​In one of my networking sessions I had the most interesting conversation about using LUMPY MAIL as a marketing strategy.

Yep, lumpy mail!

And your reaction as you read this could be one of the following:

• “I’ve never heard of it!”
• “Omgoodness I haven’t thought about lumpy mail for so long”

So, what’s lumpy mail?

It’s good old fashioned SNAIL MAIL (with a LUMP!).

And it is that bump/lump that gets the attention – who doesn’t open a parcel or letter with a lump!

Now I know what you are thinking, this mail out doesn’t ACTUALLY need to have a physical lump – but you do need something that attracts the attention of the receiver.

Some of the most successful marketing campaigns that I did back in my retail days were done in bright pink snail mail envelopes.

And honestly, using these envelopes was such a vibe – we had SO MUCH POSITIVE FEEDBACK about this little marketing strategy. I mean, wouldn’t be curious enough to open a bright pink, handwritten, envelope addressed to them?

And the best bit – this strategy DIRECTLY CONVERTED INTO SALES.

Because, well, also, who doesn’t love a freebie in the mail!

So if you’re wanting a 99% deliverability rate and a 100% open rate – then lumpy mail is your saviour or your best shot as far as marketing goes!

And it is the curiosity that makes it work so well.

Curiosity gets the open, curiosity gets the content looked at – but, of course, it’s the message inside that will convert or not convert to a sale.

So, although lumpy mail will get you the result you want to open and read, it’s not magic!

What’s inside has to be a strong enough call to action to create, well, action!

It’s like a Facebook paid marketing strategy:

• You run a traffic objective ad but it fails to get you sales.
• The traffic ad worked, it got traffic to your landing page or website, just like you asked it.
• BUT it’s what they landed on that failed to convert them into sales.

Let me give you some examples of small scale lumpy mail campaigns I’ve done, seen done or helped clients in the past work through.  Hopefully, something might inspire you – I’ll list out the type of product that was sent, and the copy that went with it:

1. A small bar of soap – cold calling piece of mail – you don’t know me from a bar of soap
2. Gold painted rock – you might have struck gold (having a bit of fun with a serious topic)
3. Kitchen Timer – the time is now to purchase your new cookware
4. Fridge magnet with cooking conversions on it – about measuring your cake success (for a cake decorating shop)
5. Stress balls in the shape of an aeroplane – to fly high with success in leadership
6. Teabag – rest up and have a cuppa with me as you read xxx
7. A key – the key to success/life/happiness
8. Calculator – according to my calculations
9. Balloons – time to blow your belief in xxx
10. Hammers – there are two ways to solve this problem a hammer or (business line)
11. Red Bull can – bring it on!
12. Donuts – I “Donut” know what I’d do without you

And there are loads and LOADS of ideas on Pinterest – you’ll be sure to be inspired on there.

Now, let’s head back from the creative part of lumpy mail – aka the lump –to the WHY and the GOALS of such a marketing strategy.

Having a goal and knowing what success of a campaign like this looks like is so important.

Obvious success would be sales of whatever you are selling products, booking calls – if that’s the bait and having people just reaching out appreciating the thought that went into it – or community building (they might even share on their socials – so that’s building that awesome nano-level brand awareness).

All that is great, but you DO need a goal and a measure of success.

And like I said the success isn’t the lump – it’s the copy that goes with it that triggers the client into action.

The lumpy bit should relate really well to the written copy that’s with the lump. 

The copy (and entire project) should be on-brand for you – no use sending something that is so out of the box for you or it doesn’t align with your brand or isn’t relatable for your audience.

And example of something that might be a great idea for one business but miss the mark in a business like mine: If I send a golf ball and the copy that goes with it is talking about a business mulligan (which is a second chance to perform an action – and mulligan really only rings bells for golfers) – this would so miss the mark because I would have to over explain it to them before it makes sense.

That type of Lumpy Mail would and messaging would miss the mark for most of my clients.

So an example of something that the item and message would work really well for me: Sending a kitchen timer saying “times up for bad marketing” – the call to action of course being “chat to me and let’s get your marketing sorted!”

Equally important to the lump & the copy in this process is setting the goals – set outcomes for success.

Understand what the end goal is and start with the end in mind (like most marketing activities should be), come up with the lumpy mail concept and the action-driven copy to go with it and test and measure!

Test and measure is very important – as it is in all marketing strategies, but this one especially so as it can be more costly than other activities.

There’s the price of the lump, postage, printing etc – so it’s important to not send to 1000 people without knowing you are going to get the result you want and deserve.

I always recommend you do it in increments – perhaps pick 20 (or 10%) of your VIP/best customers and send it out to them then measure the success.

Then, perhaps 20 (or again 10%) of your most unengaged audience members, measure the success – make sure it wasn’t a false positive with sending it to your VIPs because they already love you!

If successful, consider widening the net. If it’s not as successful as you like, tinker, polish and resend!

I love lumpy mail for all sorts of reasons.  Many I’ve already said, like 99% open rates, brand awareness, personality marketing and of course, standing out from the crowd!

And really, who does snail mail these days?  If you want to stand out in your crowded and noisy marketplace, perhaps it’s time to consider lumpy mail!

The embarrassing truth is, it’s one of the most underutilised marketing strategies out there – because, as I said, no one thinks about snail mail anymore!

It’s almost a classic marketing strategy that’s a little old fashioned compared to modern digital marketing strategies.

So – here is your homework:

• What lumpy mail strategy can you think of for your business (the content)?
• What do you need more customers/clients to do (the goal)?

Start with the end in mind!

I’d love to hear your thoughts on lumpy mail!

Let me know in my Like Minded Business Owners group – I’d love to hear if this concept I’ve talked about made your mindset shift a little when it comes to a different marketing strategy.  I’d love to hear what you thought!

CONTACT JENN:

I LOVE talking marketing strategy – and I offer a FREE 30 minute strategy session! Book a call with me at: https://calendly.com/jenn-smm/discovery

I would love for you to join in my wonderful Facebook community Like Minded Business Owners. This Facebook group is one of my favourite things – you can ask me questions over there, and the community of business owners there is so fantastic in sharing of their knowledge and helping each other out.

Or you can DM me on Instagram or send me an email jenn@jenndonovan.com.au

I wish to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land, the Yorta Yorta People, on which I conduct my business today and pay my respects to their Elders past and present. I extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples reading this blog post today.

About the Author:

Jenn Donovan of Social Media & Marketing Australia.  Jenn’s a coach and mentor from rural NSW and is all about empowering business owners to earn what they’re worth so they can make a bigger difference in the world.  The Founder of Buy From a Bush Business, Co-Founder of Spend With Us – Buy From a Bush Business Marketplace and host of the very popular podcast Small Business Made Simple, Jenn is all about community and humans interacting with humans!  H2H Marketing – human to human marketing. Jenn talks the talk but importantly walks the walk! Jenn’s online community is over 320,000 with her famous Facebook Group currently at almost 351,000 members and still growing every day.  She’s the major of her own little online city!

Get in touch – www.socialmediaandmarketing.com.au

On Instagram – @jenndonovan_

On Facebook – Jenn Donovan

Or on LinkedIn as Jenn Donovan