How Direct Mail Became an Essential Marketing Channel for Dr. Squatch

It’s about more than soap. 

More than a decade ago, Jack Haldrup began crafting his own soap from natural ingredients that didn’t irritate his psoriasis and didn’t have stereotypically feminine scents. 

That project became Dr. Squatch, whose mission and size have grown dramatically. 

“Our mission is to inspire men to be happier and healthier,” said Dejan Rankovic, vice president of growth at Dr. Squatch. “The way we do that is by selling the best natural personal care products for men.”

The 9-figure brand has expanded into hair care, deodorant, face wash and more, with scents like Alpine sage and grapefruit IPA. They’ve even run a national Superbowl ad.

In addition to great scents and an attention-getting brand, the growth is driven by a sophisticated approach to marketing. Dr. Squatch’s team is thoughtful about how it deploys its dollars, and rigorously tests its channels and campaigns. 

When something works, Dr. Squatch knows it. That’s why direct mail has become a core channel—and PostPilot its preferred partner. 

In this case study, we’ll lay out how Dr. Squatch is using PostPilot’s direct mail campaigns for incremental revenue and growth, product launches, and more.

The Problem: Email and SMS Aren’t Enough

It should be no surprise that a successful consumer brand like Dr. Squatch goes hard on social ads, email and SMS marketing. 

But even the savviest brands can only reach a fraction of their customers and prospects through those channels. In many cases, just 10% of a brand’s most valuable audience—previous customers—is getting the message. That means lots of money is being left on the table. 

Even people that brands are reaching may not be inspired enough by digital channels to make a purchase. 

When it came to direct mail, Rankovic said that Dr. Squatch had two goals:

• Reach customers more effectively than with SMS or email 
• Add a tangible touchpoint to its marketing portfolio

When it comes to partners, the company is picky, Rankovic said. They want to make sure they’re using the best. 

“PostPilot was recommended to us by a lot of other brands,” he said. “They have the broadest and highest quality roster of brands. We were very confident that we were picking the right team to go into direct mail with.” 

The Promise: Unmatched Reach + Powerful Analytics

Dr. Squatch is very thoughtful about how it deploys its marketing budget. It invests in testing and data analysis to make sure its channels deliver incremental results. 

“It was clear that PostPilot had the best analytical prowess to make sure that we were measuring ROI effectively,” Rankovic said

PostPilot made the rest of the process easy, too. 

“They offer a full service that includes creative development, collaboration on the strategy and the targeting and overall measurement of success,” he said.

PostPilot’s professional strategists and designers helped formulate the campaigns and made sure all the creative aligned with Dr. Squatch’s distinctive look and voice. 

The brand decided to start with winbacks and see how they went. The results blew them away. 

The Postcard: Retention Wins and More 

Dr. Squatch began with a series of one-off campaigns that let it test a slew of customer variables. It looked at whether or not a customer had engaged with email or or opted in to SMS, how many times they’d ordered, how much they tended to spend, how long it had been since their last order, and more. 

This postcard was sent to customers who weren’t receiving SMS messages and hadn’t ordered in seven to nine months. 

The front was personalized and offered 20% off the next purchase of at least $30. 

The back reiterated the offer, as well as some cheeky copy that was right in line with the brand’s irreverent voice. 

The campaign yielded a startling 12.66% conversion rate and a ROAS of more than 10x.

It wasn’t a one-hit wonder. 

The Payoff: Converting Customers Who Ignored Other Channels

The team dug deeper, testing other segments and measuring incremental lift. 

Dr. Squatch had assumed that customers who weren’t engaging on SMS or email were less valuable. It also expected that direct mail sent to email and SMS subscribers would provide a negligible lift. 

“That was not the case,” Rankovic said. “It was very clear that direct mail can be an effective tool to more directly target customers in a more meaningful way.”

Customers who hadn’t purchased in months or even years started buying again when they received the brand’s direct mail campaigns. People who were subscribed to email but hadn’t opened messages in months also converted, giving that campaign an 11x ROAS. 

The tests alone generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue. To lock in those valuable returns, Dr. Squatch set about automating them—and expanding its investment in direct mail. 

“The overall measurement of incrementality has been a huge win,” Rankovic said. “We're very confident in the results that we've seen.” 

The Postscript: Going Full-Funnel with PostPilot

Direct mail is now an essential part of Dr. Squatch’s marketing portfolio: “A huge generator of revenue,” Rankovic said. 

Now the company is moving up the customer funnel, turning to acquisition and using PostPilot to generate brand awareness. 

Dr. Squatch turned to PostPilot for the release of its limited-edition Spider-Man soap, Star Wars collab and holiday products. 

“You need to go with PostPilot. They're super easy to work with, and the quality is unmatched,” Rankovic said. “If you're looking to go into direct mail, there really is no better partner.”