If you run a web design agency, digital marketing company, IT business, software company or another business selling digital services, your first instinct when looking for new customers is probably to use digital marketing.
Google Ads. LinkedIn. Email marketing. Social media. SEO.
They all have their place.
But there is another highly targeted way for digital service companies to find new customers – sending physical letters to newly registered UK businesses.
Just because you sell digital services doesn’t mean your marketing has to be digital too.
In fact, combining new business mailing lists with direct mail can put your company in front of a potential customer at exactly the point when they are most likely to need your services.
A newly registered company may need a website, branding, business email, hosting, IT support, SEO, social media, accounting software, payment systems and a whole range of other business services.
The challenge is reaching that business owner at the right time.
That’s where new company data and targeted direct mail can work particularly well.
Why newly registered businesses are valuable prospects
Timing is one of the biggest challenges with new business development.
You could have the perfect service, but if the company you approach isn’t currently looking for it, your marketing may generate little response.
New businesses are different.
When somebody starts a company, there is usually a long list of things they suddenly need to organise.
This might include:
- A new website
- Domain names
- Business email
- Website hosting
- Branding and graphic design
- SEO
- Google Business Profile setup
- Social media
- IT support
- CRM systems
- Telephone systems
- Cyber security
- Online booking systems
- Ecommerce websites
- Payment processing
That creates an extremely useful marketing window for companies providing digital and business services.
Rather than trying to identify established businesses that might be considering a new website, you can target newly registered companies at a point when many of them are actively setting up their business infrastructure.
For a website designer, digital marketing agency, software provider or IT company, that can make new business data a highly relevant source of sales leads.
The campaign: combining new business data with direct mail
A good example would be a web design or digital agency looking to generate a regular flow of new prospects.
Instead of relying entirely on Google Ads, SEO and online lead generation, the agency can obtain a regularly updated new business mailing list containing recently established UK companies.
The data can then be filtered to suit the company’s ideal customer.
Target by location
A company might want to contact new businesses within:
- A local town or city
- Kent
- London
- The South East
- A specific county
- A defined geographical area
- The whole of the UK
This makes new business mailing data useful for both local service providers and companies operating nationally.
Target by business type
Certain sectors may be more attractive than others.
For example, a website company may want to prioritise businesses where having a strong online presence is particularly important.
Similarly, an IT company may wish to focus on particular types of professional or commercial organisations.
Refine the audience
Depending on the available data, a campaign can also be refined to remove companies, locations or business types that are less likely to require the service.
This is important.
The objective isn’t simply to send the largest possible number of letters.
The objective is to send a relevant message to the right newly established businesses.
Once the target audience has been selected, a personalised letter can then be produced and mailed directly to each new company.
Why send letters when you’re selling a digital service?
At first, it might sound contradictory.
Why would a company selling websites, software, SEO or digital marketing use postal marketing to generate leads?
Because the marketing channel doesn’t need to be the same as the service being sold.
The objective is simply to get noticed.
New business owners can quickly find themselves receiving large numbers of emails.
Some are automatically generated.
Some go into spam.
Some are deleted without being opened.
Others compete against dozens or hundreds of messages already sitting in the inbox.
A physical letter creates a completely different interaction.
It arrives through the post.
It has to be handled.
The envelope is physically picked up.
And if the message inside is relevant, the recipient has an opportunity to engage with your company without competing with another 50 messages on a screen.
That physical interaction is one of the reasons direct mail can work particularly well for digital agencies and online service providers.
It gives you another route into the business.
Direct mail can help digital companies stand out
There is also another important point.
Most digital service companies market themselves digitally.
Website designers advertise online.
SEO companies use search marketing.
Software providers send emails.
Digital agencies promote themselves on LinkedIn.
That means the same businesses are often fighting for attention in the same places.
A physical letter can immediately differentiate your approach.
Instead of being the tenth website agency appearing in someone’s inbox that week, you could be the company whose letter is sitting on their desk.
For businesses selling relatively high-value services such as websites, SEO, IT support, software or digital marketing retainers, that can be particularly valuable.
You don’t necessarily need hundreds of new customers.
A relatively small number of successful conversions can make a targeted mailing campaign commercially worthwhile.
Keep the new business letter simple
A direct mail campaign to newly registered companies doesn’t need to be complicated.
In many cases, simplicity is better.
For a web design agency, the message could begin with something along the lines of:
Congratulations on your new business.
Then briefly explain how the company can help.
For example:
We’ve noticed your business has recently been established. If you’re currently arranging your website, business email or online marketing, we’d be happy to help.
The letter can then introduce the company, explain the service and provide an easy next step.
That might include:
- Visiting your website
- Scanning a QR code
- Viewing your portfolio
- Booking a free consultation
- Requesting a quote
- Calling your company
- Claiming a new-business offer
The objective isn’t necessarily to sell the entire service from the letter.
The objective is to start a conversation with a new business at the right time.
Use the letter to drive people back online
Direct mail and digital marketing shouldn’t be viewed as competing channels.
They can work together extremely well.
A new business owner might receive your letter and then search for your company on Google.
They might visit your website.
Look at your portfolio.
Read your reviews.
Check your LinkedIn profile.
Visit your social media pages.
Download a brochure.
Or return several weeks later when they’re ready to make a decision.
The physical mailing creates the initial awareness.
Your digital presence then helps convert that interest into an enquiry.
This is why companies selling digital services shouldn’t automatically dismiss physical mail.
Direct mail can create the first touchpoint while your website and digital marketing do the conversion work.
Use QR codes and dedicated landing pages to connect print with digital
There are also simple ways to make the campaign more measurable.
For example, the letter could include a QR code linking to a dedicated landing page for newly established businesses.
A website agency might create a page offering:
Website packages for new businesses
An IT company might offer:
New business IT setup packages
A digital agency could promote:
Marketing packages for newly launched companies
This allows the physical letter to act as the introduction while the website provides more detailed information.
Dedicated URLs, QR codes, telephone numbers and enquiry forms can also help businesses understand how enquiries are being generated.
Turning new business mailing lists into an ongoing campaign
One of the biggest advantages of targeting newly registered businesses is that the audience continually refreshes.
New companies are being established all the time.
That means a digital agency doesn’t need to treat this as a one-off campaign.
Instead, new business mailing lists can become an ongoing source of prospects.
For example:
Month 1: Identify newly established businesses matching your targeting criteria and send an introductory letter.
Month 2: Mail the next batch of newly registered companies.
Month 3: Repeat the campaign with the latest new business data.
The company can then monitor which messages, offers and calls to action generate the strongest results.
Different versions of the letter can be tested.
Different landing pages can be tested.
Different geographical areas can be tested.
Different industry sectors can be tested.
Over time, direct mail becomes another consistent part of the company’s sales and marketing strategy.
Who can use new business mailing data?
The concept isn’t limited to website companies.
Newly established businesses can be relevant prospects for a huge range of service providers.
For example:
- Web designers
- Digital marketing agencies
- SEO companies
- Graphic designers
- Branding agencies
- IT support companies
- Cyber security providers
- Software companies
- CRM providers
- Telecoms companies
- Payment providers
- Accountants
- Insurance companies
- Business consultants
- Recruitment companies
- Commercial printers
- Office suppliers
- Business finance providers
Essentially, if your service is something a company is likely to need when it is first getting established, new company data can provide an ongoing stream of potential prospects.
New business leads don’t have to come from Google Ads
Many digital businesses automatically think about increasing their Google Ads budget when they want more leads.
But paid search can become expensive, particularly when several companies are competing for the same keywords.
The same applies to LinkedIn advertising and other online channels.
Direct mail offers another approach.
Instead of waiting for a potential customer to search for your service, you can identify a business that may need what you offer and introduce yourself proactively.
That’s a very different marketing strategy.
And importantly, it doesn’t mean replacing your digital marketing.
It means adding another channel.
Case study concept: a web design agency targeting new businesses
Imagine a web design agency looking for more customers.
Rather than marketing to every company in its area, it chooses to focus specifically on businesses that have recently been established.
Each month, it receives a fresh list of suitable new businesses.
Those businesses receive a professionally produced letter introducing the agency and offering help with:
- Website design
- Hosting
- Business email
- SEO
- Branding
- Ongoing website support
The letter directs recipients to a dedicated page on the agency’s website where they can view examples of previous projects and request a quote.
The campaign is then repeated each month using the latest newly registered business data.
This creates something extremely useful for the agency:
A repeatable new-business prospecting process.
Rather than asking:
“Where are our next customers going to come from?”
The business already has a fresh audience available to market to every month.
Selectabase can provide the new business data and mailing
At Selectabase, we can help with both sides of the campaign.
We provide new business mailing lists that can help companies identify recently established UK businesses.
We can also handle the complete physical mailing.
That means instead of sourcing the data from one company, finding a printer, arranging envelopes, mail merging the letters and organising postage separately, the campaign can all be handled through one supplier.
Selectabase can help with:
- New UK business data
- Newly registered company mailing lists
- Targeted B2B mailing lists
- Data filtering
- Letter printing
- Personalisation
- Mail merge
- Envelopes
- Mailing fulfilment
- Bulk print and post
- Regular monthly mailing campaigns
Whether you want to send a few hundred highly targeted letters or run a much larger national campaign, the principle is exactly the same.
Find the right businesses.
Reach them at the right time.
Give them a relevant reason to contact you.
Your customers might be digital – your marketing doesn’t have to be
There is sometimes an assumption that companies selling modern digital services should only use modern digital advertising.
But customers don’t care how you found them.
They care whether you can solve their problem.
If you’re a website designer, SEO agency, IT company, software provider or digital marketing business, a well-timed letter could put your company in front of a new business owner before many of your competitors even know that business exists.
And once they receive the letter?
That’s where your website, portfolio, reviews and digital presence can do what they do best.
Digital service companies don’t have to choose between digital and traditional marketing.
Sometimes the best strategy is to use both.
Looking for a new business mailing list in the UK?
If you want to target newly registered UK businesses, Selectabase can provide the data and manage the complete bulk print and post campaign for you.
Tell us:
- The types of businesses you want to reach
- The geographical area you want to target
- The services you’re promoting
- Approximately how many businesses you’d like to contact
We can then help you identify the audience, provide the new business data and get your campaign into the post.
Call Selectabase on 01304 383838 to discuss a new business mailing campaign.
