Voicemail campaigns vs direct mail for dealership events

A mailer reaches every household on the list but takes days to print and deliver, costs the same whether or not it's read, and can't be called back from. A voicemail campaign goes out the day you send it, is billed only when delivered, and every callback is counted. Most stores do best with both.

For a private sale, a tent event or a service push, a voicemail campaign is faster and easier to measure than a mailer: it reaches the list the day you send it, you pay only for voicemails that are delivered, and every callback is matched to the campaign. A mailer still has a place. It reaches people with no phone number on file and sits on the kitchen counter for a week. Many stores send both: the mailer to announce the event, and a voicemail in a voice the customer knows in the days before it.

How they compare

	A voicemail campaign	A mailer
Time to reach the list	The day it is sent, inside calling hours	Days to weeks: design, print and postal delivery
What it carries	A voice the customer knows, saying their name and their vehicle	A printed offer, the same for every household or merged by name
What you pay for	Each delivered voicemail; a miss returns its credit	Every piece printed and mailed, read or not
How people respond	Call back the number the voicemail showed, or reply to the follow-up text	Call the store, visit, or use a code or a web address
How you measure it	Every callback and text reply, counted against the campaign	Only the responses someone tracks: a code, a call tracking number, or asking at the desk
Changing it	Write a new script and send again the next day	Reprint
The rules	The CRTC's rules for recorded messages: express consent for a message that sells	Canada's anti-spam law covers electronic messages, not paper mail; privacy law still applies to the list

What a voicemail campaign returned at a real private sale

A Ford store in Western Canada ran a three-day private sale in October 2026 with ten voicemail campaigns, each a message for each customer:

1,157 voicemails delivered of 1,407 sent.
190 people called the store back, on 214 calls.
282 new leads went into the store's CRM.

Those are one store's results, read from the campaigns' records, not a promise. See What callback rate should a voicemail campaign get?.

When a mailer still makes sense

No phone number, or no consent to recorded messages. Mail needs an address only. A voicemail that sells needs each person's express consent first. See How to get consent for voicemail and text campaigns in Canada.
A piece people keep. A trade-in appraisal, a printed voucher, a calendar of service specials.
Conquest households. Mail can go to an area; a voicemail campaign goes only to your own customers who agreed to hear from you.

Using both

Mail first, timed to land a week or so before the event.
The voicemail in the days before the event, in a voice they know: "Hi [First name], you should have our invitation for this weekend's private sale…"
The follow-up text a few minutes after, for people who would rather reply than call.
Count both. The voicemail's callbacks are counted for you. Give the mailer its own code or number, so you can see what each brought in.

Common questions

Is a voicemail campaign cheaper than direct mail?

It depends on the mail house and the list, so compare per response, not per piece. A voicemail campaign at The Call Guy is billed only on delivered voicemails, between $0.55 and $1.10 each by bundle, with personalization and the follow-up text included. A mailer is paid for whether or not it is read.

Which brings more people into a private sale?

Only your own numbers can say. Send both to the same list and track each: the voicemail's callbacks are counted against the campaign, and a mailer needs its own code or number. One Ford store's three-day private sale sent by voicemail alone brought 190 callbacks and 282 new leads.

Can I send a voicemail to customers who got my mailer?

Yes, if they gave your business express consent to recorded messages for a message that sells. Getting a mailer is not consent. Many stores ask for it on the bill of sale and the service check-in.

How quickly can a voicemail campaign go out?

Once the list and the script are in and the campaign is reviewed, it is delivered inside The Call Guy's calling hours, which sit inside the CRTC's: 9 AM to 9 PM on weekdays and 10 AM to 6 PM on weekends. There is nothing to print or post.

Last updated November 6, 2026

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