For many eCommerce startups, marketing is both a blessing and a curse. It isn’t just about Facebook ads and Google Ads anymore. The cluttered digital landscape means that it’s harder to make an impression on consumers online. When you’re planning your marketing strategy for your eCommerce business, direct mail might not be the first tactic that comes to mind.
Just because your customers are shopping online, it doesn’t mean that all your marketing efforts should be there too. Michael McCarthy, Co-founder of Inkit, a document automation and workflow platform, talks about how direct mail can help you get new customers and retain existing ones.
What inspired you to start Inkit? Tell us the story.
Before I met my Co-founder, Abram, I was working as a Senior Marketing Manager at a Fortune 500 company. As someone who was constantly working towards launching a new marketing campaign, I got really frustrated with how inefficient and resource-intensive the process was. Our team had a lot of success with direct mail campaigns in the past, but pushing the campaign from design mode to launch was a laborious process.
There were times when it took weeks or months. What I really wanted – and couldn’t find – was a tool that would enable me to send direct mail as quickly & easily as email. Something that I could integrate and control through my existing digital marketing stack.
How does Inkit’s direct mail automation assist eCommerce players in engaging and retaining more customers?
Direct mail is a personalized touch with a long track record of boosting retention and win-back rates. We simply improved the process. With Inkit, marketers can now send triggered direct mail based on certain actions or events to their customers within seconds. And it arrives in customers’ mailboxes within a few days.
How can eCommerce businesses use direct mail marketing for customer reactivation?
Reactivation is our biggest use case. Many times, customers stop responding to an email sequence or order once and forget to come back. Using Inkit, eCommerce companies can set up triggers or actions to send an individualized direct mail piece to lapsed users.
Could you share 5 tips on how new eCommerce businesses can craft a bulletproof direct mail marketing campaign?
- Direct mail retention and reactivation campaigns are your best friend.
Using triggered webhooks and Inkit’s workflow builder, marketers can automate direct mail pieces to be sent at key lifecycle points, such as 30 days inactive. A major meal subscription company has a 30-day win-back direct mail trigger in place and has seen 9-12% redemption rates on customers who received the postcard.
- Automate, automate, automate.
Direct mail used to be a batch-and-blast, manual, time-consuming effort. Inkit’s direct mail automation platform comes complete with the tools you need to automate direct mail. Whether it’s webhooks, integrations, or Inkit’s own direct mail API, automating this process is easy.
- A strong offer.
A simple promo code or coupon goes a long way and incentivizes the recipient to take action. Make sure your offer stands out, or if you don’t have an offer, use a short subdomain to drive traffic to.
- Loyalty programs.
Using Inkit, programmatically set up spend or order triggers to reward your best customers and keep them coming back for more.
- Go omnichannel.
Using Inkit’s integrations with HubSpot, Marketo, Iterable, Sailthru, and more, direct mail can be used as a channel alongside email, SMS, in-app, and more. If a customer unsubscribes or isn’t responding to an email sequence, direct mail is a great channel to get them re-engaged.
Is AI a game-changer for the eCommerce industry? How can early-stage eCommerce businesses use AI to optimize marketing?
Artificial intelligence is rapidly evolving and continues to play an increasingly important role in ecommerce marketing. In the coming years, yes, it will play a very important role. AI and aggregation of data will ensure the right marketing is shown at the optimal time for a particular use. It will also be influential in determining the timing and type of channel an individual consumer is most responsive to.
How does AI help online stores impart a superior customer experience and drive better overall business efficiency?
Intercom is a leader in this space. Their operator bot is able to walk prospects or customers through a sequence of questions and route them to the proper support articles or customer representative. This saves businesses time and resources by better supporting and servicing their customers.
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