Ecommerce has changed the way we shop forever. From browsing to buying, everything is done online. While incredible for convenience, sometimes it can feel a little too cold and distant, lacking a physical touch.
That’s where PostPilot comes in. PostPilot allows DTC brands to send personalized physical postcards to their customers in a flash. In such a digitized world, a marketing strategy that incorporates direct mail can help you stand out from the crowd.
In the PostPilot review that follows, we’ll go through the ins and outs of the platform, and how direct mail can empower you to break through the noise and reach your target audience.
What is PostPilot? 🚀
Simply put, PostPilot is a postcard marketing service for ecommerce companies. Through their easy-to-use platform, you can tailor your direct mail designs to meet your objectives, and decide precisely the customers you want to send them to.
For instance, you may want to deliver exclusive discount codes to your VIPs, or send out a reminder about a holiday sales event you have coming up right around the corner. Having marketing materials sent to an actual mailbox–rather than an email inbox or a web page–means they are not only more likely to be seen, but acted upon.
Just think about it: a printed-out piece of content that arrives at someone's home may sit on their countertop or kitchen table for weeks, and not just be deleted in a couple of clicks.
Direct mail can also allow you to escape the technical complications of a digital-only approach. From iOS updates to spam blockers, it is becoming harder and harder to engage with potential customers. PostPilot helps solve that problem by putting you in touch with valuable prospects through the power of a postcard.
How does PostPilot work? 🤔
After signing up for an account, you can connect your Shopify store to the PostPilot platform. This enables you to harness your customer data, integrating your email lists from tools like Klaviyo.
One of the more impressive things about PostPilot is the platform’s ability to match email addresses to physical addresses through their proprietary MailMatch technology. This links the email addresses you have on file with USPS-verified mailing addresses, so you can have confidence that you’re reaching the customers you intend to.
After loading up your data, you can then create customized campaigns, and decide whether you want to send out postcards as part of a one-off blast or to trigger them on an automated basis, every time a new customer is added that fits your criteria.
For instance, say you want to reach customers who bought from you previously, but haven’t visited your store or purchased anything from you in the past 60 days. You can indicate to PostPilot that this is the customer segment you wish to target, in an attempt to go back to the well and gain more revenue.
Next comes the fun part: designing your postcards. You can customize your mail pieces to match the look and feel of your brand, to ensure synergy between the digital and physical experience that people have when interacting with your company. After all, you want your cards to be as instantly identifiable and closely associated with your messaging as possible.
You can upload your own logos and layout to the PostPilot system, or you can choose to enlist their in-house graphic design gurus to make one on your behalf. In our experience, making a postcard on your own couldn’t be simpler. The drag-and-drop editor is a real lifesaver, as the flexible UI lets you input custom fonts and images, and generate a preview of what your fully completed postcard looks like when printed.
PostPilot then does the heavy lifting of applying postage, writing out any personalized messages such as a dynamic first name tag, and having your postcards shipped out en masse. You can sit back, relax, and hop over to the analytics dashboard to track how your direct mail postcard marketing is performing.
From conversion rate to ROAS to total sales volume, you can keep your finger on the pulse of your vital metrics to see which types of postcards and discount codes worked the best. This way, you can double down on your most effective strategies when it comes time to create another campaign and send out more postcards.
PostPilot Key Features 🧰
PostPilot has a wide range of comprehensive features that you are fully equipped to take advantage of. As you build and send out your postcards, be sure to keep in mind the variety of options you have at your disposal.
Seamless Integrations
PostPilot integrates with your Shopify store and marketing tools like Klaviyo, with no coding required. This helps you seamlessly plug into your email list and segment your audience for effective targeting. You don’t have to worry about manually juggling multiple spreadsheets at once–all your customer data is right there in front of you.
Design Editor
Directly on the app, you can upload your own images and graphics to construct your custom postcards. You can even see what they look like once stamps and postage are attached, to make sure you are not obstructing any crucial elements.
Detailed Dashboard
You can slice and dice your metrics and break down the performance of every postcard you send on an intuitive analytics dashboard. From conversion rate to revenue generated in total dollars, you can quickly and easily view which types of mailings and discounts yielded the most profit.
PostPilot FAQs 🙋
How can I attribute sales to PostPilot?
PostPilot automatically tracks Shopify customer profiles. Therefore, it can track when postcard campaigns are sent to specific customers, and whether or not a customer completes a purchase.
Further, PostPilot tracks coupon codes and can track orders placed in Shopify using that code.
How are the postcards designed?
There are a host of pre-made templates that are available for you to play around with when designing your postcard campaigns on PostPilot. The drag-and-drop editor lets you move around text, shapes, and images to your liking.
If you don’t feel like designing your postcards on your own, PostPilot also gives you the option of contacting their professional graphic design team to help get things just the way you want them.
What sizes of postcards do they have available?
PostPilot offers three sizes of postcards: 4" x 6", 6" x 9", and 6" x 11".
Are their postcards eco-friendly?
Yes! PostPilot uses recycled material in their cards and sources paper only from FSC-certified (Forest Stewardship Council) mills. They also plant enough trees to more than double their paper usage.
PostPilot Pros ✅
- Cost savings: The expense of mailing a postcard and stamp is often cheaper than running PPC ads.
- No minimum: You can send just one postcard if you wanted to, or a million.
- Impactful: Physical mailers stand out in the minds of consumers. They often result in higher response rates and more conversions.
- Handwritten notes: PostPilot has a fleet of automated robots that can simulate writing handwritten messages on your cards with real ink.
PostPilot Cons ❌
- Better for larger stores: Most effective for Shopify stores doing over $1 million in annual sales. Smaller stores will see limited results, as the volume of recipients won’t be as high.
- White-glove service restricted: Professional graphic design assistance is only available to members with monthly plans (so those on the Starter self-service plan don’t have access and will have to customize themselves).
- Delivery times vary: You are at the mercy of the Post Office. Domestic delivery in the US typically takes 4 to 6 business days, and international orders generally take from 9 to 13 days. But as we all know and have experienced firsthand, there are often frustrating delays in mail service, and nothing is guaranteed.
- Cash intensive: While postcard marketing has proven to be effective, it is more costly to send a postcard than an email or text message. So as your customer base grows, your postcard marketing costs can quickly eat into your marketing budget.
- Design templates aren’t filterable: PostPilot offers a variety of postcard templates that you can easily customize for your brand. However, the templates aren’t filterable by use case so it can become a tedious process to find the right template for your business.
PostPilot Pricing 💰
PostPilot pricing has several monthly subscription plans available. The Growth Plan is $199/month with cards starting at 69 cents each, and the Pro Plan is $499/month with cards starting at 49 cents each.
There is also a Starter Plan that lets you send cards on an as-needed basis with no subscription required. However since the cost of cards on the monthly plans are cheaper, a subscription can end up paying for itself if you plan to send out a lot of postcards.
Final Thoughts 🕵️♀️
PostPilot is an innovative platform for ecommerce sellers and owners of DTC brands looking for a way to cut through the noise. It allows you to make a splash with creative messaging, and leverage a medium that is not often utilized, but is still incredibly effective.
Engaging with your customers offline through a personally designed postcard can feel like a breath of fresh air. It provides a way to connect with your audience, without bombarding them with digital ads. As such, the results you get are more likely to be favorable.
Not only that, but with a service like PostPilot, you have more control with respect to pricing. In our experience, one of the most frustrating parts of running digital advertisements is the unpredictable, volatile nature of click costs. You are fully at the mercy of the third-party platform you are advertising on. With PostPilot, there is stability with your expenses. The cost to send a postcard is tied to the cost of postage rates, which are predetermined and fully transparent. As such, your ad costs don’t jump around based on things like how many competitors are bidding on the same keywords.
So give PostPilot a try today and reach your customers where they live–literally.
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