Over the past six months or so, I’ve been experimenting (sometimes with my translation partner and sometimes on my own) with cold-marketing to potential direct clients. Because a great deal of our work is in a very targeted subject area (international development), it’s not hard to find potential clients but it’s often hard to know how to contact them. Here are some thoughts on whether you’re better off making the initial contact by e-mail or on paper; I’m not even going to touch cold-calling because I am the worst phone salesperson ever. Ever. Really. But if you’re interested in low-stress cold calling, The Freelancery has some excellent scripts that you can work from.
The great thing about e-mail marketing is that:
- It’s fast. If you’re reading a business news article and see a tidbit that shouts “potential client” to you, you can fire off the e-mail right there.
- It’s less formal. You can get away with “Just wanted to tell you that I loved staying at your inn this summer; if you’re ever inclined to translate your website/marketing brochure/menu into English, I’d love to talk,” whereas it would seem a little weird (at least to me) to print out a paper letter with that sentence and pop it in the mail.
- The recipient can easily forward the message. I’d say that at least half the time I cold-contact, I don’t hit the right person on the first try. Especially with larger entities, it can be hard to tell who hires freelancers for the kind of work we do. But your prospect can quickly forward your message to the right person.
- It’s cheap. If you’re looking at a paper marketing campaign to a few hundred prospects, the paper, envelopes, business cards, stamps, etc. add up over time.
But then again…
- Unsolicited marketing e-mails always feel a little spammy. The person might just delete the message, or might receive so much e-mail that they just don’t have time to respond. In some countries, sending unsolicited marketing e-mails may be technically illegal, and it’s never fun to break the law to find new clients.
- If you don’t personalize your e-mails in some way, the recipients may assume that they were auto-generated, or that you’re just sending the same blanket e-mail out to thousands of potential clients. And if you do personalize them, it takes time.
So what about good old paper? On the plus side:
- In an era when most people’s postal mail is 95% ads and bills, a lot of people respond really favorably to something fun or personal in the mail. I know I do when I’m on the receiving end; a client recently sent me a “thank you” postcard for a large rush project, and I pinned it on my bulletin board to inspire me when I sit down to translate.
- It shows a classy touch. A marketing letter with a little handwritten note at the end and a business card enclosed is kind of the anti-spam.
- The recipient has something tangible to keep. If the person needs your services months or years later, it’s unlikely that they’ll be able to locate an e-mail, but if they keep a file of business cards in their desk, you’re probably still in there.
- You can write more. Not many people want to read a 400-word e-mail, but you can get away with a 400-word paper letter because it’s still one page.
- Nice postcards and brochures appeal to people who are visual. You really don’t want to send a massive PDF to someone you don’t know, but you can send them a cool postcard and they’ll love it.
But then again…
- Paper marketing campaigns are time-consuming. In the time it takes to personalize a paper letter, print it, sign it, stuff an envelope with it and your business card, put the stamp on and mail it, you could probably send out five quick e-mails.
- Paper marketing campaigns can get expensive, at least compared to e-mail. Sending out marketing letters doesn’t cost much, but if you get into fancy postcards or brochures, you could be spending as much as a dollar per potential client just for the printing, not to mention graphic design.
- Paper marketing campaigns also require more research; it’s pretty easy to find an e-mail contact on someone’s website, but sometimes you have to search for the right mailing address.
I don’t really have a verdict on this one. My translation partner and I did a modest (maybe 150 potential clients) direct client marketing campaign in the winter and spring and we did get some business from it, but it took a lot of time to put together. Now I’m experimenting with shorter, punchier marketing e-mails to see how that works. Any thoughts?
Hi Corinne:
“Unsolicited marketing e-mails always feel a little spammy.”
Unsolicited e-mail marketing does not just feel a little spammy, it is the definition of spam. But sometime it works, which is why so many people are using it.
I have been struggling with this problem for some time. If I could figure out how to dress up spam so that it looks like it is something else, I would probably use it.
But since I have to delete so much of it from my mail box, I hate spammers with a vengeance, including spam from translators who keep sending me their resumes. Every day I have to delete so many e-mails from translators who sound so utterly incompetent that it makes me feel really bad for my chosen profession.
I have to assume that people who would be receiving spam from me would hate me too and that they would question my competence if they see that I have to debase myself in this manner.
So instead I send post cards to every inquiry to my website if I don’t get the job from that inquiry.
It does not seem to be working but I think it’s a little be classier than spam.
I think of it this way: I’ll have a much better relationship with a client who has a similar style of communication. Communicating is fundamentally what this business is about, right? And personally, I can’t stand spam. I delete it all, unless something really catches my eye (or, more likely, my feelings). So, I seem to get better responses from email inquiries when they are narrowly tailored to the potential client/collaborator, as in your hotel example. I need to feel that we already have a major connecting point to be able to write for that effectively. For all others, I think paper is the way to go (with phone or email follow-ups, of course).
Just feel like saying “Thank you for sharing so many valuable thoughts and contemplations” …..it really helps to fully understand the business and progress…..
Hi Corrine,
We received every year many hundreds of applications from freelance translators and translation companies. Marketing materials that come by mail are not effective IMO. On the other hand, we file all email applications and some of them are contacted when relevant. I would recommend targeted email marketing as the preferred method.
Our company has a online registration page for freelancers. We have several thousand translators in our database and we often contact translators in our system when new jobs come in. The link to the online registration page is http://www.gts-translation.com/company/translator-job-opportunities/
Hi Corinne,
thanks for your insights.
I don’t like spam, neither on the receiving end nor on the sending, but I find paper mail too time-consuming, so I do use emails, but tailoring them carefully to the potential client
Thanks for an interesting discussion. I have the same dilemma and feel that neither method works very well, unless you have met the person before, or the person know of you. I think that the personal marketing is the most effective, i.e. going to fairs and expositions or other meetings that the target client frequents. This can of course be easier said than done, especially if the target market is abroad.
Paper seems to be the lesser used option but there is nothing quite like receiving a nice bit of post, particularly when everything seems to be done electronically nowadays. Thanks for raising an interesting question.
Frankly, I have never thought about e-mail marketing before. I am very actively promoting my web site at the moment with some inquiries, but e-mail sounds very interesting. Thank you for the idea! How do you find the potential clients that you’re targeting?
I firmly believe email marketing to be a waste of time. If anything, if you see an article that shouts “potential client” to you, as you say, just use the phone and call up the company or the person. There’s so much spam these days people barely care about these kind of emails. Also, it can get your business idea on a blacklist on people’s email servers which isn’t very practical.
Thanks for touching on a very interesting topic. I have done mailing before and found it innefective, but then so was e-mailing and I was left wondering whether that is my database of prospect clients that may be slightly off. Most of my clients to date have come to me through recommmendations. One thing that has worked for me was to join forums where people discuss topics related to the subject areas I want to work with. For example, one of my specializations is medical translations and I know that there is a medical event taking place soon in London. I think that they may need translators, so I join discussions about that event and contribute to the topics there. This is a long shot, but people are curious and organizers usually monitor these discussions, so eventually, when they do need translations, they’ll think of me as a “familiar face”.
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