Cold calling doesn’t work anymore. But some alternatives, like the costs of advertising on LinkedIn, have risen astronomically.
According to research from Metadata, agencies need to spend an average of $126 in media budget through LinkedIn to have one person download or look at their presentation deck to try and win new business. So, one agency decided to skip the middleman with a cash handout.
Branding and marketing agency Heraldist has created “The $126 Brochure,” which gives potential clients $126 in cash. The brochure also has information about Heraldist and what the agency does in a nutshell, along with $126 in cash inside a pocket.
Heraldist’s $126 Brochure includes $126 cash.
The agency selected four recently founded startups from the U.K., Germany, Sweden and Finland to send this to them in the mail, with the following message:
“Here’s 1$26. Just for you. And let me assure you, this is not a prank. Inside this envelope, you will find real money. Intrigued?
Let me explain.
$126 is how much LinkedIn charges my business to promote our brand-building services to you. This is the average cost to get you to download a PDF brochure and maybe open it. That’s why my team and I have decided to send you this money and brochure directly and skip the middleman. Perhaps it’s not ethical to pay you to read a brochure, but neither is it for a third party to take advantage. And at least you can treat yourself to something nice after all this.
Read it or don’t, it’s your choice. But if you do, you will find out what we can do for your brand, and I promise it will be worthwhile. This might even be the highlight of your week. Okay, second only to receiving all this cash. Alright, enough chatter. Enjoy your gift, and scan the QR code if you want to get in touch.”
The $126 Brochure is meant to start a conversation around the increased costs of earning new business for agencies, and whether creative solutions such as this one, which also uses traditional snail mail, are the way forward in order to grab the attention of potential new clients.
Heraldist also created a landing page where companies can get in touch to request The $126 Brochure.
Heraldist is an international agency headquartered in Cluj-Napoca, Transylvania, Romania, with an office in San Francisco.