How to plan your direct mail strategy
SWAK Cosmetics built a direct mail strategy for their Valentine's Day product launch that you'll love. Here's how they did it.
The use cases that drive revenue
SWAK didn't just add direct mail and hope for the best. Just like any digital strategy, a strong direct mail strategy integrates seamlessly with your existing flow infrastructure as the base, and any incremental campaigns are the tools to drive more growth. Your goal is to build your automation backbone, then use your campaigns to nudge your customers toward conversion. Here are the four flows your direct mail program should have.
Select each tab to explore the use case and examples from PostPilot’s example library.
Welcome flow
New subscribers are your hottest leads, and you should (hopefully) already have a welcome series active in Klaviyo. Now consider adding a postcard to arrive one to two weeks after signup with your strongest offer on it. Exclude anyone who has already converted from the flow before that card fires, and capture more of your highest intent leads.
Using PostPilot? MailMatch means you don't need a physical address on file. An email address is enough to get a postcard out the door.
Abandoned cart
The abandoned cart: the angel on your customer’s shoulder saying, “buy me.” Not every abandoned cart is worth a postcard, but for a higher cart value and for ‘fence sitters’ who haven’t converted in the expected conversion window, this can turn a nonchalant browser into a VIP.
For those customers with a higher cart value or those who reach the final leg of your existing abandoned cart automation, fire a postcard alongside email and SMS as a final physical touchpoint for anyone who still hasn't bought. Ideal time to send is around days 7 to 10. Feature the associated product or category on the card for an extra personal touch, and use urgency like "your cart is still waiting" or a limited time offer.
Using PostPilot? CartMatch is built specifically for this. And if a contact doesn't have a shipping address on file, MailMatch has them covered too.
Post-purchase
Make your grandparents proud and send that thank you letter. Recency is the strongest predictor of repeat purchase, and showing your appreciation is the best way to foster it. A handwritten note sent one to three days after a first order is a great touch. Lead with genuine appreciation, or a strong offer for lower average order value (AOV) purchases.
Winback
A good winback flow says "I miss you, and I mean it." Include a postcard within your winback email and text sequence for customers who haven't purchased in 60 to 90 days and watch your retention numbers grow.
Lead with appreciation, not panic. A "here's what's new" or a tailored offer based on past purchases will show them why they loved you in the first place.
Campaigns
Seasonal campaigns are little nudges that will drive incremental growth. Here is how you can take advantage. Select each section to explore the campaign type.
Seasonal promotions
A well-timed direct mail send can do for your biggest moments what SWAK did for Valentine's Day. Postcards are virtually guaranteed to be seen, and act as a memorable, unexpected experience for your recipients. Layer direct mail into Black Friday/Cyber Monday (BFCM), holiday, and major promotional moments to reach customers your emails are missing and leave an impact.
Tips:
- Plan ahead. Postcards need lead time. For BFCM, many brands start preparing in August. ‘Priming’ your audience with a card a few months ahead of the BFCM push is a great way to build anticipation, and expectation to check the mailbox.
- Go big on design for seasonal sends. Bold, eye-catching cards get pinned to fridges and stuck on counters. Don’t be afraid to get creative, and lean on Klaviyo’s expert partners for creative support. If you work with PostPilot, their design team does the work for you.
- Segment thoughtfully. For example, target only customers who clicked a teaser email but haven't purchased yet. Achievable via direct mail event data within Klaviyo.
Prospect acquisition
Every brand eventually reaches a limit on their existing list. Prospect acquisition is how you grow past it. Instead of retargeting people who already know you, this is about reaching new customers who look like your best buyers.
Build a lookalike audience using your existing Klaviyo customer data, suppress your current customers, and mail to cold prospects most likely to convert. Set a budget, approve the creative, and track results by revenue lift and new customer acquisition cost.
Tips:
- Send to at least 20,000 recipients for statistically meaningful results.
- Suppress your existing Klaviyo customers so you're only spending on new prospects.
- Results improve over time. The more you send, the sharper the targeting gets.
- Budget by cadence: set daily, weekly, or monthly send volumes based on what the brand can support.
Using PostPilot? AcquisitionAI handles the audience build and execution. It pulls from a dataset of 200+ million U.S. consumers and mails to the people most likely to convert on a given day. Think of it as Meta lookalike audiences for direct mail.