How to Reach C-Level Executives

A recent Forbes.com and Gartner Group survey of C-Level executives concluded that this coveted audience has stopped reading offline media and can be found primarily online.

I first came across this survey from Jon Greer who was understandably excited by the conclusion of the research. However, there's one major flaw in the research that should be pointed out. It's a problem known as sample bias.

Sample bias occurs when the sample used in a research survey does not accurately represent the overall population being studied. In this case, the Forbes.com sample consisted of visitors to the Forbes.com website and a panel of web users who've agreed to fill out online surveys.

The sampling methodology consisted of surveying online users about their media usage habits. Naturally, web users will say they rely on the web a lot. This does not necessarily mean that the C-level executives who rarely use the web and were excluded from the sample would agree with them. This doesn't mean C-level executives can't be reached online. Some of them can. However, I only know of one way that a marketer can use to consistently reach all C-level executives in an industry.

This magic bullet, if you want to call it that, isn't cheap, but it definitely gets your message delivered. Whether they respond is entirely up to how you targeted the message and whether it's something they're interested in.

So what's this C-level magic bullet?

It's direct mail, and specifically it's FedEx.

When was the last time you got a FedEx and threw it out unopened? When was the last time your assistant received a FedEx and threw it out unopened?

Considering that sending a single piece of paper via FedEx can cost up to $50, it's by no means the cheapest way to reach C-level executives. But it works. They all have a mailing address, and they all open FedEx envelopes and packages. I've used FedEx for direct mail numerous times, and whatever I send always gets noticed, seen and considered. Sometimes I miss my mark in targeting and the recipient just isn't interested. But the point is that the message got considered.

Try that with any other media.

If you rely strictly on cold calls, you're going to get voicemail or the gatekeeper the majority of the time.

If you send regular US Postal Service direct mail, most of that ends up in the trash.

If you spam an executive, it's most likely ending up in the spam filter unseen.

If you run banner ads on forbes.com, 99% of the C-level executives won't even notice the ad. It will just hit their blind spots.

So what's my underlying point to this post? I have two.

1) Survey research must be scrutinized before you accept its conclusions. My time in Stanford University's Economics department and time at McKinsey & Company taught me this.

2) In today's information overloaded world, how you package your marketing message matters a lot. Send something wrapped in a FedEx envelope and it gets considered. Send the exact same message via a spam email and it gets ignored. How a message is packaged and delivered matters. Credible and trusted delivery formats do make a difference.