11,377 new paid customers… in less than three months.

And a reported return of $5.38 for every $1.00 spent.

But here’s what may surprise you: The lowest cost per sale in the multichannel campaign came from a direct mail Newsalog—even compared with digital.

If you’re looking for more customers at a lower acquisition cost, this campaign offers an important lesson.

Combine the right target audience, direct response copy, and multiple marketing channels. Then test to find what produces buyers.

Let me explain how all this happened.

The product—and the opportunity

A publisher was excited about a new product he was writing about for his investment subscribers. He wanted to know if my team and I could help get his target audience of investors interested.

When I found out it involved new medical technology, I got excited too.
“You bet we can help.”

The client wasn’t selling the medical technology itself. He was telling investors about it in his $74 a year, paid subscription newsletter, Streetlight Confidential, as an investment opportunity he recommended.

I told him we should do a multichannel campaign.

How we built the campaign

The campaign included:
●   Digital advertising. My team and I created an extensive campaign across seven platforms, using native ads, pre-roll ads, and video.
●   Direct mail. We reached investors identified as a “buy-a-like” audience through Transactional Data Modeling, or TDM. The goal: find prospects whose buying behavior resembled that of likely customers.

We created several direct mail formats, including a Newsalog and a Magalog. These newspaper-style and magazine-style promotions used direct response copy to explain the opportunity and highlight the benefits of subscribing:
●   Email. We created three types: an email drip series, an email conversion series, and prospect emails.
●   Meta advertising. Social media ads helped bring the subscription offer to prospective buyers.
●   Paid search. Search engine marketing reached prospects searching for relevant information.
●   A dedicated landing page. We wrote a direct response landing page specifically for this campaign, designed to turn interest into paid subscriptions.
●   Direct mail retargeting. Landing page visitors who could be matched to a mailing address received a follow-up direct mail piece.

The strategy gave prospects multiple opportunities to discover the offer, understand its value, and respond.

The results were outstanding:
●   11,377 new buyers from the combined direct mail and digital campaign in three months.
●   2,057 new buyers from direct mail, included in that total.
●   A return of $5.38 for every $1 spent.
●   310,000 unique users driven to the client’s landing page, supported by digital and direct mail retargeting.
●   An average landing-page visit of 3 minutes and 42 seconds.
●   The Newsalog delivered the lowest cost per sale among the marketing channels used, including digital.

That last result deserves your attention.

If you assume digital will always deliver customers at the lowest cost, you could overlook a valuable source of new buyers.

In this campaign, the Newsalog won that comparison.

Your winning channel may be different. That’s why testing matters.

What could this mean for your business?

You don’t need to guess which channel deserves more of your budget.

Test your audience, offer, copy, and format. Measure the cost of acquiring a paid customer. Then use those results to guide your next marketing investment.

Action:

Could a multichannel campaign help you acquire more customers?

Would you like to see what a Magalog or Newsalog really looks like?

Or get a second opinion on your audience, copy, and media strategy?

Call Michael at 615-933-4647 or email him at [email protected]. Ask to see examples and discuss where your campaign may be missing opportunities to generate more paid customers.

FAQs:
Q: What is multichannel marketing?
A: Multichannel marketing uses more than one channel to reach prospective customers. This campaign combined digital advertising, direct mail, email, social media, paid search, and retargeting.

Q: Can direct mail help an e-commerce business acquire customers?
A: Yes. In this campaign, direct mail generated 2,057 new buyers. The Newsalog also delivered the lowest cost per sale among the channels used.

Q: What are Newsalogs and Magalogs?
A: A Newsalog is a newspaper-style promotional piece. A Magalog uses a magazine-style format. Both provide room to explain an offer, present benefits and supporting evidence, answer objections, and ask for the sale.

Q: What is Transactional Data Modeling?
A: Transactional Data Modeling uses purchase information to help identify prospects whose buying patterns resemble those of likely customers. It helps guide audience selection for a campaign.

Q: What is direct mail retargeting?
A: Direct mail retargeting follows up with eligible website visitors through postal mail when a suitable mailing-address match is available. It does not mean every visitor can be identified or mailed.

Q: Which results should a subscription marketer track?
A: Track paid customers, cost per acquisition, revenue, and profitability.

Also follow renewals, cancellations, refunds, and customer lifetime value to understand whether those customers remain valuable over time.

About Craig Huey

Craig Huey is one of America’s leading direct response marketing and advertising experts. He is the founder and president of Creative Direct Marketing Group (CDMG), a direct response advertising and marketing agency specializing in direct mail, digital, and multichannel campaigns. CDMG has worked with hundreds of companies, helping them generate leads, sales, and measurable results through targeted, data-driven marketing. Craig is also the publisher of the Direct Marketing Update, a newsletter read by marketing professionals, business owners, and executives who want to stay ahead of the latest trends in direct response marketing.

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Let us be your second opinion.

CDMG’s award-winning team, run by marketing veterans Craig and Caleb Huey, is dedicated to improving your advertising, marketing, branding, and bottom line with a proven approach that maximizes response rates and ROI.

With expertise in media, data, digital, and creative strategy, we’ve earned over 120 prestigious awards, in 2024 alone.

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• Proven Success:  Over 128 prestigious awards.
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…and much more!

Our team has launched new products… and helped reposition companies to a higher level. Our strategies and tactics have generated leads, and built powerhouse e-commerce programs that have helped turn small businesses into multimillion dollar success stories and grown large companies.

Our formula is data driven, accountable advertising that supercharges your growth. Every campaign is crafted precisely, focusing on what matters most to drive your success.

Let’s discuss your marketing challenges and give you a second opinion.

Contact Michael at 615-933-4647 or email him at [email protected].

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