Today we examine digital brands that have tested direct mail. Mattress brand Casper has been very active in print for the last several years – from solo print marketing to participating in upscale shared mail campaigns. Grove Collaborative has been testing print too.
Casper, as you may know, is no stranger to digital marketing success. This is not a brand which has dragged its heels when it comes to adopting new and exciting practices. It has scored big victories on multimedia platforms such as Instagram, as well as in other social forums. Casper CMO Jeff Brooks even describes the firm as a “digitally native“ brand. However, the team behind Casper has not ignored traditional, physical marketing practices, and has instead recognized and embraced the power of these initiatives.
If you live in one of the United States’ urban areas, you’ve probably already encountered Casper’s print campaigns. The brand has invested in blue booklets, printed on glossy paper, which invite potential buyers to check out the latest product ranges. Perhaps you’ve already acted upon this professional looking booklet, or perhaps you ignored it. Either way, it is likely that you noticed it.
Casper has also participated in the upscale shared mail campaigns. These are bright eye-catching envelopes with curated offers that are often limited to just 8 to 10 premium brands inside. My envelope contained Casper, care/of, Tiny Prints, primary, blink, Handy, Orvis, and Grove Collaborative.
Quick shout-out to Grove Collaborative (another digital brand that tested direct mail) for their stunning trifold print campaigns! They re-purposed some of the artwork from the shared mail campaign but made sure to customize the offers by in-home date and by market.
Now back to Casper…
I certainly recall seeing the direct mail pieces everywhere and was very curious to learn more about this new (at that time) brand…even though I wasn’t in the market for a mattress. That’s the power of print. Print campaigns can help generate brand awareness or drive traffic.
If you opted to ignore the Casper direct mail that came through your front door, you might dismiss such a practice as a waste of time. But let’s think about this for a moment — let’s consider email marketing, which attempts similar tactics using digital communication rather than physical mail. We receive so many of these emails these days that even the ones which reach our inboxes frequently go unopened, and countless more are shepherded away to junk folders or even deleted automatically by spam filters.
When I analyze email optin rates, 15% to 35% of active buyers have unsubscribed from email!
Think about that for a minute…then consider the remaining 65% to 85% of buyers who have opted in to email but are not engaged with your brand. Do you have a print strategy to market to them?
Casper utilizes email too, but they are aware of their limitations. Instead of relying exclusively on engaging subject lines and creative email content, Casper is tapping into something much more exciting, and into something much more deeply rooted in human psychology and emotion – they are tapping into the power of tangibility.
Direct mail is tangible. Postcards and catalogs have staying power. If I’m not ready to make an immediate purchase, I keep the direct mail piece for a few weeks. It’s a great visual reminder to go online or visit the store when I’m ready to buy.
You have probably received numerous communications from a broad range of different mattress suppliers, but, when it comes down to it, you have spent more time getting to know Casper. After all, it is the Casper leaflet that stares back at you from the coffee table, and so it is more likely that you will choose a mattress from Casper when the time comes to make a purchase.
Don’t underestimate the power of tangibility when it comes to your own print marketing campaign strategies. Be open to testing new options and always measure results!
If you ever need direct mail support – from print campaign management to customer analytics – give us a call at 512-288-2742.