A simple yet effective marketing technique that can have an extremely high success rate with cold or stalled prospects is the Executive Door Opener (EDO). EDOs lend a refreshingly personal touch to lead generation and nurturing efforts, and help a business stand out from the crowd!
How do Executive Door Openers Work?
An EDO is best used for those senior level prospects you have been trying to meet with little success. Busy decision makers have lots of companies vying for their attention, and a little creativity can go a long way in opening the door to these hard to reach folks.
These marketing campaigns generally take the form of a packaged mailer which includes a teaser gift combined with a letter of introduction. The letter clearly outlines a call to action, which is usually an offer to meet face-to-face with a sales rep. Include your phone number and landing page URL in the letter for prospects to register. In exchange for meeting up, they're offered another (higher-priced) final gift as thanks for their valuable time. This technique is a great way to gain exposure to new leads, and to establish an authentic face-to-face relationship between prospects and sales reps.
*Quick Tip: the teaser gift is generally intrinsically linked to the final gift.
Stand Out from the Crowd
Particularly useful in over-saturated markets with fierce competition, Executive Door Openers can be a fresh way for a business to stand out from the crowd. EDOs have a profound impact on first-time recipients who pay more attention to an intriguing package and a cool gift, than they do to commonplace everyday direct mail. When a prospect receives a package at their office with their name on it, containing an interesting gift and a useful promotion, the Executive Door Opener has grasped their full attention!
*Quick Tip: To drive positive results, campaigns should focus on strong creative, sleek packaging and an enticing teaser gift.
Personalization
Advertising is often impersonal and even worse, irrelevant for viewers. Since Executive Door Openers are usually sent to an exclusive list of a small number of people (generally in the range of 10-50 prospects), they can be easily personalized. The language used, imagery chosen, promotion offered. and teaser gift can be designed to truly resonate with recipients’ values and lifestyle.
When you are designing your campaign, think about your audience and what they will identify with. For example, if you are a technology VAR (Value Added Reseller), you might want to connect with IT decision makers who are looking for experts to coach them through their transition to cloud services. The latest golf driver on the market might appeal to this group. A smart tie-in might be to send out a golf head cover as a teaser gift. No matter whom your audience consists of, tailoring your message and your offer is critical.
*Quick Tip: At GamePlan, we like to personalize the registration landing pages to include tailored information for each of our prospects.
To really personalize your EDO, logistical information such as the sales reps’ contact details can be custom-printed on the introduction letter. You can even include an actual sales rep signature to give the letter a friendly touch. While we're on the topic of personalization, it's important to keep in mind that certain groups of contacts should not be offered EDO's. Government officials, for example, are forbidden by law to accept gifts from third parties.
GamePlan Marketing is a Full-Service Creative & Digital Agency located in the Oakville, Greater Toronto Area in Canada. We Specialize in Digital Marketing for B2B Technology Companies.
Interested in finding out if EDOs are a fit for your Organization?
