Why companies like Bespoke Post and Blume are reconsidering direct mail
Shoppers’ mailboxes may be filling up with more postcards, flyers and catalogs this summer as brands like subscription box company Bespoke Post and latte brand Blume experiment with direct mail.
As brands tire of higher digital ad costs and diminishing returns, some companies are putting direct mail into their offline mix — and seeing positive results. Alvaro De La Rocha, chief marketing officer at Bespoke Post, said average order values from direct mail customers are about 50% higher than the average customer. And, a direct mail customer is 30% more likely to purchase apparel from the brand, which sells items like apparel, outdoor gear and cooking products geared toward affluent shoppers. He credits some of the benefits with customers becoming numb to an endless scrolling through ads.
“Direct mail is such a classic form of marketing, but there’s a new feel to it,” he said. “And there’s a lot of concern about less quality brands, maybe things that aren’t reputable, flooding your feed. There’s a level of credibility that comes when you’re in the mail that can help.”
Resale marketplace ThredUp also sends postcards to its users advertising sales, while superfood latte startup Blume is deploying a sampling program for one of its new products. Still, it’s a nascent part of a marketing budget. Direct mail marketing firm Lob found in a 2024 survey that about 85% of e-commerce marketers said direct mail has the best ROI of any channel. About 74% of e-commerce brands spent 25% or less of their marketing on direct mail. And about a quarter said it counted for 26% to 50% of their budget.
But the channel can be a difficult one to master. Over at Bespoke Post, De La Rocha said it’s taken more than one approach to figure out what worked. Around 2018, it paired up with other direct-to-consumer brands for what amounted to “an elegant Valpak,” De La Rocha said, referencing the decades-old direct marketing company known for sending envelopes full of coupons for local businesses and other promotions. The mailing list was built on zip codes and didn’t yield any meaningful results.
But when it came time to start doing holiday marketing planning in 2022, De La Rocha said the idea of sending a catalog to customers cropped up. Instead of zip codes, it chose recipients based on lookalike consumers and households. The results were so strong that it repeated the catalog for the 2023 holiday season. And while a fall-timed postcard wasn’t as successful with the catalog, Bespoke Post experimented the year with a smaller mailer for Father’s Day.
Still, direct mail spending is just a small portion of Bespoke Post’s marketing mix. Looking ahead, De La Rocha is cautious about deciding whether to invest more until there are more results to learn more. And the feedback loop for direct mail is much different than what it would be for a digital ad. “You have to have final to the printer about a month out before one drops, then you need 30, 60 or 90 days to get learnings once it’s done.”
Polly Wong, president of the direct mail firm Belardi Wong, said the growth of direct mail has been steady over the past five to 10 years. The raw number of mail pieces being sent overall is down, and fewer large companies like Victoria’s Secret divers from frequent catalogs. But Wong said that smaller brands are realizing the importance of blending offline and online marketing. Roughly 400 of the firm’s DTC accounts are currently using direct mail, Wong said, spanning acquisition and retention campaigns.
“Brands understand that you can’t have a mix that’s all digital,” Wong said. “Google and Meta can change the platform on a dime in a way that may take you six months to recover and react to.” And there’s also the cost factor. A cost per click may be around $2 on Google, but that could cover three or four folded catalog mail pieces at $0.60 each, Wong said.
As far as the content, a mailer can give a brand more real estate to show off its brand with images, taglines and information that won’t necessarily fit on an Instagram post or search bar. Best practices for direct mail pieces include having multiple items pictured, Wong said. “The best way to drive a response rate is to put a range of product in front of your customer,” she said.
Incentives are also an important consideration. Wong said about 85% of companies that use direct mail will include an offer that typically mirrors the standard first-time or lapsed customer offer on their website, like 10% off.
Karen Danudjaja, co-founder and CEO of the superfood latte brand Blume, said that while direct mail isn’t the largest portion of her brand’s marketing budget, it can be effective for both consumers and when it’s courting retail buyers. The company has experimented with sending booklets to its buyers or prospective buyers that showcase its latest products, plus articles and notes from the Blume team.
The goal, Danudaja said, is to incentivize them to purchase new products or seasonal drops. She said it has helped increase orders as the brand expands its retail distribution. “It is a unique touchpoint, almost a throwback to catalog days,” she said. “We saw great returns and want to increase the frequency in which we send. So we plan on investing more if the returns continue to be high.”
On the consumer-facing side, Blume is planning on doing a top-of-funnel direct mail program to potential customers this summer around its launch in Sprouts and Whole Foods. It’s also experimenting with a customer-focused sampling direct mail campaign. Fans of the brand can sign up to receive a sample of the new hydrating gut powder, SuperBelly. Those who sign up can get a sample in the mail.
“We also live in a time where there are so many products and brands vying for customer attention and a sampling campaign like this is really unique and will break through the noise and give customers a really special offering,” she said.