Sweetgreen’s Drive-to-Store DM Strategy Boosts Conversions at New Store Locations

“The SLM team is always willing to accommodate our evolving needs and timelines, making adjustments to our campaign as necessary without any hesitation. Their swift response times to our inquiries and requests ensure that we never experience any delays or setbacks throughout the process.”

Ashley Edwards, Marketing Manager

Overview

Founded in 2006, Sweetgreen is a fast-casual restaurant chain that offers simple, seasonal, healthy salads and grain bowls made in-house from scratch, using whole produce delivered that morning.

The Problem

Sweetgreen approached SLM in 2022 intending to drive awareness and increase conversions at new store locations. Their goal was to use direct mail to bring new customers into recently launched locations and increase purchase frequency among prospects by offering them redeemable coupons on the mailer.

Our Solution

With SLM’s expertise, Sweetgreen was able to reach potential new customers through the use of Smart Saturation, a targeting method that allows clients to “saturate” zip codes and USPS carrier routes within a geo-targeted area at a very efficient postage rate. The SLM team also recommended applying high-level filters, such as median income, on the data to further narrow targeting. Through the use of a 6x11 postcard with 3 separate tear-off coupons, Sweetgreen was able to reach prospects with multiple compelling offers and encourage repeat visits among prospects. The creative also included a store address callout to increase the visibility of each new store location.

Results

Sweetgreen’s March 2024 campaign achieved an average CPA of $26 based on in-store offer redemptions across multiple store locations. Sweetgreen continues to scale the channel by mailing up to 175K circulation per campaign and continuously tests new formats and offers to gain learnings with each campaign.