In October 2020, PebblePost achieved profitability for the first time. One year later, we’re rounding out yet another record-breaking year and ongoing profitability. And I could not be more proud of all the incredible progress we’ve made. As brands demonstrate an appetite to invest in channels that provide performance at scale in trusted mediums with high levels of respect for the consumer, we’ve seen adoption of PebblePost’s products accelerate this year. That’s helped us generate phenomenal momentum into 2022 and beyond.
On this, our “profit-iversary,” I wanted to reflect back on how far we’ve come and what a testament that is to the true power of Programmatic Direct Mail® and our highly talented team.
A Multi-Product Platform for the Full Customer Lifecycle
We saw very strong demand from marketers for the Lookalikes and GraphMail products we introduced in 2020. These products, powered by the Programmatic Direct Mail® Platform and fueled by our proprietary data asset, the PebblePost Graph, work together to enable marketers to reach consumers across the entire customer lifecycle.
In mid-2020, brands turned to GraphMail to focus on customer retention and reactivation. Starting in late summer and fall of that year, we saw even stronger adoption of Lookalikes, as brands turned their attention to acquisition, growth, and winning market share. Now more than 70% of our top brands are using two or more products, which work together seamlessly on our platform.
A Proprietary Data Asset Fueled by First-Party Data
One of the “secret ingredients” of our Programmatic Direct Mail® Platform is the PebblePost Graph. This unique data asset is structured around Households, not third-party cookies. The PebblePost Graph consists of privacy compliant, first-party data from more than 350 high quality brands. It processes 10,000 data points per mail-piece and powers unparalleled match rates, linking online intent to 97% of US households. That’s how we’re able to ensure brands their message will be delivered with the highest standards of relevance and respect.
The PebblePost Graph is fully compliant with all consumer choice and privacy regulations. As our veteran team plots a course of continuous innovation, they use consumer respect as their north star. That’s a big reason why so many of the industry’s largest brands have chosen to trust PebblePost with their valuable data in order to drive exceptional marketing performance in the last year.
A Consistent Track Record of Outperforming Brand Performance Goals
Our mission with every one of our brand partners is to enable marketing performance by delivering respectful and relevant messaging to consumers at home. Powered by the full-stack PDM® platform, PebblePost Graph data, machine-learning algorithms, and workflow automation, we have become a “one stop shop” for marketers looking to invest in this powerful channel.
Attribution is still an industry challenge, it can be complex and often challenging. We built an automated reporting methodology based on feedback from our toughest marketers to understand how PDM is driving incremental conversions and sales for their business. Every marketer we work with sets a ROAS or CPA goal, and every single marketing program we run features a hold-out group so we can measure the true lift.
We track conversions from all points of sale, not just digital, at the unique postal address level, so our reporting is precise, granular, transparent, and methodologically sound. And since adopting this methodology over a year ago, we’re proud that 98% of all our marketer partners have exceeded their KPIs – many by orders of magnitude.
An Incredibly Talented, Growing Team
Of course, none of our success would be possible without an incredible team. We have hired 25 talented people so far this year across every single department, and have been able to promote a number of talented veterans. Nick Dujnic joined last quarter to head up Marketing, and Rahul Lahiri joined a few weeks ago to lead Product.
In keeping with today’s evolved workplace environment, we have a hybrid office policy, instituted First Friday Holidays, opened up our recruiting to “hire anywhere”, and our employees and leadership have created an Employee Experience team that has been the catalyst for many great events.
Just Getting Started
This year we’re on track to more than double revenue, and we expect to be able to deliver high growth with expanding profit margins. Our brands are signing more multi-product pilots, quickly scaling growth and performance, and seeing a bigger impact to their own sales across all touchpoints. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding.
That said, this is a large market and we’re still in early days. With marketers spending $455B in digital and nearly $60B in direct mail, we sit at the intersection of two immense channels. As brands experience higher costs, limitations in their ability to scale, declining engagement and increasing fatigue from many digital channels, the need for truly differentiate channels that drive both performance and growth will only increase
Enter Programmatic Direct Mail®. I could not be more excited to share our progress and plans in the next year. Stay tuned!
Go PebblePost!
