Whether you are operating a gym, travel agency or candy shop, targeting the right customers at the right time is perhaps the most effective strategy for increasing conversion rates. Direct mail and gifting automation software targets recipients based on their individual traits (such as age, gender and location) or actions (signing up for an e-newsletter, checking out an item online before abandoning it) for maximum effect.
While the benefits and manageable costs of direct mail and gifting automation are obvious, the time and effort businesses need to put in may not always be aligned with these goals. A lot of work goes into one campaign, from identifying the gift or promotional item to be sent out and manually packing these items to tracking the deliveries and following up afterwards. This is where direct mail and gifting software comes in. These platforms can manage numerous campaigns at once, reducing the amount of time employees are spending on these efforts and freeing them up to focus on other tasks.
Understanding Direct Mail & Gifting Automation Software
Direct mail and gifting automation is so effective because it monitors individual user data to target the specific needs of each customer. Most of us have encountered automated direct mail at some point, which is triggered when a particular consumer behavior is carried out. This can be something as simple as receiving a discount code after signing up for a newsletter. Triggered direct mail responds to specific behavior of customers, such as sending a personalized brochure with information on tour packages to a customer who started to check out but abandoned their cart.
Direct mail and gifting automation software can manage all the different packages necessary to your marketing campaign, coming with many more additional benefits. These include: inventory management and fulfillment, packing and shipping services, customer relations management (CRM) and more. With the right software, you can convey the right message to the right customer at the most opportune time and free up your employees to focus on tasks that cannot be automated
Below is a list of the 20 best direct mail and gifting automation software services your business can use:
#1 Postal.io
Postal is a Silicon Valley venture-based startup based in San Luis Obispo, California. Specializing in integrating online and offline marketing efforts, Postal’s software allows businesses to automate sendings by creating triggers, increase engagement with high-potential leads and generate actionable insights through data analysis. Their solutions include demand generation, sales engagement, account-based marketing and more. With a wide base of satisfied clients across various industries, Postal has an impressive track record of improving response rates by 3x and increasing the number of meetings booked by 35%.
Postal.io Is Our Choice of Top Direct Mail and Gifting Automation Software for Businesses
Postal is a venture-backed startup born out of Silicon Valley. A burgeoning industry with incredible potential for growth, Postal takes an innovative approach to helping businesses with sales engagement and direct mail. After dedicated research, we have chosen Postal.io as our SmartSites Technology Partner for direct mail and gifting automation software. SmartSites Technology Partners are an exclusive selection of technology solutions that are each top of their respective category.
Below are the top 5 reasons we believe Postal is the best direct mail and gifting automation software out there:
- Free 15 day trial to explore the software
- Automate mail and gift sending with created triggers
- Ability to integrate with HubSpot, SalesLoft, Outreach and Salesforce
- Generates reports and actionable insights
- Led by a nationally recognized team who has managed multiple successful projects
Read our more in-depth Postal.io review.
#2 Sendoso
Based in San Francisco, California, Sendoso is a virtual sending platform that delivers direct mail and personalized gifts to grow customer relationships. Coming with features such as remote gifting and field marketing, Sendoso also has headquarters in the UK and Australia, reaching out to a globalized field of customers.
Sendoso provided direct mail and gifting automation services for several companies during the COVID-19 period. Sending out personal address confirmation emails to recipients, Sendoso was able to navigate the delicate balance between corporate gifting and privacy by not storing these addresses in the CRM system. With a wide range of gift cards and physical gifts to choose from, clients were able to select the gifts they wanted their recipients to receive, which includes customized branded merchandise.
With a great customer experience and efficient delivery services, Sendoso was able to adapt to the growing pandemic situation and provide its clients with the services they need.
#3 Alyce
Based in Boston, Massachusetts, Alyce brands themselves as a “Personal Experience Platform” and has been hugely successful in living up to that name. With the goal of being relatable, relevant and respectful, Alyce strives to create personal bonds with every client in order to build better customer relationships.
Alyce enables businesses to get to know their prospects better, recommending personalized gifts for each customer based on research. Giving recipients the flexibility to donate their gift value to a charity of their choice, businesses can learn what their customers really care about through Alyce’s highly versatile and personalized gifting options.
#4 Reachdesk
Reachdesk is a direct mail and gifting automation software that services clients internationally. Providing services across North America, the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region and Asia Pacific, Reachdesk has a wide outreach of clients. With fulfillment centers and warehouse access across the globe, Reachdesk offers businesses complete flexibility when it comes to gifting. Choose to source your own gifts and forward it to them for delivery, or benefit from their fully managed service where the items are sourced for you.
Clients have been quick to praise Reachdesk’s adaptability in light of COVID-19. Physical mail to office locations had to be redirected to home addresses or changed to online gift cards. Reachdesk quickly came up with an email solution for recipients to confirm their address, taking the burden off businesses.
#5 PostGrid
PostGrid was created help businesses worldwide transform how they communicate with their customers offline and nourish the relationship they establish with their clients. With over 50 years of combined experience, PostGrid’s vast network of print, delivery, and inventory partners continues to grow every day.
#6 Postalytics
Postalytics syncs to the existing CRMs of its clients such as HubSpot and Zapier, allowing them to enjoy a fully integrated direct mail and gifting system. Thousands of emails land themselves in inboxes every day – Postalytics helps businesses make an impression by delivering mail, quite literally, into customers’ hands. In addition, smart mailing lists ensure that mail is not sent out to invalid addresses and the mail that does get sent out is tracked every step of the way. Clients will be kept fully informed of the delivery status of each piece of mail, whether it is delivered, forwarded or returned.
#7 CorporateGift.com
Established in 2013, CorporateGift.com was born out of the desire to improve inefficiencies in the corporate gifting process. As implied by their name, CorporateGift.com specializes in expressing gratitude through corporate gifting with a focus on product variety, advanced automation techniques and a knowledgeable team dedicated to customer service.
Over the years, CorporateGift.com has evolved its offerings to keep up with customer feedback. They found that customers started to use the platform to grow a gifting culture as opposed to just sending the right message at the right time. CorporateGift.com operates on a customer-centric approach which has earned them a wide base of satisfied clients.
#8 Click2Mail
Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, Click2Mail was founded in 2003, partnering with USPS (United States Postal Services) to send out mail on a mass scale. Eliminating the need for businesses to manually sort through and manage mailing lists, Click2Mail is able to send out direct mail and gifts to any number of recipients.
Click2Mail strongly believes that in the digital age, snail mail matters more than ever. People receive so many emails these days that it is easy to overlook any particular one, making the physical mail they do receive that much more obvious. To this end, Click2Mail works with businesses to bridge the worlds of offline and online marketing.
#9 Inkit
Inkit is a direct mail and gifting automation software that focuses on integrations across systems. Their automated mailing strategy focuses on winning back customers who have gone offline by sending them a gift or promotion through snail mail. In addition, businesses can design their own customized postcards that will leave the greatest impact on customers using Inkit’s custom template builder.
In addition, Inkit has an unique offering of A/B split testing, where customers are split into two groups based on varying demographics, with different ads targeted at each group. This allows businesses to figure out which marketing tactics work best. With worldwide delivery and round-the-clock customer support, Inkit offers an easy way for customers to automate offline customer interactions.
#10 AmazingMail
AmazingMail was established in 1999 and works with the USPS to send out personalized cards on a large scale. Whether it is one or a thousand cards you need, AmazingMail is able to print and get them sent out within the fastest turnaround time. Easily design your own unique card using AmazingMail’s online card design tool. If you do not have time to create a design from scratch, there are many starter templates available – all you have to do is add your own text and images and you have a printable card ready in minutes.
#11 Bluebird.cx
Bluebird.cx was founded by a team with experience in sales and marketing, fulfillment, business development, technology and more. The platform allows businesses to send out meaningful gifts to customers, prospects and even colleagues. Bluebird.cx allows recipients to choose from more than 70 gift card options with global redemption – this way, your gift shows that you respect what your recipients want, making it that much more meaningful.
Other features allow you to set budgets and control send options for each user, send gifts on behalf of a team member or the entire team and more.
#12 Printfection
Printfection is based in Denver, Colorado and specializes in producing and distributing branded merchandise for businesses. From printing to storage and delivering of your products, Printfection can take care of the entire process. Whether it is a T-shirt, mug or Jenga set you wish to gift, simply send in your logo and artwork and Printfection will get samples delivered to you.
With shipping available to more than 200 countries and all customs and taxes prepaid, it is easy and convenient to automate direct mail and gifting with Printfection. In addition, the software enables businesses to run a giveaway campaign on social media and have leads fill in their shipping information on the spot to receive direct mail.
#13 MAILERS+4
MAILERS+4 is a Canadian based direct mail and gifting automation service that helps businesses to process and prepare bulk mail within the US and Canada. Working with USPS and Canada Post to ensure that addresses are valid and deliveries are completed timely, MAILERS+4 will match your mailing list against the USPS database that goes back 48 months to ensure that all addresses are updated before mailing.
#14 Direct Mail Manager
Based in Tarpon Springs, Florida, Direct Mail Manager is a software integration software that allows businesses to merge their CRM with their marketing automation campaigns. Their areas of expertise include direct mail automation, offline mail targeting, direct mail API and more.
Direct Mail Manager allows businesses to design and send postcards targeted to a customer group. This can be a customer group of your own choosing, or DMM’s software can tailor a list for you. DMM has an impressive track record of an email open rate that hits 4.4%.
#15 Boingnet
Boingnet is a direct marketing automation platform that offers software for businesses looking to generate new leads and turn them into loyal customers through personalized campaigns. Specializing in cross-channel marketing, Boingnet equips businesses with tools to customize mail for their customers that drive visits and sales.
#16 Thanks.io
Thanks.io is headquartered in Two Rivers, Alaska and has been helping businesses nationwide through their direct mail platform since 2018. With a focus on simple and affordable direct mail solutions for businesses, Thanks.io works on the belief that direct mail is experiencing a resurgence due to the large number of insignificant emails people receive every day, which is why they make it easy for businesses to design and send out cards on a large scale.
#17 PFL Tactile Marketing Automation
PFL Tactile Marketing Automation is based in Livingston, Montana, and started out as a print shop in 1996. As times changed and businesses increasingly started to focus on digital marketing, PFL became an e-commerce printer in 1999. However, with the large amount of clutter consumers receive in their email inboxes every day, direct mail started to make a resurgence and PFL became a direct mail and gifting automation business in 2014.
Referring to direct mail as “tactile marketing”, PFL helps businesses to drive results by adding automated direct mail to their digital marketing efforts. Making use of AI and behavorial data to send mail that conveys the right message at the right time, PFL helps businesses to build better one-on-one relationships with their customers.
#18 Broadridge Direct Marketing
Broadridge Direct Marketing became independent from ADP in 2007 and has grown into a global fintech company since. Broadridge specializes in direct marketing for two industries: healthcare and wealth management. Understanding that wellness is one aspect of life that is highly individualized, Broadridge takes a personalized approach to direct marketing in order to build stronger patient relationships.
#19 Direct Response Mail Group
DRMG is a respected name in the direct mail and gifting automation industry in Canada. With over 15 years of experience serving Canadian businesses, DRMG allows businesses to build custom campaigns or advertise in one of their co-op publications. With the large number of emails being sent out to customers today, direct mail has the power to maximize impact and leave a lasting impression on customers. DRMG is the leading direct mail provider in Canada and does the heavy lifting for businesses so they can focus on other aspects of their operations.
#20 GrowMail
GrowMail is based in Tarpon Springs, Florida and offers a variety of services of direct mail services for businesses. Their direct mail API allows customized mail to be sent out to specific customers based on the actions they have taken, and mail can be sent out within an efficient 48 hours. Integrating seamlessly with your existing CRM or software, GrowMail’s direct mail API enables businesses to directly import customer data to generate direct mail.
