Examples of Brands Scaling Up Through Direct Mail

Scaling up through direct mail isn’t about blanketing your prospects with endless offers—it’s about precision. The brands that achieve real scale are those that adapt quickly, allocate resources wisely, leverage data-driven insights, and continuously optimize to enhance performance as they grow. The result? A perfect blend of growth and improved returns.

At Franklin Madison Direct, we empower brands to scale their campaign efforts in both quantity and quality, without overspending. This article will explore examples of brands that have improved their direct mail programs by pairing quick learnings with real data variables.

Prefer to listen? Check out our podcast The Direct Effect: Examples of Brands Scaling Up Through Direct Mail

What is Scaling Up Through Direct Mail?

Scale is when revenue increases without proportionally increasing costs. This concept is about maintaining or increasing profitability as you grow your customer base or reach a broader audience.

Unfortunately, audience scalability and matching precision have weakened for many digital advertisers. Even though Google abandoned its cookie deprecation plans, anti-tracking measures and cookie restrictions still make it challenging to identify, reach, and acquire new customers.

As a cornerstone marketing channel, mail’s audience targeting is climbing as a key advantage, with marketers emphasizing the channel’s reliability and scalability. According to our Direct Mail Marketing Benchmark Report, 31% of marketers indicate mail is scalable in ways other direct marketing channels are not.

Invest in Testing for Future Profitability

If you’re looking to scale without inflating costs, the key is to test different targeting and creative approaches. Advanced methodologies, like fractional factorial design, enable you to quickly identify the most impactful combinations of audience segments, offers, and creatives. This ensures that each campaign iteration becomes more profitable and efficient.

“Advanced methodologies, like fractional factorial design, enable you to quickly identify the most impactful combinations of audience segments, offers, and creatives.”

Case Study: The Memory Maker

Heavily reliant on paid search, a photo memorabilia brand needed to diversify its acquisition channels to lower CAC and scale effectively.

FM Direct launched a test direct mail campaign targeting both new prospects and their existing customer base. A bifold self-mailer was chosen for its high engagement potential and cost-efficiency. FM Direct segmented the campaign into these two groups to test offers and creative in a controlled, measurable way.

The previous customer segment outperformed expectations, delivering an 8x return on ad spend. This achievement allowed the client to scale further and reduced their CPA to $47, undercutting their digital acquisition costs. In addition, the campaign sustained a 1% sales rate during off-peak seasons.

Lessons for Marketers

• Scalability through testing: A pillar testing strategy ensures that your “wins” will continue as your marketing spend increases. This allows for efficient scale and a protected ROI.
• Retargeting for success: Focusing on connecting with fresh prospects is normal, but don’t forget your existing customer base. Testing across multiple prospect segments often leads to uncovering valuable insights.

Increase Conversions with Strong Prospect Modeling

If testing is the foundation of scaling up through direct mail, data is the fuel that drives it. Once testing validates your audience, a scalable strategy requires prospect models built from high-quality external datasets. Yet, not all data is created equal. The best data partners offer access to over 125 million households and 200 million consumers, backed by rich, permissioned insights like purchase behavior, demographics, and offline transaction data—linked to real people.

Case Study: The Capital Connector

An alternative investment platform had exhausted its digital marketing efforts and was ready for a cost-effective strategy to attract more leads and grow its investor base.

Since the brand was new to the direct mail channel, FM Direct built 20 unique data models and an engaging letter package. The company launched with 120,000 modeled records and 50,000 leads, and the initial campaign finished with a CPA that was 83% below the target.

FM Direct’s data models performed exceptionally well, with 80% meeting or exceeding CPA goals, and the prospect sales rate increased by 10%. Overall, the campaign exceeded expectations, encouraging the client to increase mail volumes by 7x after the first campaign’s success.

Lessons for Marketers

• Modeling matters: When choosing your data partner, prioritize quality data variables tied to real people for more robust prospect modeling and audience targeting.
• Creative captures attention: Aim to connect with your recipients on a personal level. Weave compelling narratives that resonate with their values and aspirations, going beyond mere brand awareness and product promotion.

Maximize Reach with Integrated Strategies

In a room full of marketers with evergreen direct mail programs, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who hasn’t tested an integrated digital campaign. Scaling requires more than a single-channel focus, as direct mail performs even better when combined with other mediums to create a cohesive, high-impact strategy. The payoff is faster scaling and exceeding your business goals.

“Scaling requires more than a single-channel focus, as direct mail performs event better when combined with other mediums to create a cohesive, high-impact strategy.”

Case Study: The Fitness Fueler

A prominent connected fitness brand aimed to scale its audience reach and boost conversions while effectively tracking the incremental cost of customer acquisition (CAC). Previously managing their mail campaigns internally, they sought a reliable direct mail partner to elevate their efforts.

FM Direct’s full-service agency approach and sophisticated testing methodology led to a 20% cost reduction within the first year. With early success, the partnership strengthened as FM Direct and the client collaborated to drive growth and enhance the program. Surround, a synchronized digital campaign aligned with mail’s in-home window, was introduced to propel conversions further and became a regular part of the campaign strategy.

Surround improved the brand’s sales rate by 20%, opening the door for more aggressive growth through direct mail. After its initial success, the campaign led to a 20% cost savings in the first year.

Lessons for Marketers

• KPIs count: The right approach to monitoring and optimizing KPIs can lead to significant cost savings and more efficient allocation of marketing budgets. Prioritize the identification and continuous evaluation of relevant performance metrics to drive strategic decisions and improve the cost-effectiveness of your campaigns.
• Multichannel for amplified impact: Ensure your direct response channels are not operating in silos but are instead strategically aligned. This way, you create a more engaging campaign that leverages the strengths of each medium.

Ready to Scale with Direct Mail?

Yes, there is a way to achieve scale without dramatically raising costs. By leveraging proven testing methodologies, custom strategies, and proprietary analytics, you can lower CAC while increasing long-term profitability.

We’re here to help you craft a data-driven, scalable direct mail campaign designed to fuel your growth. Get in touch with a marketing strategist to find out if your company has untapped potential.