Instruments :: Lob - Tunes Ally

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At Music Ally, we enjoy to see strategies that include bodily mail to enthusiasts – whether it’s for the objective of teasing new songs or just gratifying superfans with some thing specific. It feels like a wonderful way to bridge the physical and electronic worlds, and excite lovers.

For case in point, some modern strategies that arrive to mind incorporate:

Noah Kahan celebrating the launch of the deluxe edition of his album “Stick Season” by supplying admirers with a Spotify application that would ship them a music-themed postcard dependent on their Spotify listening background (more data on this below).
ODESZA sending signed postcards to their leading enthusiasts with a cryptic message asking, “Is there ever seriously a past goodbye?” Printing a QR code on the card created it clear that some thing was going on – and it led to a exclusive landing website page exactly where it basically mentioned “welcome to the past goodbye”. That wording caused dialogue between lovers, with a Reddit thread all about it being full of speculation that this was heading to be the act’s ultimate pieces of songs – or even a farewell tour.
AURORA sending postcards to a couple of thousand enthusiasts globally. The artist then histed a dedicated livestream for Brazilian supporters, inquiring one lover to open up their postcard which uncovered a QR code that joined to a match with a teaser for new audio.

Just lately, we arrived across Lob, a startup that phone calls alone an “automation system that transforms immediate mail into clever mail”. What does that suggest in follow? Perfectly, Lob has a print delivery network throughout the US that permits customers to immediately print postcards and letters as near to the receiver as possible – and this overall flexibility permits for each tiny and significant campaigns.

Lob makes it possible for consumers to personalise the mail, and keep track of how recipients engage with it: for example, who scanned the QR code on their postcard. (Take note that this Analytics dashboard is only out there to Enterprise membership strategies – see pricing below.)

There is also the selection to integrate Lob into other sections of the campaign through Lob’s API: for the marketing campaign about Noah Kahan’s deluxe version of his album “Stick Season”, Republic Documents created a Spotify-based application where enthusiasts could get one particular of a sequence of music postcards relating to the tracks off the album, based mostly on their Spotify listening record.

Enthusiasts would then post their mailing addresses, decide on their postcard, and then have their card printed on need and transported to them.

What Tunes Ally likes about Lob:

You can develop a target viewers by uploading a .csv file (these kinds of as an artist’s mailing checklist) or by sending a recipient deal with per mail piece in an API call. The latter functionality was applied on the Noah Kahan marketing campaign. This is also a simple way to get a lot more admirer addresses for upcoming strategies by offering benefit to them, somewhat than inquiring them to share loads of data points all through the newsletter signal-up procedure.
This Kahan example displays that Lob’s API can be integrated within inventive songs campaigns and other APIs these as the Spotify API. The company gives a good deal of resources about its API and how builders can use it below.
Another fascinating attribute is Lob’s Deal with Verification which aids make sure your address databases is up-to-day – and that you’re only sending postcards and letters to confirmed supporter addresses.
Whilst larger strategies demand a subscription to the system, artist groups that are seeking at lesser superfan activations will be satisfied to listen to that there is a totally free tier for up to 500 mailouts. This does not contain accessibility to Lob’s analytics and you will need to shell out for the print and postage fees. The Modest Company System expenditures $260/month (3k mailings/thirty day period), the Progress System $550/thirty day period (6k mailings/month) and there is also a custom made Business Strategy offered.
Lob claims to be 100% carbon neutral – something which is important for the artists who care deeply about the environmental effect of their function, as effectively as fanbases who more and more price artists that select environmentally-pleasant alternatives.

Other out there alternatives:

There are a multitude of immediate mail corporations out there and the 1 that’s a appropriate healthy for your marketing campaign depends on what you’re trying to do. For case in point, place is a key aspect: Lob’s network is US-only at the minute. If you are attempting to send out postcards to admirers globally, you could possibly have to have to search for a unique resolution.

A different selecting element could be the funds and how complex or uncomplicated your solution may be: the two Handwrytten and Moo are alternatives in this article. These are firms that ship to numerous international locations globally – and do not involve a subscription package deal.