On this episode of the Lobcast Podcast, we’re talking all things Artificial Intelligence and how it’ll change the way we do marketing. Joining us is Optimove’s Founder and CEO, Pini Yakuel, to discuss AI’s role in marketing.

Key highlights include:

• What marketers need to consider when integrating AI into their marketing strategies and campaigns
• How Optimove leverages AI technology in its platform
• How AI can personalize marketing campaigns and use customer data effectively
• How marketers can find the right balance between human decision-making and machine automation

On this episode of the Lobcast Podcast, we’re doing things a bit differently today. We’re taking a second look at our 2023 State of Direct Mail Consumer Insights report and seeing how marketing teams in the real world are delivering mail consumers want to take action on.

Key highlights include:

• Our 2023 State of Direct Mail Consumer Insights report shows that 64% of consumers say that direct mail has inspired them to take action, including exploring websites and reviews or making a purchase
• Personalization matters as 68% of consumers are more likely to engage with a message/communication from brands that are personalized to them
• In our 2023 State of Direct Mail Consumer Insights report, we found that 54% of consumers agree they are more likely to purchase from a brand that prioritizes sustainability
• Make it easy to take action! 39% of consumers are likely to scan a QR code on a piece of direct mail and take action

On this episode of the Lobcast Podcast, we’re revealing some of the major findings from our 2023 State of Direct Mail Consumer Insights. This edition of the report shares insights into how consumers feel about direct mail marketing.

Key highlights include:

• 64% of consumers say that direct mail has inspired them to take action, including exploring websites and reviews or making a purchase
• 65% say an offer or promotion caught their attention. Offers are key to getting recipients to open and read direct mail
• Personalization continues to be a key element for marketing success in direct mail. 68% of consumers are more likely to engage with a message/communication from brands that are personalized to them
• 54% of consumers agree they are more likely to purchase from a brand that prioritizes sustainability

On this episode of the Lobcast Podcast, we’re discussing all things A/B testing in our marketing strategies, including direct mail. Learn more about running statistically significant A/B tests and improve your overall marketing campaigns by accurately analyzing the results and applying what you’ve learned.

Key highlights include:

• A/B testing in both direct mail and email can help improve campaign effectiveness and ROI by providing valuable insights into what resonates with your target audience
• There are many personalization elements you can A/B test to drive lift. The ones that immediately come to mind are CTAs, CTA placement, offers, copy, lifestyle imagery used, the possibilities if you partner with tech companies like Lob are really endless
• The general results analysis time for direct mail is 45-60 days
• Statistical significance is essentially a fancy term for proving whether a result is due to chance or a true result of your testing efforts. Essentially, a probability measurement

On this episode of the Lobcast Podcast, we’re talking about ROI - Return on Investment. ROI is a key metric most marketers track and we’re breaking down the ROI on direct mail marketing.

Key highlights include:

• According to our 2023 State of Direct Mail, 74% of marketers agree that direct mail delivers the best ROI, response rate, and conversion rate than all other channels used
• 62% of consumers say they take action due to a direct mail communication they’ve received from a brand
• The most successful direct mail campaigns are in winback, referral programs, and hand-raisers (also known as In-market leads)
• There are three key metrics to analyzing direct mail ROI: Response rates, lead rate, and sales rate

If you want to dive deeper into the topic of ROI, please download your complimentary copy of our eBook: The Modern Marketer’s Guide to Crush ROI & Budget Goals with Direct Mail at https://lobdemo.co/directmailroi.

On this episode of the Lobcast Podcast, we’re talking all things optimizations in marketing workflows and direct mail, as well as sipping on some old fashioned cocktails.

Key highlights include:

• Learn more about the RVA principle in marketing optimizations: Recency, Velocity, and Accuracy
• Leveraging technology to automate and optimize marketing campaigns, whether digital-based ones or direct mail campaigns
• What problems marketers are looking to solve through optimizations, such as reducing campaign costs or increasing ROI per campaign
• What metrics to track to effectively measure A/B tests and marketing campaign optimizations

Access your complimentary copy of our eBook: Optimizing Direct Mail for Maximum Results at https://tinyurl.com/optimizingdm.

On this episode of the Lobcast Podcast, we’re mixing up piña coladas and talking all things personalization in marketing campaigns.

Key highlights include:

• 79% of consumers are only likely to engage with a brand’s offer if that offer has been personalized to reflect previous interactions that the consumer has had with the brand
• Preference centers provide insight into what your customers want, and you can aggregate learnings to uncover trends within your own customer database by age, gender, household income, size of family, type of purchase, etc. You also create a new level of trust with your customer because you show them you care about their wants and only wish to provide them with communication they look forward to
• Before setting up any automated workflows, it's important to have a clear strategy in place that outlines your goals and how personalization will help you achieve them. This strategy should take into account your target audience, their preferences and behaviors, and the specific messages or offers you want to deliver
• Social media sentiment, seasonal trends, local events, and customer behavior patterns are variables marketers should pay attention to in order to improve campaign performance

On this episode of the Lobcast Podcast, we’re sipping on orange margaritas and talking about a different type of direct mail: operational mail! Like marketing mail, this type of mail benefits from automation, integration, and optimization.

Key highlights include:

• Organizations sending operational mail can improve results and customer engagement by A/B testing mail formats, and including marketing messages relevant to the customer.
• Direct mail automation improves workflows, allows resources to be reallocated to impactful work, and provides tracking information for regulated industries.
• Those sending operational mail need to have quality data hygiene practices in place to ensure mail is personalized and sent to the right recipients.
• An easy way to increase efficiency with operational mail is to partner with a company that has an expansive print delivery network.

On this episode of the Lobcast Podcast, we’re putting our marketing measurement skills to the test. From CPA to ROI, we’re talking all things marketing metrics and what marketers should keep in mind when analyzing the results of their campaigns.

Key highlights include:

• Marketers should start by matching the right marketing channel to budgets and goals to more effectively track results
• Marketing tools modern marketers should use to report on campaigns include Marketo, Salesforce, and Tableau
• Marketers should run A/B tests to improve marketing results and know what metrics to track to ensure the test was successful
• Marketers should make sure the whole marketing team is aligned on how to interpret the metrics and data and has access to the same dashboards or reports

On this episode of the Lobcast Podcast, we’re talking about marketing data! They say a picture is worth a thousand words but the right customer data could be worth a million dollars (much like the complementary cocktail!). Listen in to hear how we can be more strategic when it comes to marketing data and marketing lists.

Key highlights include:

• Using third-party data to supplement your existing customer intel OR drive a more personalized experience with a new prospect helps you then develop intelligent mail campaigns - and stronger program ROI.
• The most successful data strategies usually start with either the lowest-hanging fruit OR incredibly smart modeling technology.
• Our own State of Direct Mail Consumer Insights report showed that 52% of consumers expect campaigns to be personalized for them. With third-party data, marketers can better supplement their understanding of their existing customers and initial details on their prospective customers for better personalization.
• Data should be at the heart of your strategy. It should be what you start with, well before you consider the creative, offer, copy, tone, and format. Data has the power to tell you how your customers want to be reached, and spoken to. So don’t rush to get a single campaign out the door and hope it sticks.