1. Sailthru as a Cross-Channel Marketing Platform: Possibilities and Benefits
2. Cross-Channel Marketing Possibilities with Inkit’s Integrated Direct Mail
3. Examples of Integrated Direct Mail Campaigns

The cool thing about cross-channel marketing platforms like Sailthru is that your marketing can move with your customers just about anywhere – from the web to their inbox to your mobile app. You always stay in touch with your target audience across multiple channels, which makes your marketing efforts much better aligned. Your customer is browsing a Facebook newsfeed? Or checking out blog posts in Google Search? Here you are with your perfect offer! Such cross-channel marketing has proven to be effective for various products and services.

And now, with our latest integration, you can add direct mail to that itinerary. Direct mail that’s just as highly targeted as everything you do online.

We’re proud to announce that the Inkit/Sailthru integration is now live in your account. (Don’t have an account yet? Request a demo and we’ll show you how to set it up in a couple of minutes!) You can go check it out and start brainstorming postcards and mailers to add to your campaigns right away if you’d like. Setting up the integration takes about 30 seconds – no joke. This integration opens up some exciting possibilities for your cross-channel marketing and customer experience.

Thanks to mail automation, you will be able to deliver personalized mail pieces with tailored content and design. You can also configure action triggers to activate the delivery when potential customers are the most likely to convert. As a result, when a recipient opens a mailbox, your mail piece will be well-positioned to hit the target.

We encourage you to start experimenting with Sailthru+Inkit integrated direct mail right now. You will definitely be surprised by the benefits of such a cross-channel marketing strategy. But before you do that, maybe you want some ideas for integrating direct mail into your Sailthru campaign. Your wish is our command. Read this article to discover more about Sailthru+Inkit integration and find integrated direct mail examples.

Sailthru as a Cross-Channel Marketing Platform: Possibilities and Benefits

Sailthru is a suite of connected tools that allow marketers to automate marketing efforts and launch successful cross-channel marketing campaigns. The use of modern tech solutions ensures ultimate personalization, reduces churn, and promotes conversions. Moreover, Sailthru utilizes the capabilities of machine learning to promptly adapt marketing communications to ever-changing customer preferences. To provide such possibilities Sailthru comprises 5 multi-functional tools:

1. Email Manager. Send emails with a dynamic subject line, personalized timing, interested-based product recommendations, and more.
2. Site Personalization Manager. Achieve 1:1 personalization across web resources to double your landing page CTR and promote conversions.
3. Mobile Manager. Power your cross-channel marketing with automated mobile messages that increase engagement and app usage time.
4. Prediction Manager. Read your customers’ minds with machine-learning predictions. Predict the number of page views, risk of opting out, the probability of purchasing in X days, and more.
5. Retention Analytics. Understand the impact of your marketing efforts and modify your cross-channel marketing strategy if necessary.

The described functionality allows implementing multi-channel marketing with advanced functionality that most businesses don’t have in place. You will optimize your customer lifecycle, increase ROI and provide seamless customer service. Moreover, Sailthru integrates with a range of third-party tools, including Inkit. Thanks to this, your cross-channel marketing campaigns have almost no limitations.

Cross-Channel Marketing Possibilities with Inkit’s Integrated Direct Mail

Modern consumers expect seamless customer service across all marketing channels. Therefore, your main goal is to make sure that whenever they go, they stay in touch with your products or services. Whereas in online cross-channel marketing the customer journey is digitized and easy to track, offline cross-channel marketing campaigns may be more problematic.

That’s why many marketers ignore snail mail in their cross-channel marketing strategy. But that’s also how you get an excellent chance to fill the niche they neglect. Mail-based cross-channel marketing is easy if you connect Sailthru marketing platform with Inkit’s functionality. You will be able to launch integrated direct mail campaigns based on online triggers or events. For example, new subscribers can get a 10% greeting discount as soon as they subscribe. Or Inkit’s integrated direct mail tool will send a customized catalog, once a website visitor clicks the Agree button. You need at least one mailing list in Sailthru with customer names and mailing addresses to start. After a 30-second integration, you will be able to:

• Incorporate integrated direct mail into your cross-channel marketing strategy.
• Customize content with variable data printing supported by Inkit.
• Build strong customer relationships thanks to 1:1 marketing.
• Track direct mail effectiveness to make data-driven decisions.
• Customize marketing workflow for maximum effectiveness of the cross-channel marketing strategy.
• Save the time otherwise spent on manual marketing efforts.
• Entrust all printing and mailing chores to integrated direct mail professionals.
• Implement real-time marketing with trigger-based mail pieces.
• Simultaneously use online and offline touchpoints for maximum results.
• Increase your response rates and ROI.

The actual benefits you receive from integrated direct mail largely depend on the cross-channel marketing approach you use. Some marketing strategies are focused on customer acquisition, whereas others nurture existing leads. The type of integrated direct mail and the level of personalization will differ in each case.

Examples of Integrated Direct Mail Campaigns

We know that it may be challenging to come up with a direct mail idea if you have never done this before. To help you with that, here are some popular marketing approaches:

Integrated Marketing Example #1: Synchronize Display Ads and Integrated Direct Mail

If you match user IP addresses with your mailing data, mail piece delivery will be aligned with online banners. After Sailthru records that someone received the mailing, this person will see the relevant display ads. This will entice people into using your products or services and bring them through the sales funnel.

Integrated Marketing Example #2: Reduce Cart Abandonment

Most online stores combat high cart abandonment rates using emails and pop-ups with a call-to-action begging buyer to stay. The key problem with this marketing strategy is that usually people are asked to decide immediately. Such pressure reduces the chances that they will complete the transaction. Long story short: integrated direct mail campaigns offer a different customer experience. A few days needed for the delivery give customers time to rethink their actions. They can hesitate for some time and redeem your offer later.

Sailthru+Inkit integration records cart abandonment and automatically triggers printing and delivery. Such mail pieces may include an exclusive shipping offer or discount on the products in the cart. You should also allow buyers to modify the cart content in case they want to order something different.

Integrated Marketing Example #3: Align Your Marketing and Sales Teams

Integrated direct mail can help to coordinate the efforts of your marketers and sales managers. Send a well-designed mail piece to familiarize customers with your offer and continue promoting it once they react positively. It’s always better to send a follow-up to an email address and make a phone call when the customers still remember about your company.

Want some additional use cases? We’ve got you covered over on the Sailthru blog. Read Inkit’s guest post there to find out:

• Exactly how to send hyper-targeted postcards with the Inkit/Sailthru integration
• The “free credit” strategy that can win back inactive customers
• How to sync your Facebook and Instagram campaigns with direct mail

… and more.

This integration opens up some exciting possibilities for your marketing and customer experience. Go read the post now, and if you’re using Sailthru, we’d love to hear about the possibilities you see in the comments.