This feature is currently on general release for clients in the UK and Germany/Austria/Switzerland, for deliveries within the EU.
If you are located outside these regions but interested in this product, please speak to your Success Manager.
If you have not already done so, please read Before You Start With Direct Mail.
If you have any unanswered questions, you may want to check the documentation of our technology partner:
Creating a Direct Mail campaign
To create a Direct Mail campaign, go to Channels > Direct Mail.
Click Start An Automation and give the campaign a name. This will start the campaign creation wizard. This wizard has four steps:
- Postage
- Products
- Visuals
- Summary
In every step the price calculator is displayed on the right, giving you an ongoing total cost of your campaign as you create it.
1. Postage preferences
Depending on the expected value of the conversions, you may want to schedule a regular campaign to all the contacts who reach the Direct Mail node, or wait and send only when enough have been queued, to reduce the CPM.
Regular postage
You can schedule a mailing to be sent every weekday to the contacts who are queued at the node, or once a week on the day you choose.
Minimum number of recipients
You can also set the mailing to only be launched when the minimum number of recipients have reached the node. You can choose from preset levels (500 and 4,000) or define your own.
2. Products
Now select the products you want to include in your campaign. You can have up to five products per campaign, for example if you want to post a letter, catalogue and postcard in the same envelope.
If you select a product that requires an envelope, this product will automatically be enabled, but you must still check that the envelope is large enough to fit the largest product.
Click the product to select it, and increase the number if you so wish.
Tooltips are provided to help guide your choice.
When you are done, click Save And Configure.
Your selected products are now displayed, and you can select whether you want offset or digital printing.
- Offset is the cheaper option for large print runs (>4,000) and gives better picture quality, but you cannot personalize every item for individual contacts. Production time typically takes 4-5 days.
- Digital is the cheaper option for small print runs (<4,000) and gives better text quality. This is also more effective if you are using colored or image personalization, and the production time is shorter (1-2 days).
Click Review Configuration for each product and choose the format, grammage (thickness/weight of paper), material, folding options and other settings.
Remember to check the price calculator regularly as this will update the cost of the campaign automatically with each option you select.
When you have confirmed the configuration of all your products, you can click Continue To Visuals.
3. Visuals
Now you must Upload the PDF that contains the design for your product. Click Print files to open the upload controls.
A/B testing campaigns
If you want to A/B test the product, click A/B Test and upload the second variant of your campaign product. You can add as many variants as you like, but bear in mind that each additional file will add to the printing costs.
When you launch the campaign, each print file will be sent to an equal number of recipients. The recipients are chosen at random. It is then up to you to analyze the responses of the different variations and decide which one to use in subsequent campaigns.
Vouchers
Vouchers are a critical part of your content because they are the only way you can reliably track responses. Click Add Vouchers to open the Voucher wizard.
- Personalized vouchers - Each contact will receive a unique code. You simply upload a CSV file with one unique code per recipient (the first line must be a header as it will not be imported).
- Non-personalized vouchers - The same code will be added to each visual (and to each variation of the visual). You simply enter the code in the interface and choose a value for the discount in real terms (€) or a discount (%).
When you have uploaded your visuals and vouchers, continue to Summary.
4. Summary
On the Summary page you will see all the settings you have just configured and can edit each of them if you wish. You will also see the final cost of the campaign.
When you are certain that your campaign has been properly prepared, click Activate to launch it.
By clicking Activate you are entering a binding agreement with our technology provider and will be charged by them for the printing and postage of the materials.
Adding Direct Mail to an automated program
When you have launched your Offline Mail campaign, open your program and place the Offline Mail node where you want it, and select your campaign.
If you have defined A/B testing variations, you have two options:
- Manage the testing yourself by using the A/B Splitter node and create two Direct Mail nodes, each with a different variation selected.
- Select the random variation option and let us take care of the testing for you.
As with the other Automation Center nodes, you can also Disable this node if you are not yet ready to use it. This will allow contacts to pass through it without triggering the Direct Mail campaign or joining the queue for it.