Content promotion with a 90%+ open rate

Helloooo content connoisseurs.

It’s Perrin from Content Bites.

Alright, this one’s a little crazy. This idea is very out-of-the-box, but if you use it, I can guarantee you’ll get eyeballs on your content. You gotta be smart, because it’s not easy. But it’s by far the best way to get your content in front of a VIP audience.

• Appetizers: Links from CMI, SEM Rush, Neil Patel & more…

• Main Course: The content promotion tactic guaranteed to get VIPs to read it

Let’s dig in.

Appetizers: Content about content 🤯

• Why Most Video Content Fails To Reach Its Full Potential (link)

• 9 Best Content Management Systems for SEO (link)

• How Grimes Is Shaping The Future of AI Generated Content (YouTube link)

• I Tried Instagram Automation (So You Don’t Have To): An Experiment (link)

• 7 Influencer Marketing Campaigns to Inspire Your Next Launch (link)

Main Course: The content promotion tactic guaranteed to get VIPs to read it

I’m not even sure how long this newsletter’s gonna be because this tactic is so dead simple. 

And even though it’s dead simple, basically no one is using it, and I have no idea why. 

But before we get into it, let me ask you something…

If I forced you on pain of death to tell me what the single MOST difficult part of content marketing was, what would you say?

I know, I know… there are lots of tough parts. 

But I bet a lot of us here would say that the most difficult part of content marketing is getting people to actually read/watch/consume the content. 

Right?

I mean, even if we can generate impressions – even if we can get a few eyeballs on our content – getting people to REALLY consider what we’re saying is tough.

And that’s the problem I’d like to help solve with today’s tactic. 

Because imagine this…

Imagine you’re trying to get your content – a case study, maybe – in front of a CEO at a Fortune 1,000 company. 

Doing that pretty much anyway is hard. 

But what if we could get our content hand-delivered, literally in-person to that person directly from their executive assistant. Almost as if it was a vitally important message. 

How much more powerful would that be?

Well, dear friends, there IS a way to do that. 

And don’t laugh because I’m serious.

It’s FedEx envelopes. 

Breaking down the FedEx envelope tactic. 

Credit where credit is due: I stole and appropriated this tactic from a really great SaaS marketing named TK Kader (specifically, from his YouTube channel, which I recommend). 

He does NOT use this for marketing. He uses it for direct sales. 

I’ve stolen it & repurposed it for content marketing, and please believe me when I say: it’s a very, very strong tactic. 

As a spoiler, and to keep my B2C homies reading: it can work for both B2B content marketing campaigns and B2C content marketing campaigns (more on that below).

Here are the basics. 

The idea is to literally put your content into a physical FedEx envelope and send it via snail mail to the highest-impact people you can find. 

Why does this work so well?

First: It works so well because it’s VERY difficult for someone NOT to open a FedEx envelope with their name on it. 

You basically never get a FedEx envelope with your name on it unless it’s from someone you know. 

Second: It’s also just big as hell.

A FedEx envelope is like twice the size of any normal envelope. It’s stiff and bulky.

So even in a literal pile of other mail, people will reach for a FedEx envelope specifically, open it, and read it.

And third: in a business setting, it’s not only never going to get tossed out by gatekeepers, but gatekeepers will usually hand-deliver FedEx envelopes to whomever they’re addressed to. 

In other words, they look important, feel important, and almost always get opened. 

Let me put it this way, if you sent out 100 FedEx envelopes, it would not be out of the ordinary for all 100 of them to be opened and read. 

Guys… that is insane.

There are content promotion tactics that can get us more reach.

There are content promotion tactics that can generate faster sales.

But there is NO content promotion tactic that can get us into the hands of more VIP people more efficiently. 

This is it.   

…but, like, what the hell kind of content do I put in there?

Here’s what I think works best: a hand-written note + a case study + a big heavy pen. 

A pen? 

Yes, a pen.

Because what’s better than a regular FedEx envelope? A chunky FedEx envelope. A FedEx envelope with a bulge in it is absolutely irresistible. 

It doesn’t have to be a pen, specifically, of course. Any kind of bulky merch will do. But Something cool and friendly. 

Then, a case study of some sort. 

Pound-for-pound, case studies are probably the most impactful type of content on the planet. Period. 

So some kind of case study that really shows the before and after is among the best things to send. Nothing promotional. No brochures. Case studies usually work best.

Runners up to case studies would be:

• 1:1 analyses of their business

• Research papers

• Plans built for them

But usually, case studies are best. 

Then, a handwritten note. 

This is your introduction. Explain why you’re sending a case study. Explain that you think you could do exactly the same thing for them, and you wanted to show them. Write it by hand. Be genuine. It’s mail, after all. 

And of course, put your name, phone number & email address on everything – and then ask them to contact you. 

Of course, this is mostly for a B2B setting.

Can you even use this if you’re running content marketing at B2C companies? Yes. 

Here’s how.

How to tweak this for B2C companies. 

Obviously, if we’re a B2C company, we’re not going to be sending FedEx envelopes out to prospective customers 1:1 (unless we have a super expensive product). 

But we can still use this anytime we want to get in touch with a VIP person. 

So, that usually means that we’d use this to:

• Form content partnerships

• Recruit affiliates & influencers

In other words, the FedEx envelope strategy probably won’t help you get customers directly, but it can definitely help you build any other channel that relies on key relationships. 

For content marketers, that’s content partners and affiliates.

What do you put in there?

Same thing:  case studies. 

We just change the type of case study. Instead of a B2B case study that shows the before-and-after result of using the product, we include a case study showing the before-and-after result of other affiliates and content partners. 

Do your affiliates and content partners make money? Do they grow their own audiences?

Slap all that together in a case study and put it in a big ol’ FedEx envelope to send to the VIP partners you want to recruit. 

For B2C companies, it’s not about generating leads with content directly, it’s about creating leverage for the rest of your marketing system. 

How to put the FedEx envelope strategy in play RIGHT NOW: 

• Make a list of VIP targets – usually somewhere around 100-1,000 (as many hand-written notes as you can stand to write); use a sales database like UpLead or Apollo to find addresses

• Build and print a good case study

• Order a bunch of heavy pens with your name and logo on them

• Pack everything into FedEx envelopes

• Send them off

• Follow up with emails, connection requests, and DMs

• Measure & repeat

That’s the issue. If you missed last week’s issue, you can read it here.

Go forth & conquer.

—Perrin