Glossary

Frequently used words in Paperplanes

Abandoned Basket Campaigns

One of the valuable services we offer to our clients pertains to a common customer behaviour observed on their websites: the act of browsing, and adding products to their virtual shopping carts but ultimately abandoning the cart without completing the purchase.

In response to this, we employ a direct mail abandoned cart campaign as a strategic solution. This campaign is designed to re-engage these potential customers who have shown interest in certain products but didn’t follow through with their transactions.

Through this campaign, we craft personalised reminders and incentives, which are then sent via physical direct mail to these customers. These reminders highlight the specific items left behind in their online carts and often include exclusive offers, discounts, or other incentives to encourage them to return to the website and complete their intended purchases.

This campaign has proven to be successful in motivating these customers to revisit their abandoned carts, rekindle their interest, and ultimately complete the desired transactions. This approach not only adds value to our client’s businesses by boosting sales but also enhances customer retention and satisfaction through personalised and targeted marketing efforts. There is a 14.2% average conversion rate after an abandoned basket campaign.

A/B testing

We harness the power of A/B testing, a systematic method to evaluate the effectiveness of our campaigns. This involves creating multiple iterations (A and B) of crucial marketing elements, such as content and design, and distributing them to separate audience segments. By rigorously analysing performance metrics like open rates and conversion rates, we can pinpoint the version that delivers superior results. 

A/B testing provides us with the capability to make well-informed decisions based on data, enabling us to optimise our marketing strategies for increased engagement and conversion rates, thereby magnifying the influence of our direct mail campaigns.

Automated Direct Mail

Our approach to direct mail marketing breaks free from traditional norms. We leverage Automated, Data-Driven Direct Mail, a technology-driven method that automates target audience selection and the creation of personalised direct mail campaigns. By harnessing data and algorithms, we pinpoint the most suitable recipients for each campaign, generating custom mailers effortlessly. This targeted and creative approach ensures that mail is delivered to individuals who are highly likely to respond and take action. Unlike many traditional and digital marketing channels that struggle to offer personalisation at scale, our precision-crafted, tailor-made messages empower businesses to grow and significantly enhance customer engagement.

Banner Blindness

Banner blindness refers to the subconscious tendency of internet users to overlook or ignore online display ads and banners due to the overwhelming volume of advertising content they encounter while browsing the web. This phenomenon influenced our approach to adopt a different approach, via direct mail which captures users’ attention effectively. 

Direct mail stands out as a tangible and personalised marketing channel. Recipients are more likely to engage with physical mail, as it doesn’t get lost in the digital noise and offers a sensory experience. In addition, direct mail allows for creative and highly targeted content, making it more relevant and appealing to recipients. It circumvents the challenges posed by digital ad blockers and ad fatigue, providing a refreshing and effective way to capture the audience’s attention and deliver a memorable brand message.

Brand Loyalty

It is no surprise that direct mail marketing cultivates brand loyalty. Our tailored messaging resonates with recipients, creating a unique opportunity for deeper customer connection through direct mail. This makes customers feel valued and appreciated, whether through exclusive offers, thank-you notes, or simply addressing them by name. The simple addition of including the customer’s full name in a letter increases response rates by a staggering 135% (Compu-Mail, 2022).  Such gestures reinforce the brand’s commitment, building trust and encouraging repeat business. Additionally, the tangible nature of direct mail provides a sensory experience that digital communication can’t replicate, making the brand more memorable and meaningful to customers.

Browse but no sale

We provide a specialised campaign designed for situations when a customer shows interest in making a purchase by exploring various sections of your website. Even if they don’t finalise a transaction, we capture valuable data from their browsing behaviour. This information then prompts programmatic, personalised communications, initiating the delivery of custom-tailored direct mail to the customer’s address. These meticulously designed mail pieces act as compelling cues, motivating the recipient to return to the online store or, if applicable, consider an in-store visit to complete their purchase.

Cold Mailing

Cold mailing entails sending unsolicited mail to potential customers with no prior relationship. At Paperplanes, we refrain from using this approach as it doesn’t align with our emphasis on personalisation and building trust or genuine connections. Instead, we employ a targeted strategy, engaging with customers who already have a history with our client’s brand.

Conversions

Our personalised campaigns, shaped by customer behaviour and preferences, can help you win back customers. We deliver tailored offers and incentives directly to their mailboxes, re-engaging inactive customers, reigniting their connection with your brand, and driving conversions. With the impact of direct mail, we cut through the digital noise, enhancing customer loyalty.

A personalised customer experience significantly boosts conversion and engagement rates, and that’s where Paperplanes excels. Our approach tailors messaging, visuals, and offers based on customer website interactions, creating a direct and impactful connection with each recipient. Did you know that 82% of all customers are more likely to buy from a company that offers a personalised experience?

Customers Stop Buying

A campaign type we offer entails programmatically triggering a piece of personalised direct mail in situations where a customer has purchased from your brand in the past but hasn’t purchased anything for a while. This encourages the customer to return to your website to make future purchases. 

The direct mail is personalised using historical transactional data to motivate the customer to revisit your online store and explore new products, thereby fostering a long-term and stronger relationship with your brand.

Data-driven

We believe in the power of data to maximise the impact of our mailings and drive higher levels of engagement and conversion. 

To elaborate, we start by analysing a wealth of customer data, including purchase history and demographics. This meticulous analysis enables us to segment our audience with pinpoint precision. Each direct mail piece is then crafted to deliver a tailored message that aligns with the recipient’s preferences and needs, ensuring that it resonates effectively. The advantages of data-driven direct mail extend beyond personalisation. It empowers us to measure campaign performance in real time. We closely monitor response rates, conversion rates, and ROI, allowing us to make immediate adjustments and optimisations for ongoing success. The lessons we learn from past campaigns inform our choices regarding content, design, and messaging, ensuring that our future mailings are even more effective.

Deep-Dives

At Paperplanes, we’re committed to ongoing enhancement to optimise your marketing campaigns for maximum success. Through monthly deep dives with our clients, we harness the power of data-driven direct mail to continually refine your strategy, ensuring it evolves for even greater effectiveness. Our regular analytical deep dives inform constant creative optimisation. We are unwavering in our pursuit of results and the implementation of strategies that enhance our ever-active marketing automation campaign through the mailbox. On average, our clients experience conversion and sales metrics that outperform digital alternatives by a remarkable 5 to 10 times.

Emotional Impact

We know that direct mail offers a multitude of unique advantages that set it apart from other marketing channels. One of its remarkable strengths lies in its ability to engage the senses, with the sense of touch, in particular, triggering powerful emotional responses and significantly higher rates of engagement and recall compared to digital mediums. The tangible nature of mail, combined with personalised messages, imparts a sense of appreciation and value to the recipient while respecting their inbox space. Recent research conducted by the Royal Mail, which delves into the neuroscience of measuring mail’s effectiveness, suggests that individuals are likely to dedicate 65% of their full attention to mail, as opposed to just 35% for email marketing. Furthermore, an impressive 70% of respondents reported that receiving mail enhanced their impression of the company.

Engagement

Engagement rates soar after receiving our personalised direct mail the average response rate for direct mail is 9% compared to 1% of email responses. Our mailers are engaging and creative.

First Time Purchasers

When a customer first explores your website, they register with your brand to receive information, discounts, and offers. However, if they don’t make a purchase, our programmatic direct mail kicks in, using their browsing history to send relevant content that encourages their first purchase.

Loyal Customers

For a customer who has been a loyal patron, making multiple purchases from your brand, a special acknowledgement is in order. Drawing from the valuable information gleaned through these transactions, such as their date of birth or anniversary with your brand, a carefully crafted piece of programmatically triggered direct mail is triggered. This serves as a token of appreciation, designed to recognise and celebrate their unwavering loyalty. The direct mail is adorned with personalised touches, such as warm birthday wishes, and an exclusive offer extended as a gesture of gratitude. This not only encourages future purchases but also stands as a tangible testament to the brand’s genuine appreciation for their ongoing commitment.

Multi-sensory experience

Direct mail marketing campaigns provide a multi-sensory experience by engaging touch, sight, and, in some cases, even smell and sound. Through tangible materials, captivating visuals, and occasionally interactive features such as scanning a QR code, direct mail aims to leave a memorable and lasting impression, creating a unique and impactful interaction with recipients.

Optimisation

We adopt a data-driven approach to direct mail marketing, utilising scientific insights to tailor messaging and design for specific audience segments. Additionally, we closely monitor campaign results, such as response rates and conversions, and make real-time adjustments to optimise performance continually. This comprehensive optimisation strategy ensures that our mailings consistently engage recipients and drive desired actions while maximising return on investment for our clients.

Paperplanes’ ongoing optimisation of campaigns via A/B testing has proven that we can help brands reduce their mail campaign output by up to 78% and still hit their performance goals using the personalised Programmatic Direct Mail approach as opposed to traditional bulk mail. You decrease the mail volume, whilst achieving better results. 

Opt-out

In our automated direct mail campaigns, we employ an opt-out strategy. This means that recipients are automatically included and receive our mailings unless they take the initiative to unsubscribe or opt out. With this approach, the responsibility for removal from the mailing list rests with the recipients, allowing them to control their communication preferences and choose not to receive further communications if they wish. Our personalised, valuable content effectively maintains an engaged audience.

Personalisation

Personalisation is paramount in direct mail campaigns, enhancing relevance, engagement, and overall success. Brands can boost their marketing effectiveness and drive better responses and revenue by leveraging data insights and personalisation tactics. This approach involves tailoring messaging, interactions, and brand image to meet each consumer’s unique requirements and preferences based on their behaviours and needs. Personalisation creates memorable experiences that leave a lasting impression, potentially leading customers to share their positive experiences and fostering increased brand perception and loyalty.

Reactivation

Reactivation campaigns are a valuable part of our direct mail marketing strategy because it focuses on re-establishing a connection with existing customers who have shown interest in the past. This can be more cost-effective than acquiring new customers and can potentially lead to increased customer loyalty and revenue.

Response rate

A standardised, mass-mailed letter is considerably less likely to capture a customer’s attention, let alone motivate them to take action. In contrast, personalisation, such as including the customer’s full name in the letter, can yield a remarkable 135% increase in response rates (Compu-Mail, 2022). This surge in response rates is attributed to the fact that personalised letters establish a meaningful connection with the recipient, making them feel acknowledged and valued, thereby encouraging them to engage with the content rather than swiftly discarding it.

ROI

Utilising direct mail as a marketing tool can significantly enhance ROI, and Paperplanes offers a data-driven approach that stands out in achieving this goal. Our strategy revolves around data science expertise, allowing us to create highly targeted direct mail campaigns that maximise engagement and minimise waste. By analysing customer data, including purchase history, demographics, and behaviours, we ensure that your message reaches the right audience with precision. This personalised approach not only increases the likelihood of conversion but also reduces the resources spent on reaching uninterested recipients, making Paperplanes a cost-effective solution for your marketing needs. Did you know that Facebook, for instance, reported a substantial 24% increase in their average price per digital ad over the previous year? In contrast, the cost of sending a single postcard only saw a modest 1.57% increase. This signifies a remarkable 14-fold difference.

In the grand scheme of things, opting for direct mail marketing for your business proves to yield more favourable results in the long run.

Targeted Messaging

Through targeted messaging, we transcend a one-size-fits-all approach, tailoring messages to align with the unique preferences and characteristics of each audience segment. This personalised strategy not only enhances engagement and campaign effectiveness but also begins with precise audience segmentation. Our process includes the creation of custom content and the inclusion of relevant calls to action. Subsequently, by analysing responses, we gain valuable insights to further refine future targeted messaging campaigns, ensuring optimal results.

Tech integration

Incorporating Paperplanes’ identification technology into your website is a seamless and straightforward process, enabling both automation and the gathering of valuable insights that contribute to continuous campaign enhancement.

Trust

Postal mail remains a trusted communication channel across all age groups, notably securing its position as one of Gen Z’s most reliable sources of information, surpassed only by search engines in terms of trustworthiness. This foundation of trust is firmly rooted in the inherent security of direct mail, a quality of paramount significance given the ever-growing concerns about data privacy and trust in the minds of consumers. Furthermore, the prevalence of “fake news” circulating on social media platforms and the looming spectre of cybersecurity threats have prompted individuals to approach online information with a degree of caution. In this context, Paperplanes’ approach holds significant promise in driving conversions and augmenting web traffic for your customers. We prioritise the establishment of trust with the reader, fostering a positive and receptive atmosphere conducive to building lasting connections.

Warm Mailing

Warm mailing involves sending mail to individuals or businesses with whom there is a pre-existing connection or interest. It is a highly effective strategy for direct mail marketing campaigns because it leverages these relationships and interests, leading to higher open rates, engagement, and conversions. By targeting those who have shown interest in the brand, warm mailing allows for more personalised and trusted communication, making it a cost-effective choice with a strong Return On Investment compared to cold mailing.