Key Takeaways

• Ringless voicemail offers businesses another channel for generating e-commerce sales and qualified leads.
• Target the right audience with relevant offers that give customers a specific reason to respond.
• Use compelling, conversational scripts with clear benefits and strong calls to action.
• Coordinate voicemail with email, landing pages, and other marketing channels for consistent messaging.
• Track qualified leads, appointments, closed sales, and acquisition costs to measure incremental results.
• CDMG can help develop targeted offers, persuasive scripts, and measurable ringless voicemail campaigns.

 

Ringless voicemail.

Few marketers know about it.

But it works for generating quick leads and sales.

For your e-commerce or lead-generation campaign, ringless voicemail is worth testing.

It delivers a recorded message directly to a voicemail box without the phone ringing.

Your prospects can hear your message when checking voicemail… but not be bothered by a call.

But getting a message delivered is only the beginning. You still need the right audience. The right offer. The right script. And a scientific way to determine whether you generated additional business.

Here are six things every company should know:

1. Give the prospect or customer a specific reason to buy.

“We have great products. Visit our website.”

That gives your prospect or customer very little reason to act.

A stronger approach connects a relevant offer with a clear benefit and a simple next step.

Ringless voicemail is great for your own database marketing.

Potential tests include:

• A replenishment offer: Help customers reorder a product they regularly use.
• A complementary product: Introduce an accessory that makes their previous purchase more useful.
• A customer preview: Invite customers to see a new product before its general release.
• A return offer: Give inactive customers a worthwhile reason to buy again.

A genuine deadline: Remind customers when an advertised offer actually ends.

Choose one opportunity. Match the message to the customer’s interests and purchase history.

2. For lead generation, sell the next step.

Your voicemail does not have to make the entire sale.

It may need to get a qualified prospect to schedule a consultation. Request an estimate. Attend a demonstration. Or reconnect with your sales team.

For home improvement, that could mean explaining what the prospect will learn during an estimate.

For a higher-ticket consumer product, it could mean inviting the prospect to a demonstration that answers a common buying question.

For an educational program, it could mean offering a conversation about which course fits the prospect’s goals.

The principle is simple:

Make the next step valuable enough to take.

“Call us to learn more” is weak.

Tell your prospect what they will gain from that conversation—and make responding easy.

3. Your script must earn the response.

The technology delivers your voice.

Your script gives the listener a reason to respond.

This is where direct response copy becomes critical. Every sentence should have a job.

Your script should:
●   Identify your business clearly.
●   Lead quickly into a benefit that matters to the listener.
●   Focus on one offer or next step.
●   Support your promise with a specific, reason to believe it.
●   Use short sentences and familiar words.
●   Give one clear call to action.

Write for one person. Use “you” and “your.” Translate product features into what the customer gains.

Then read the script aloud.

Does it sound like a person talking? Can the listener understand the offer the first time? Is the response instruction easy to remember?

A script that reads well on a screen may sound awkward when spoken. Rewrite it until it sounds natural.

At my ad agency, CDMG, this is where our Direct Response Copy Performance Constitution comes into play: shaping the opening, benefits, proof, offer, and call to action into a message designed to produce a measurable response.

4. Coordinate the message with your other marketing.

Test ringless voicemail as part of a planned follow-up sequence.

For example, your e-commerce campaign might introduce an offer by email, reinforce it with a voicemail and send responders to a landing page featuring that same offer.

Your lead-generation campaign might pair requested information with a voicemail explaining the benefit of booking an appointment.

Keep the promise consistent.

If your voicemail offers a product demonstration, make the demonstration easy to schedule. If it promotes a customer special, make that special easy to find.

Each contact should give your prospect a useful reason to take the next step. That’s value-added marketing.

5. Make the channel prove it produces additional business.

A delivery report is not a sales report.

And a callback is not necessarily a qualified lead.

You need to know whether adding ringless voicemail produces enough additional business to justify its cost.

For lead generation, measure qualified leads, booked appointments, appointment attendance, closed sales, and acquisition cost.

That is accountable, scientific marketing: testing a new channel measuring the outcome, and making your next decision from the results.

Action:

Could ringless voicemail help you generate more e-commerce sales or qualified leads?

Call Michael at CDMG at 615-933-4647 or email him at [email protected] to explore a controlled test.

We can help you identify an appropriate audience, develop a compelling offer, and write a script using our Direct Response Copy Performance Constitution.

Let’s find out whether ringless voicemail can earn a place in your marketing mix.

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.

Let CDMG Be Your Partner in Driving Growth
Media Help, Copy Help, Testing Help, D2C, and e-Commerce Help

CDMG is more than an ad agency.

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 128 prestigious awards, in 2024 alone.

Why CDMG? 

• Proven Success:  Over 128 prestigious awards.
• Data-Driven Strategy: We don’t guess. We know what works. Our campaigns are crafted with precision to deliver maximum ROI.
• Expertise Across the Board: From media buying to digital copywriting, testing, and direct-to-consumer strategies—we’ve got it all covered.
• Real Results: We’ve helped launch new products, reposition brands, and turn small businesses into multimillion-dollar success stories.

Let us help with your video needs! 

We produce:
• Pre-roll videos
• Video sales letters (VSLs)
• TV commercials
• Infomercials
• Addressable TV
• Videologs
…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 Oppenheimer at 615-933-4647 or email him at [email protected].

Start transforming your marketing results today with CDMG, Inc.