[EO Silicon Valley] Leveraging Direct Mail To Supercharge Your Business With Mike Gunderson

Mike Gunderson is the President of Gundir, an award-winning direct marketing agency specializing in traditional offline channels, particularly direct mail. Since 2003, Gundir has been helping businesses drive new leads and close more sales. In addition to Gundir, Mike is the Founder and CEO of PostReminder, a direct response platform that merges traditional direct mail with digital engagement through enhanced QR technology. This innovation allows customers to set reminders for upcoming sales and events, enhancing consumer engagement and driving action.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

[4:14] Mike Gunderson explains how Gundir helps businesses leverage direct mail marketing
[6:52] Why direct mail stands out in a digital-first marketing world
[15:05] Common mistakes companies make with direct mail marketing and how to avoid them
[22:44] The power of stealth versus promotional direct mail for optimizing response rates
[29:04] Why targeting and data modeling are critical for direct mail success
[37:58] Key elements of a strong direct mail offer, including urgency and exclusivity
[46:18] How PostReminder helps businesses enhance engagement through QR-based reminders
[50:35] Unique use cases for PostReminder in trade shows, subscriptions, and retail promotions
[52:20] Mike’s biggest mentors and how EO helped scale his business

In this episode…

Direct mail may seem like a thing of the past, but in today’s digital world, it’s proving to be one of the most effective ways to cut through the noise and capture attention. While email inboxes overflow and social media ads get ignored, direct mail offers a tangible, high-impact way to engage potential customers. But how do you make it work for your business?

According to Mike Gunderson, a leading expert in direct response marketing, direct mail remains one of the most powerful tools for businesses looking to generate leads and drive conversions. He highlights how a strategic mix of creative design, data-driven targeting, and compelling offers can significantly outperform digital ads. By leveraging personalization, innovative formats, and even sensory elements, companies can create a memorable experience that boosts response rates. With careful testing and optimization, direct mail can become a scalable, high-ROI marketing channel.

In this episode of the Rising Entrepreneurs Podcast, host Dr. Jeremy Weisz sits down with Mike Gunderson, President of Gundir, to discuss how businesses can use direct mail to supercharge their marketing. Mike shares insights on common mistakes companies make with direct mail, the role of data in campaign success, and the power of testing different formats to optimize results. He also reveals how his innovative platform, PostReminder, is helping businesses merge direct mail with digital engagement.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Quotable Moments

“The funny thing, though, is I just loved it. I loved the analytics. I like being able to have accountability.”
“The biggest mistake that I see almost always is that everybody wants to go big first.”
“With direct mail, you’re interacting with the piece. You’re seeing it, you’re smelling it, you’re feeling it.”
“The biggest tech companies in the world are sending direct mail.”
“We bring the brand to the prospects, not the other way around.”

Action Steps

Test different direct mail formats before scaling: Starting with smaller, cost-effective mail pieces helps determine what resonates with your audience before committing to larger, more expensive campaigns.
Leverage data to refine your mailing list: Using response modeling and demographic data ensures you’re targeting high-intent prospects, improving conversion rates, and reducing wasted spend.
Incorporate sensory elements in direct mail: Adding textures, scents, or interactive components enhances engagement and makes your mail piece memorable in a crowded mailbox.
Create urgency with time-sensitive offers: Including expiration dates and exclusive codes drives immediate action, increasing response rates and ensuring accurate attribution.
Integrate digital tools like PostReminder: Combining direct mail with digital follow-ups ensures prospects engage with your offer at the right time, boosting conversions.

Sponsor for this episode…

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Episode Transcript:

Intro: 00:02

Welcome to the Rising Entrepreneurs Podcast, where we feature top founders and entrepreneurs and their journey. Now let’s get started with the show.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 00:13

Dr. Jeremy Weisz here, Founder of InspiredInsider.com, where I talk with inspirational entrepreneurs and leaders. Today is no different. I have Mike Gunderson. You can check him out at gundir.com and postreminder.com.

Mike, before I formally introduce you, I always like to point out other episodes of the podcast people should check out, since this is part of the top Direct Response Series. I love direct response Mike, and there’s no better way through the mail, in my opinion, to get people’s attention. And so some of the interviews in that category, I had the infomercial king. People have seen Ron Popeil on the podcast that you know who I’m talking about, right?

Okay. He’s a legend, right?

Mike Gunderson: 01:00

Oh, yeah.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 01:01

Yeah. He’s amazing. But wait. There’s more. I think he came up with that phrase.

I had Carline Anglade-Cole. Life as a 50-Year-Old White Male. She wrote a book called that. Now she’s not white. Or is she male?

So that’s what makes it interesting. But she wrote copy for the that industry I think like prostate copy like other specific copy. So that was she’s she’s hilarious. That’s a good one. Paul Bigham talked about crafting compelling sales copy.

Jason, even though it wasn’t really about direct response. It is. I mean, he was talking about mastering the art of webinars, and he’s a master at webinars even, I think helped zoom taught zoom some stuff about webinars to to give people an idea. And I had Bob Bly on the podcast who we you know, both Mike and I mutually like Bob Bly’s stuff. There’s there’s so many more I can, you know, check it out.

We’ll hear some of Mike’s recommendations to. This episode is brought to you by Rise25. At Rise25, we help people give to and connect to their dream relationships and partnerships. We do that in two ways. One, we help companies launch and run a podcast or an easy button for a company to do that.

We do all the strategy, accountability and execution. So kind of like we call ourselves the magic elves that run in the background and make it look easy for the hosts. They can create amazing relationships and content and most importantly, run their business. Number two, we’re an easy button for a company’s corporate gifting program for us. You know, staying top of mind for clients, partners, prospects.

We want to make it simple and seamless and affordable. So we do that, you know, so people can keep in touch and, you know, build greater relationships. You know, for me, Mike, I’m always looking at ways how I can give to my best relationships. And I found no better way over the past Decade on both of those things, having my podcast send them cool things. I like to send food personally, just as a touch point so you can check everything out at rise25.com

I’m excited to introduce Mike Gunderson. He’s been at the helm of Gundir since 2003, so he’s really been at the forefront of direct marketing industry for for many years. He even earned the title of the direct, you know, top direct mail agency in the United States by clutch in 2024. And Gundir, they help supercharge your leads funnel with direct mail.

You know, they have a really obviously decades of experience of direct mail expertise. We will talk about post reminder, which is a technology which is the craze that people are talking about. So we’ll talk about that. Mike.

Mike Gunderson: 03:48

That’s right.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 03:49

And he’s also been a part of EO Entrepreneurs’ Organization Silicon Valley is past president. and dedicates his time to Inclusive Sports Foundation. So Mike, thanks for joining me.

Mike Gunderson: 04:01

Yeah, thanks so much. Great intro I appreciate it.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 04:03

Let’s yeah, let’s start off with Gundir and what you do. I’m going to pull up your site because there is a video piece to this. And and give us a little snapshot.

Mike Gunderson: 04:14

Sure. Yeah. So what Gundir does is we, you know, essentially do direct mail marketing for some of the largest companies in the world. We also focus on well funded startups and fintechs to really bring direct mail to market. Oftentimes, you know, a lot of these companies are driving their sales funnel with digital marketing.

And so this is a way for us to actually pre-qualify individuals, get them a really great lead list, and get them to go out and start to build that business via the direct mail channel. As you mentioned, we’ve been doing it for, gosh, over 23 years. I kind of cut my teeth in direct mail working for a large credit card manufacturer called Providian Financial. Manufacturing credit card provider called Providian Financial. And if somebody was to tell me that I was going to be designing direct mail coming out of art school, I would never have thought that’s what I’d be doing.

The funny thing is, though, is I just loved it. I loved the analytics. I like being able to have accountability. I like being able to change a color, a logo, a photo, and actually being able to see the impact that it has on the overall marketing piece. And so with that, I just fell in love with the channel.

And so really from 2003 on, just been continuing to grow this company. We’re up over 30 people now and we are soup to nuts. We do everything from from strategy to targeting to creative to production to analytics. At the end of the day, you know, really being able to deliver back to our clients a successful direct mail program.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 05:51

I geek out on this stuff. And I know sometimes you have to convince people they need to do direct mail. And for me, it’s just like it seems obvious, right? Because you get something interesting in the mail. And especially now everything’s digital, right?

We’re getting emails and and I, you know, something in your hand. So I love to this really gets the creative juices flowing for me Mike. So I want to selfishly look at some of the stuff you’ve done so we can see people can get ideas like what can you actually do? Not in front of the computer, it’s landing in someone’s inbox and the responses. So, you know, and look at some of the pieces that you send because you have some unique things that you’re sending and how you send them.

So I don’t know which one. We’re on the portfolio page here. Which one would be interesting to pull up first? That maybe was something cool that you’re like, this is this is cool that we created this and it got a good response.

Mike Gunderson: 06:52

Yeah, well, triple A is a good one if you want to click on that one. There’s a couple of really great examples in there. Yeah. Triple A came to us you know really early on we were working with them trying to develop new creative. And they basically said, hey, we need a shot in the arm.

We need something to start to increase our response and conversion rates. And so they brought us in as a creative partner to basically come in, ideate and try to figure out ways to not only increase performance through design, copy and offer, but also is there a way that we can actually make some of these packages more efficient? Can we actually reduce some of the package components in our mail in order to drive up the ROI on that direct mail? And so that’s what we ended up doing for them. But we also got to do some really creative fun, some really creative packages for them as well as like this piece right here.

You know, this is basically a large window that has a very big window. And on that window is this little pop out car that you can pop out and you can kind of build this car and really interact with this direct mail piece. How Cool about this is you want to get inside of the of the envelope just to kind of pop it out, like it’s almost impossible to throw it away without going in and popping out this car. But what we did that was extra special on this is we actually added a new leather smell to the actual it’s a it’s a very interesting put onto the direct mail piece. And so when they’re interacting with this car, they’re getting a new car smell along with it.

And it’s just it was a very cool way to engage. Of course they’re then going to read the letter. They’re going to read the call to action. And at the end of the day, respond to the offer.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 08:21

That seems like a tough thing to do.

Mike Gunderson: 08:25

But that the I.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 08:26

Feel like you should like have a Cologne product or something with that. Like that should’ve been bottled. Maybe a deodorant, I don’t know.

Mike Gunderson: 08:34

I was just on a webinar with a company called Scent Sphere, and what they do is they do this, they they have these really great varnishes that you can add right to your direct mail pieces. So if you want something that smells like flowers for Mother’s Day. Or if you want something that smells like apple pie for for a Thanksgiving Day promotion, you can do that with them. And they have just a really cool process where they’ll actually send you samples so you can kind of go through all the.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 09:01

Incredible.

Mike Gunderson: 09:01

Scents. Yeah, it’s amazing. And that’s the thing, right? With direct mail, you can’t get that with digital. There’s no smell o vision with with digital, but with direct.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 09:09

That’s a good thing.

Mike Gunderson: 09:10

Yeah. Sometimes. Right. But at the end of the day you’re interacting with the piece. You’re seeing it your your you’re smelling it, you’re feeling it.

Right. And then even sometimes in the case of like a video mailer or a mailer that has like a sound chip in it, you can actually hear the direct mail. So it’s really come a long way. And all the different aspects of it and how you get these people’s attention in the mailbox.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 09:33

It’s really just engaging the different senses of the body, and that’s really cool. And I love how it’s like it’s very tactile, right? Because they’re popping it out. They’re there playing with it. It’s interactive because most of us like, okay, and listen, I’m a triple A member, I get it, I’m like, okay, but this is very unique.

I want to get to some other examples, but what are some of the crazy things when you think of over the years that you whatever the response is, but crazy things that you sent or maybe received?

Mike Gunderson: 10:08

Yeah. Well going from a because so, you know, we are a direct mail agency. So oftentimes printers want to get our attention right. They want to try to figure out how do how do I get their attention so we can get some of their business. And I had one guy send me I mean, they’d send me all kinds of crazy stuff.

But I remember getting a full hockey stick in the mail. So it was literally he mailed the whole hockey stick in the mail with a label. It came as a hockey stick. And I, you know, I had some clever copy attached to it, but it was impossible not to get my attention and get a laugh out of it. I just got something from American Express.

They just sent me a little tiny monitor that’s basically an add on monitor from HP. Basically thanking me for my business, for being a platinum customer and literally sent me this dimensional box. You pull it out, it’s got a second monitor and basically said, this is just a gift. Like, it’s just thanks for being a customer for over ten years. And so doing things like that, you had mentioned gifting.

I mean it’s so powerful because really okay, here’s an email. Maybe even you’re giving somebody say like a gift card through Amazon. Okay. Those are all really great. And yes, they’ll thank you.

And they’re like, well that’s really special. But when you’re sending things like, like specialized or personalized cookies in the mail or like right now we’re sending, you know, you can go on our website and request this book right now. We you know, it’s getting that physical aspect, you know, right to that, that consumer and getting them to engage with your product or your brand in a different way. You just you just sometimes can’t get that through on an email or a social media ad.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: 11:46

Totally. Yeah. The hockey stick that you’re going to open it. I mean, whatever you do with it, but you’re you are going to be like, what is this thing? And there was another one which I thought was interesting, Swift Financial.

Yeah. Can you talk about that one?

Mike Gunderson: 12:04

Yeah. So Swift Financial we had built kind of took it. We took over their direct mail program. Now what they do is they offer business financing to small, small, medium sized businesses. And we developed a whole bunch of control packages for them, all of which that were working really well.

Well, about 2 to 3 years into it, they were acquired by PayPal. And PayPal basically wanted to have a business division. And so it was kind of a it was kind of a, you know, a shop in a box or a business in a box. And so they were able to acquire them and be able to get all that great targeting, all that great direct mail. And one of the things that was interesting is that a lot of our direct mail that we did for Swift Financial was stealth, what we call stealth in nature, which means it’s like a blind envelope.

So the idea is that it’s I don’t know if you can see this, but it’s like something that’s nondescript doesn’t really have a brand name. It’s not promotional. This, by the way, works really, really well, you know. So it’s this kind of stuff. No brand name, nothing.

Get the person inside the envelope, get them to read the offer, hopefully get them to respond with really great creative, really great copy on the inside. But we got to get them in in the envelope. But because it’s B2B, not only do we have to get them in the envelope, but we got to get the right person in the envelope. We can have an assistant or a secretary toss it out because they think it’s junk mail. Right.

So so they would they relied on a lot of stealth direct mail and until PayPal acquired them. So as they were going into transition, we started working with PayPal and the creative. And what happened was we started doing A and B tests. And so one test would be Swift Capital by PayPal. One one test would be PayPal only, right?

And then one test would be blind. Like nothing. And what we found through that testing is that leveraging that PayPal name really increased the open rates, you know. So when this is going to businesses, small businesses and medium sized businesses, that word PayPal and there was nothing else. No promotional envelope.

No no promotional copy on the envelope but just that logo. Increase the open rates, increase response rates and increase conversion rates. So leveraging a really great brand is a really good way to to get those folks inside the mail. And if you don’t have a well-known brand leveraging a more stealth approach, something with more blind in nature to really get them inside that envelope, deliver that value proposition super quickly, and getting them to respond might be the better approach.

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[EO Silicon Valley] Leveraging Direct Mail To Supercharge Your Business With Mike Gunderson

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

In this episode…

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Quotable Moments

Action Steps

Sponsor for this episode…

Episode Transcript:

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