Outer’s Multi-Phase Direct Mail Approach During Peak Seasonality

“We rely on SLM as partners to identify new markets, focus on core customers in key areas, and measure our reach opportunities with actual results. We’ve been exceptionally happy with their measurement efforts and holdouts to show the effectiveness of this channel as a standout leader in our marketing portfolio.”



Jeff Cedeno, Sr. Director of Ecommerce

Overview

Outer was founded with a vision to reimagine how people interact with their outdoor spaces. Based in California, Outer is renowned for its innovative and sustainable approach to designing outdoor furniture that seamlessly blends functionality with contemporary aesthetics.

The Problem

Outer came to SLM looking for a way to acquire new customers leading up to summer (their peak season) by using various DM tactics across shared, standalone, and trigger-based mail. In addition to prospecting, they wanted to increase the effectiveness of their retargeting and cross-sell efforts to convert more leads into customers and increase existing customer LTV. Outer relied on SLM to take a look at historical performance in the channel and put together a multi-phase recommendation.

Our Solution

SLM took a data-driven approach and analyzed Outer’s historical campaign results from 2021-2022. The data suggested that by aligning their direct mail campaigns with their brand’s summer peak, the team could drive better performance. This led to SLM putting together a cohesive multi-drop campaign proposal in conjunction with their internal promotional calendar. SLM also suggested incorporating existing customer segments into their targeting strategy to boost overall campaign-level performance; this included VIP customers around certain holidays and sale events to quickly get in homes and drive conversions.

Results

Outer’s spring campaign exceeded goals with an incremental ROAS of 5x for prospecting and an impressive 14x for retargeting/retention. They have since set up campaigns to run outside of their peak season and results have continued to be strong across the board.