Generating marketing qualified leads (MQLs) can be a tough nut to crack for many MSPs. After all, MQLs are potential customers identified as having a higher likelihood of becoming paying customers based on their expressed interest in your company. As MSPs grow and referrals start to slow, they need to find ways to attract MQLs and begin to employ a wider array of marketing strategies. So, in 2021, OSR Manage used this moment to our advantage and decided to track all the marketing-generated leads utilized by our clients to get the inside scoop on what was most effective. 

Analysis

We compared how many monthly appointments were generated by our clients’ internal digital marketing teams, their outsourced digital marketing services, and direct mail marketing programs. Direct mail marketing by itself failed to generate very many appointments. But if you were hoping this means running digital marketing campaigns is a quick fix, think again.

Out of 427,415 calls made in 2021, supporting BDR telemarketing calls with an internal or outsourced digital marketing campaign barely impacted the calls-to-appointment ratio.

Why? Most MSPs that we spoke to went straight from building their website directly into marketing cadences without a clear plan in place. This common mistake has helped oversaturate the market with bland campaigns that lack defined Unique Selling Points (USP) and cohesive strategies between sales and marketing. 

However, we start to see some positive data when MSPs integrate a direct mail strategy, BDR calls, strong management, and accountability; this combination begins to produce more substantial results. 

So far, in 2022 BDRs by themselves averaged just one appointment for every 337 calls, and each appointment took an average of 6.7 attempts to get. Worse still, we know from experience that this role experiences a high employee turnover rate, with nine months being the average tenure.

But when coupled with a direct mail marketing strategy, the number of calls needed to get an appointment started to drop dramatically, down to 1 appointment per every 164 calls.

Conclusion

Why did this work?

  • The direct mail approach helps business cut through the white noise generated by the millions of generic digital marketing and cold call campaigns.
  • Salespeople experienced a warmer introductory call and felt more comfortable when asking if the prospect got their mail as a starting point.

The data is clear; with everyone rushing headfirst into digital marketing without a clear strategy, direct mail campaigns coupled with BDR sales calls can help companies stand out in an oversaturated market and attract more MQLs.