MODERN POSTCARD – The current trends indicate that this will be the busiest E-commerce holiday season in history. eMarketer reveals in their new study that US consumers will spend $933.30 billion on E-commerce in 2021, up 17.9% YoY (source: emarketer.com). And with more brands coming online each day, the market has never been more competitive. Direct-to-consumer E-commerce retailers are using new technologies to maximize existing traffic and compete with other brands, Amazon, and Walmart.

Statista indicates that Amazon will have 50% of the E-commerce sales in 2021 (source: Statista), meaning the 1.8 million E-commerce brands are competing for the rest of the share (source: balancingeverything). Those brands are looking for every tool they can find to make the most of this upcoming consumer spending spree to grow revenue and their customer base.

However, a clever and cost-effective retargeting solution is proving to be extraordinarily effective in getting those customers back: Direct Mail Retargeting.

Modern iO Direct Mail Retargeting is simple: they use a patented process utilizing first-party cookies to match about 50% of website visitors to mailable addresses in a privacy compliant way. Unlike IP address-matching, which has more errors and less accuracy, this approach has been proven to be the superior method to connect a name and address to an anonymous website visitor.

The platform automatically launches postcards each day, mailed at First-Class postage for fastest delivery, reaching targeted visitors just days after they leave the website. Each client’s dashboard shows daily website traffic and the number of matched addresses, indicating the potential mail volume.

After a program begins, the dashboard also shows the daily number of mailed cards, a map of where cards are being delivered, and conversion metrics.

By introducing this channel to their marketing mix, E-commerce companies now have a brand-new and more effective way to convert lost website visitors. “Most of our E-commerce clients are seeing very high response and conversion rates,” says Chris Foster, VP New Business Development at Modern iO.

“And it makes sense: reaching lost website visitors with a relevant Direct Mail postcard drives higher responses. The physical nature of the postcard, plus the timing and relevance, all combine to make this channel effective. Print has an impact on the brain that’s just stronger than digital.”

In fact, studies have proven that recall was 70% higher among participants who were exposed to a direct mail piece (75%) than a digital ad (44%).

“When we look across our E-commerce customer base, we’re seeing conversion rates ranging from 1.2% to 4%, and cost-per-conversion numbers from $54 down to about $15. Of course, response rates depend on the brand, product, and offer,” says Foster.

The Modern iO E-commerce programs with order values over $70 have seen successful Return on Ad Spend (ROAS), with some clients seeing ROAS even higher than 10x. As the CEO of Blue Canoe, a women’s apparel E-commerce brand using Modern iO for over 2 years says, “There’s a gut-level reaction to seeing how many people coming to your site you can mail to. And this channel really works for getting new customers at a terrific Return on Ad Spend.”

Marketing Technology News: How Social Media Is Impacting SEO In 2021 And Beyond

The Modern iO Direct Mail Retargeting programs are ideal for small, mid-sized, and high-traffic E-commerce brands. It’s a flexible platform that can adjust mailing volume as the brands’ needs change. Unlike other vendors, with Modern iO there are no multi-month commitments, and no daily or monthly minimums. This is ideal for the changing traffic volume that happens in the upcoming holiday season.

“Because we have no minimums and no monthly contracts,” says Foster, “we’re making it as easy as possible for any E-commerce business to have more control over their Direct Mail Retargeting program. And we’ve seen our own client base double in the past year. We are solely focused on helping direct-to-consumer brands improve the retargeting conversion of the website traffic they’re getting now…even if they have less than 5,000 visitors per month.”