Podcast

Learn from Fast Growing 7-8 Figure Online Retailers and eCommerce Experts

EPISODE 231 44 mins

Leveraging Direct Mail Postcard Marketing Automation for eCommerce



About the guests

Michael Epstein

Kunle Campbell

Michael Epstein started his ecommerce journey by starting and scaling an ecommerce brand to over $10m in sales with a successful exit.

Michael is currently the CMO of AutoAnything, a 9-figure online retailer of aftermarket automotive accessories. He is also an investor and partner in PostPilot, an app that enables online stores to segment their customer list and automatically send personalized postcard campaigns just as they would with an email or SMS marketing automation platform.



In this episode, Kunle welcomes Michael Epstein to the show. Michael is the CMO of AutoAnything and investor-partner in PostPilot. Today, he shares his experience in growing and exiting a business, the challenges in acquiring an existing company, and how postcard mail helps in customer retention.

Covered Topics:

  • Michael’s Background
  • The Challenges in Acquiring AutoAnything
  • Focusing on Two Things
  • Modernizing Tech Stacks
  • Building and Exiting a Business
  • About PostPilot
  • Best Practices in Postcard Deliverability
  • 3 Ways Growing a Business
  • Customer Retention

Podcast Show Notes:

  • 01:49 – Easily Grow Your Business With A Powerful Marketing Automation Platform! Check out Klaviyo
  • 03:17 – Today’s Guest: Michael Epstein
  • 05:28 – Michael shares his background
    • Acquiring AutoAnything 2 years ago
    • Investing in SaaS companies
    • PostPilot, a direct-mail app for eCommerce stores
  • 08:32 – The challenges in acquiring a new business
    • Not being able to migrate a tech stack company
    • Team and culture differences
  • 10:41 – Focusing on the first two things:
    • Fixing the culture first
    • Starting execution
  • 13:04 – Modernizing the existing tech stack
  • 14:31 – Michael’s exit in his first company
  • 16:24 – More about PostPilot
    • Natively integrated with Shopify
    • The business has been running for 2 years
  • 17:00 – Get the easiest way to backup your Shopify or BigCommerce store and undo unwanted changes with Rewind.io… Mention you heard about them at 2x eCommerce Podcast and get a ONE MONTH FREE TRIAL
  • 20:42 – Best practices in deliverability standpoint
    • The key is recency
    • Campaign size depends on the size of your customers
    • Aim to get the second purchase
    • Automate sending an incentive
  • 24:58 – 3 ways to grow a business
    • Get more customers
    • Get your existing customers to spend more
    • Get existing customers to purchase frequently
  • 27:11 – What your postcard should look like
    • #1 = Personalized
    • Characteristics in an email campaign apply
  • 30:34 – Post delivery reporting
    • Dashboard available in PostPilot
  • 32:45 – PostPilot sends postcards worldwide
  • 35:38 – The surprise element
    • People like receiving mail from brands they’ve done business with
  • 40:16 – Customer retention
    • Key to growth and overall profitability
  • 42:28 – Email Michael at michael@postpilot.com
    • GET 15% OFF on your first postcard campaign
    • Use code: KUNLE15
  • 43:08 – Michael recommends the book, Traction
  • 44:08 – Join the 2xEcommerce Facebook Group

Topic Takeaways:

  • Buying an existing business is not easy; fix the culture first before starting the execution.
  • Personalization is always on top of any marketing campaign.
  • Fact: People like receiving mail from brands they’ve done business with.

Tweetable Quotes:

Getting the right people in the right seats is the key.

For an email campaign, you can flip that into a postcard campaign as well. Kind of taking advantage of the 80% or so that aren’t on your list or aren’t opening your emails.

[Tweet “Recency is typically the best indicator of engagement for any kind of marketing campaign.”]

 

Facebook Group • Continue the Conversation

The eCommerce GrowthAccelerator Mastermind Facebook Group has just launched.
It is a community…

✔️ for founders and experts passionately involved in eCommerce
✔️ for the truly ambitious wanting to make an impact in the markets they serve
✔️ for those willing and open to help and share with other members

Here is where to apply to join the Facebook group
>>http://bit.ly/ecommercefb<<

———–

SPONSORS:

This episode is brought to you by:

Klaviyo

This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo – a growth marketing platform that powers over 25,000 online businesses.
Direct-to-Consumer brands like ColourPop, Huckberry, and Custom Ink rely on Klaviyo.

Klaviyo helps you own customer experience and  grow high-value customer relationships right from a shopper’s first impression through to each subsequent purchase, Klaviyo understands every single customer interaction,  and empowers brands to create more personalized marketing moments.

Find out more on klaviyo.com/2x.

 

 

Rewind

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About the host:

Kunle Campbell

An ecommerce advisor to ambitious, agile online retailers and funded ecommerce startups seeking exponentially sales growth through scalable customer acquisition, retention, conversion optimisation, product/market fit optimisation and customer referrals.

Learn from eCommerce Entrepreneurs & Marketing Experts


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