Due to the declining volume of traditional postal mail, it’s easy to witness the few organizations who still have direct mail campaigns. Such was the case over the past month, as I’ve monitored the CenturyLink Business Office 365 drip campaign in the Pacific Northwest. Here are the details.
Every ten days for the past month, I have received an oversized CenturyLink postcard (pictured). The cards are in order. The first card posed the question “What do you call a laptop, tablet or phone with our High-Speed Internet and Microsoft Office 365?” The answer is “Call it our office.” This specific offer is very cost-effective. The CenturyLink High –Speed Internet service for $29.95/month includes up to 12Mbps speed (that means DSL) for 12-months with a 36-month term. The rates, starting in month 13, escalates to “the then current standard rate” which is undefined in the offer. CenturyLink deftly promotes that it also “Includes Microsoft Office 365 at no extra charge,” which is a nice way to present that Office 365 costs are being amortized into the offering price. I applaud this initiative.
The second post card I received (again, about ten days later as part of the drip campaign), had a different offer called Core Connect. This is a much more robust business offer at $75/month for up to 20Mbps speeds for the first year of a 36-month commitment. In month 13, the rate again reverts to “current rates” similar to the offer above. The difference, beyond Internet speed, is that Core Connect includes Data Backup and “Free one-on-one expert consultation” that includes free 24/7/365 technical support.
The third post card I received was a repeat of the first postcard, showing a shift to Office 365 message reinforcement, a completely legitimate strategy.
I’ll end on this. CenturyLink’s direct mail campaign continues to validate Office 365. Justifying a direct mail campaign, which I’m partial to, is a huge spend, so it’s clearly an investment that shows promise. I’ll keep you posted on this campaign moving forward. I have a call with CenturyLink later this week.
