features so ISPs don’t need to onboard an extensive team to manage the campaigns.  

Key features: 

• Get access to readymade templates.
• Design, proof, and organize templates with the Direct mail editor.
• Create triggered drip campaigns to send the right mail to the right recipient at the right time.
• Use variable data and variable logic features to personalize direct mail pieces at scale.
• Get campaign dashboards to track delivery and response for each campaign.
• Set direct mail/email workflows so you don’t have to waste time with manual processes.
• Implement personalized URLs and QR codes to track responses.
• Integrate with your tech stack to easily import and export data for campaigns.
• Address verification functionality so your mails get delivered to the right locations.
• Get free access to analytics and tracking data.

#2 Sendoso 

Sendoso is a direct mail tool that focuses on creating memorable customer experiences using direct mail for gifting or creating branded experiences. 

Key features: 

• Drive revenue throughout the customer journey with personalized gifts, e-gifts, etc.
• Ask prospects to schedule time with you before an e-gift is automatically sent.
• Get address confirmation so gifts are delivered to the right locations.
• Create branded items and send them to new customers, virtual event attendees, or employees.
• Integrate with CRM, sales enablement, and other marketing automation tools to execute your campaigns.
• Set up inventory updates and alerts so your items are never out of stock.
• Get access to intelligent analytics & reporting to track overall campaign performance.
• Scale your campaigns easily as per your budget and other requirements.
  

#3 Lob 

Lob promises to transform direct mail into intelligent mail for your business. It mostly serves the SaaS industry but can be used by ISPs as well. 

Key features: 

• Schedule trigger campaigns based on customer behavior or events.
• Access a scalable print delivery ecosystem to scale up or down whenever required.
• Address verification to keep your mailing list updated and relevant.
• Audience targeting features to build targeted audiences for marketing campaigns.
• Get limitless localization and personalization to optimize each mail intelligently.
• Use QR codes and pURLs to track conversions and responses.
• Get smart analytics and reporting capabilities.
• Integrate with Salesforce and other CRM tools to measure attribution.
• Security and compliance to keep your data safe.
  

#4 Postgrid 

Postgrid offers a print and mail API to help you send postcards, letters, and checks at scale. It also offers many different features that help ISPs manage direct mail automation easily. 

Key features: 

• Get access to unified offline capabilities to send direct mails on-demand and at scale.
• USPS-certified address verification API so your mails are sent to the correct addresses.
• Integrate address autocomplete API to ensure no manual errors and addresses are correct at the point of entry.
• Tracking and analytics functionality on all orders and conversions.
• Attach application-specific metadata to any API resource to simplify integration and improve visibility.
• Use the dashboard to track API usage and manage contacts, templates, and other resources.
• Seamless integration with your marketing tools via Zapier.

#5 Switch 

Switch provides the easiest way to securely send business mail online and keep your prospects or customers engaged. It eliminates your trips to the post office and helps you send campaigns with a click. 

Key features: 

• Supports U.S. letter size for uploading files.
• Provides three different envelope sizes for direct mail.
• Capability of uploading Excel files for contacts.
• Verification of address with USPS Address Verification & Completion.
• The ability to send certified and priority mail for urgent purposes.
• Get USPS tracking for free that provides details like date, time, and zip code of delivery.
• Get access to the highest levels of security and service that protect your data.
• It has the function and features to help prevent unauthorized use and employee fraud.

#6 Click2Mail

Click2Mail lets you deal with a variety of direct mail formats, like postcards, booklets, rack cards, brochures, letters, flyers, secure mailers, etc. This could be a great option if your ISP business seeks a tool for creative campaigns. 

Key features: 

• Turn PDFs into postal mail without printing, folding, stuffing, or sticking a stamp on an envelope.
• Get access to design templates for different direct mail formats and categories.
• Get email attachments automatically printed and mailed the next business day through USPS.
• Eliminate legacy mailroom processes with APIs and developer tools.
• Mail to every address in a neighborhood without a list using USPS’s Every Door Direct Mail service.
• Purchase a high-quality, reliable mailing list within a few minutes.
  

#7 Mailform

Mailform is a direct mail automation tool that allows ISPs to send documents, letters, and invoices to your prospects or existing customers. 

Key features: 

• Upload PDFs to create and mail letters & postcards.
• Ability to send certified mail.
• Access their bulk mail tool to import contacts, mail multiple documents to multiple recipients, and get volume discounts.
• Integrates with many different marketing tools so you can manage your campaigns from one platform seamlessly.

Creating ISP Outreach Strategies the Smart Way 

ISPs need to develop creative and intelligent marketing strategies to draw the right leads and convert them.

Direct mail automation can be that strategy for your business. With it, you can cut through the digital noise and connect with your audience in a more personalized way.  

Before you get started, read our blog for more additional insights on how you can adopt a direct automation strategy for ISPs. Register for free on Postalytics to start creating effective direct campaigns immediately.