Tailored direct mail opens $2M in private and public sectors

Telecommunications equipment company, Cradlepoint, is confronted with the unique challenge of marketing to both private companies and public agencies. 

It’s double the opportunity for the Idaho-based company. However, launching B2B direct mail campaigns to both sectors is like walking a tightrope of regulations. With Sendoso’s help, Cradlepoint is maneuvering between private and public sector prospecting. 

The automated gifting platform can adapt and scale account-based marketing (ABM) and demand generation. Sendoso is also empowering Cradlepoint’s growing sales team. 

As a result, one direct mail campaign opened $2.36M in opportunities and booked 50 demo meetings.

Traditionally known for IT hardware, Cradlepoint has expanded beyond telecom products into subscription-based management software for IT networks. The company offers digital security and a reliable network so Cradlepoint’s clients range from healthcare to retail to local governments.

“We have a huge partner and channel ecosystem,” said Emily Border, director of demand generation and account-based marketing. “They all have to have a network that they’re connected to so they can get that data in real time.”

It’s a deep pool of potential prospects across multiple sectors. So, Cradlepoint has a lot of options for ABM strategies. The company has crafted a series of successful direct mail plays that produce results and influence sales.

But the corporate gifts sent by Cradlepoint aren’t uniform across the board.

“It’s a little bit different because [public agencies] have gifting regulations,” said Border about conducting outreach and discovery with those organizations.

Cradlepoint adheres to public sector gifting rules by keeping costs down per person and enabling industry experts on Border’s team. Unable to blast out direct mail plays to hundreds of clients, she needed a responsive tool to tailor campaigns according to the sector.

“We felt Sendoso would be a better choice for us because of the ability to scale programs and [create] trigger events,” said Border. “We wanted something high value that we could layer on.”

Border has a favorite direct mail play that works. Sendoso supports those plays with customization for each campaign, depending on whether the targets are public or private.

It starts with a warm email or outreach directing accounts to a Cradlepoint landing page. Interactions, like an email opt-in or demo request, prompt the Sendoso Address Confirmation feature. The feature saves money and builds contacts by asking clients where they want their gift sent before it ships from our warehouses.

The feature solved a central pain point during the pandemic when clients worked from home. One direct mail campaign, for example, aimed at targeting 400 contacts. Sendoso helped Cradlepoint confirm 385 addresses. It also generated $40,000 in revenue from closed deals.

“We’ve created these plays that we’ve launched ourselves using address confirmation,” said Border. “It supports our ABM and [Demand Generation] campaigns that we’ve been building.”

Next, Border can build out tiers of corporate gifts, fulfill them, and ship them entirely through Sendoso’s warehouse inventory.

The ability to tier with Sendoso is crucial because an emergency services prospect, which is typically public, can’t be sent the same gift as someone in manufacturing due to corporate gifting laws.

“For the public sector accounts on the list, it was only a $22 per person cost.”

Border said that amount kept public sector gifts within the regulations and value cap.

Sendoso also integrates with Salesforce to log and track each stage of Cradlepoint’s campaigns.

The goal of Cradlepoint’s direct mail strategy is to book meetings. Marketers follow up with gifts to warm prospects. With Sendoso, Border has seen an improvement in meeting conversions.

“We really see an advantage of enabling our SDR teams in their outreach to schedule meetings, but also with our sales team,” she said. “Whether SDRs are using direct mail for cold calls and trying to get the door open, or they’re trying to build a relationship with an open opportunity, or they’re trying to even push an opportunity over the finish line.”

Cradlepoint’s Work from Anywhere campaign is a prime example of account-based marketing done right. The goal was to create awareness about new Work for Anywhere solutions and a Cradlepoint product offering. So the team used direct mail to target high-quality accounts and incentivize booking demos.

The results totalled $530,000 in influenced pipeline and $40,000 in revenue.

Again, Cradlepoint used the three-tier approach targeting the public sector and enterprise companies with direct mail.

• Tier 3  – Received a “meeting in progress” door hanger directing prospects to the public sector website.
• Tier 2 – Received a book safe with a branded card directing them to the enterprise website.
• Tier 1 – Received noise-cancelling headphones with a branded card directing them to the enterprise website.

Costs were kept low and the play was repeated.

Proof that budget-friendly sends can pay off, another marketing campaign targeting emergency management services saw an 89% send rate. The gift was a Cradlepoint branded coffee mug. Sendoso offers a full online catalog of branded merchandise for companies to pair the perfect bit of swag with their messaging.

Border says those branded gifts may be small, but Sendoso has helped boost their ground-level marketing in a big way.

“We’re trying to build our inventory and create some of these touches that the teams can use in their efforts,” she said.

Another campaign aimed at public transportation agencies nailed its goal by booking meetings and influencing $2.36M.

Now Border is exploring Sendoso beyond being a marketing solution.

“I love Sendoso for so many different reasons,” she added. “The opportunities are just endless.”

Cradlepoint now uses Sendoso in multiple ways:

• Sending eGifts for webinar registration
• Encouraging customer successes
• Client onboarding
• Experience events for ice breakers
• Human resources team building

“I keep sharing it across the different teams saying, ‘You gotta get on with using this.’ It’s just so great,” Border said.

No matter the challenge, Cradlepoint is confident in its ability to personalize the message and move accounts down the funnel with Sendoso.

“It’s huge in relationship building,” added Border. “There’s just so many opportunities to use it.”