May 12, 2010
AnswerFirst Targets Heating & Cooling Industry
OK, now it’s an official trend. Virtual receptionist and virtual PBX companies are spending their marketing dollars to target specific niches.
I already wrote about my1voice targeting building consultants and FreedomVoice targeting real estate agents. Now, AnswerFirst Communications, a company that offers telephone answering and messaging services, virtual receptionist and call center solutions, is going after businesses in the heating and cooling industry.
“We are currently offering special promotions for businesses in the heating and cooling industry because the change of season results in a huge upturn in call volume for these businesses,” explains Jim Smith, director of Sales & Marketing at AnswerFirst.
Choosing a Marketing Partner
AnswerFirst chose Modern Inserting & Mailing Service to advertise special promotional rates to businesses in this niche. The virtual receptionist company spreading its direct mail campaign over a nine-week period.
AnswerFirst is targeting companies in Florida, which makes good sense since it’s one of the hottest states in the country. I’m not sure why they aren’t also targeting the likes of Arizona and Texas. Perhaps they are testing the success of this campaign before investing more broadly.
Businesses on the mailing list will get a series of three mailers promoting:
- a $5 per week base rate
- free set-up (a $100 value)
- automatic discounts for high volume
Switching Marketing Gears
Apparently, this is the first time AnswerFirst has taken its marketing into the direct mail realm. The virtual receptionist company has traditionally focused on Internet marketing, including SEO and social networking campaigns. Smith says the company has had a lot of success with those outlets and will continue to use them, but felt direct mail was appropriate to get the word out about the special rates.
“We realize that there are still a lot of businesses that don’t use the Internet to shop for support services,” Smith says, noting that Modern Inserting & Mailing produces high-quality full-color mailers and industry-specific mailing lists that let the company specifically target the heating and cooling industry. “We’ll still direct potential clients to our website for more information but we’re hoping to reach a new audience with this mailer campaign.”
I’ll be really interested to see how this pans out. I think it’s a great idea. With all the focus on social media, and Internet marketing, I think sometimes we forget that old fashioned direct mail can reach folks who might not go online, as Smith mentioned. If this works, prepare for this virtual receptionist company to continue this newfound strategy.
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