How do you market an ecommerce business when digital isn’t working?
What happens when an online giant like Amazon struggles to reach its small and mid-sized business prospects through digital marketing?
They go old school.
Amazon Business’ investment in digital marketing wasn’t delivering the results needed. Cost per conversion had risen to $200 – well over where the ecommerce business site wanted to be. So they decided to test direct mail to targeted business prospects.
The test consisted of a multitouch strategy focusing on the core industries with the highest acquisition costs: healthcare, food service and IT services.
A primary test variable was format: Amazon Business wanted to identify which format delivered the highest return on investment for the e-commerce site. Three types of mailers were developed: a standard letterpack, a letter pack with a card affix, and a simple postcard.
I knew that direct mail allowed Amazon Business to go into greater depth about the services provided to small and mid-sized businesses. I knew that the letterpack would outperform the postcard, and the letterpack with the card affix engagement device would top the letterpack in terms of response and conversion rates.
The only question was which format would deliver the highest ROI?
In the end, the letterpack card affixes generated the highest response rates, but the letterpack without card suffix delivered the highest ROI of all formats tested.
In all test markets, direct mail helped Amazon Business achieve a 10% lift in revenue, and reduced cost per conversion from $200 to $77.
