Why I Use Direct Mail in a World Full of Boring Cold Emails

Whenever I tell people I use direct mail in B2B sales, there are usually three reactions.

Some people think it’s brilliant. Some people think it sounds expensive. Some people look at me like I’ve just suggested faxing a sales proposal to someone called Keith in 1997 (sorry to my best mate who is actually called Keith 😅)

But direct mail has slowly become my favourite cold outreach channel recently!

It doesn’t replace cold calls, LinkedIn or emails. It really, truly doesn’t. If anything, it works best when it’s part of a proper multi-channel campaign.

I like direct mail because it makes the rest of your outreach feel less cold, less forgettable, and a lot less like every other shite generic message sitting in someone’s inbox asking for “15 minutes next week”.

If you’re an agency owner, marketer, consultant or creative business trying to win better clients, that matters.

Your ideal clients are busy, getting emailed constantly and being pitched by agencies, recruiters, software companies, consultants, AI tools, webinar people, lead gen people, and probably some bloke called Darren who has “quickly recorded a 2-minute Loom” that absolutely nobody asked for (this time, sorry to my cousin called Darren)

So if you want to get their attention, you need to do something worth noticing. That’s where direct mail comes in.

The problem with outreach isn’t that cold outreach doesn’t work; it’s that most cold outreach is so generic it could be prescribed as a sleep aid. Proper snoozefest 😴

Everyone is using the same structures. The same subject lines. The same fake-personalised openers. The same “noticed you’re scaling” line. The same “quick question” that is never, in fact, quick. And now with AI, it’s even worse.

Don’t get me wrong, AI can be useful. I use it. I am literally writing this with help from AI, (to give me a framework cos I get blank page syndrome) – which is either very honest or the start of my villain arc.

But when everyone is using the same tools, same templates and same prompts, a lot of outreach starts to sound similar. It might be technically personalised, but it still feels like it’s been assembled in a spreadsheet by Sonny from I Robot.

And therein lies the crux of the matter.

Your prospect might receive hundreds of emails a week. Most of them blur into one big melting pot of “hope you’re well”, “just circling back”, and “would it be worth a conversation?”

Direct mail gives you a chance to break that pattern.

There’s something different about receiving something physical.

It’s not another email to delete, or another LinkedIn message hiding behind the connect button. And it’s deffo not another follow-up sitting there like a sad little digital ghost.
It lands on Elizabeth’s desk. She picks it up. She opens it, and says, “What the hell is this?” (apologies to my wife Elizabeth for her name usage this time 🤣)

Now a novelty item doesn’t magically book a meeting. I wish it did. My job would be a lot easier and I’d spend significantly more time playing saxophone or buying more chihuahua’s.

But it does, however, create curiosity.

It gives someone a reason to pay attention, and a better way into the conversation than yet another email that starts with “I know you’re busy”.

I’ve used things like mini saxophones, fortune cookies, ducks, firefighter figures, keys, Frankenstein figures and other mildly ridiculous objects in outreach campaigns.
This isn’t something I do because I enjoy keeping Royal Mail in business. (Although, apparently, I do.)

I use it because they give the campaign a hook.

When you call someone and say, “I’m the guy who sent you the saxophone,” that is a very different conversation to, “I sent you an email last week.” When you follow up and say, “I just wanted to check the firefighter landed,” that is a lot more memorable than, “Just bumping this to the top of your inbox.”

Stop being boring!

This is probably one of the biggest reasons I like using direct mail.

Follow-up is where a lot of outreach falls very flat. Following up isn’t bad, it’s actually very important. People are busy, priorities shift, emails get buried, someone meant to reply and then got dragged into a three-hour meeting about something that could have been a Slack message.

The problem is that most follow-ups add absolutely nothing. “Just following up.” “Just checking in.” “Just circling back.” “Just bumping this.”

Stop. Please.

If your follow-up only reminds someone that they ignored you once already, you’re not really giving them a reason to reply. You’re just pointing at the awkward silence and hoping they feel bad enough to book a call.

Direct mail changes that because it gives the follow-up context. You’re not just chasing, you’re continuing the idea. If you’ve sent something relevant in the post, the call or email suddenly feels like part of a wider campaign rather than a random interruption from someone desperately trying to hit their meeting target before Friday.

The item starts the story. The follow-up carries it on.

This is where direct mail can go very wrong.

A letter is not a strategy. A saxophone is not a strategy. A fortune cookie is not a strategy. A tiny firefighter figure is not a strategy. They’re hooks. The message is the strategy.
If the item doesn’t connect to the pain point, the audience, the offer or the follow-up, then it’s just novelty. And novelty wears off very quickly.

Good direct mail should make sense, and connect to the thing your prospect actually cares about. If you’re sending a branded key to a travel company, the message might be about unlocking growth. If you’re sending a ball-bearing to an engineer, it can be a play on the “ball-ache” that they face. And if you’re sending a saxophone? Don’t. Cos that’s my fucking thing.

The object gets attention, but the message gives it a job. Without that, you’re basically just sending someone desk clutter with a logo on it. And nobody needs more of that. We’ve all suffered enough at trade shows.

Another reason direct mail works is that it shows you’ve actually thought about the person you’re contacting.

Not in a weird “I saw you went to Marbella in 2018 and your dog is called Susan” kind of way. Please don’t do that. That’s not personalisation, that’s stalking and should get you sent to prison.

I mean proper commercial thought. You’ve understood their job role and industry,, what they care about, what problem you might be able to help with, and how to make that message land in a way they might actually remember.

That matters, especially if you sell marketing, creative, consultancy or agency services. Your outreach is part of your proof. If you say you help brands stand out, but your own sales approach is generic af, there’s a bit of a disconnect there.

Direct mail lets you show some thinking before the sales conversation. It can show humour, relevance, creativity, taste and commercial awareness. You’re not just saying you’re different. You’re doing something different.

I don’t see direct mail as a standalone channel. I see it as the bit that makes the rest of the campaign more memorable.

It works best when you layer it with calls, emails, LinkedIn, profile views, comments, follow-up messages and all the other little touchpoints that help someone recognise you. Direct mail gets attention, but the follow-up turns that attention into a conversation.

That follow-up might be a phone call. It might be an email. It might be a LinkedIn message. It should probably be all three. But there has to be a plan.

Sending something in the post and your dream client calls you first is a great dream. But it very rarely happens.

The best campaigns have a process. The item lands. The call connects it back to the problem. The email references it. The LinkedIn profile gives them a face. The next follow-up adds another useful angle. It works because the combination makes you harder to ignore and easier to remember, not because one channel is a magic wand.

I keep using direct mail because I believe sales should feel more human, more creative and more thoughtful. Not pushy, needy, generic, or “just checking in” until everyone involved loses the will to live.

When it’s done properly, direct mail makes outreach feel less like an interruption and more like an idea. It gives people something to remember and gives you a great conversation starter. In a world where everyone is trying to automate the living shit out of every interaction, doing something physical, thoughtful and slightly different can go a long way.

That’s why I use direct mail in B2B sales. Not because it’s old school. Not because I love seeing Sandra down the post office. (I don’t actually know anyone called Sandra!)

Because it helps start better conversations with the people you actually want to speak to.

And isn’t that the whole point?

I help agencies, marketers, consultants and creative businesses build sales campaigns that are more thoughtful, more creative and a lot less generic.

That can include direct mail, cold email, LinkedIn, calls, follow-up strategy, messaging, and all the bits that turn “we should probably do some outreach” into an actual campaign.

Basically, sales that feel more like you, and less like every other person asking for 15 minutes next week.

If your outreach currently feels a bit copy-paste and dead behind the eyes, drop me a message.

We’ll make it more saaaaxxxxy.