Stepping Ahead: How LANX Uses Direct Mail to Reach the Unreachable

When you’re a proudly independent British shoe brand with loyal customers who expect quality and authenticity, every channel you use has to feel right for the individual. For LANX, digital marketing had always been the primary focus, but with a valuable and growing segment of customers choosing not to receive email or sms comms, a new approach was needed to ensure they didn’t lapse.

"There are some loyal, repeat customers who couldn’t be reached digitally, and with many exciting product launches, events and a brand new loyalty scheme to promote, we didn’t want to leave them in the dark simply because we couldn’t email them."

- James Tresadern, CRM Lead - Marketing

That’s where ZAP~POST stepped in. Almost two years ago, LANX started sending highly-targeted postcard campaigns to their non-digitally contactable customers - those who opted out of receiving email and sms marketing. The results saw Direct Mail quickly becoming not just a “nice to have,” but a measurable driver of sales and brand loyalty.

From gaps in data to a new channel of growth

The LANX digital team spotted an opportunity with a portion of their database being unreachable by email or sms. Rather than risk these customers drifting away, they turned to Direct Mail as a way of physically reconnecting, the ‘old-fashioned’ way.

LANX’s very first campaigns confirmed the potential. A targeted send for their hiker boot launch delivered a 1.4% conversion rate within 60 days – a significant win considering these customers were unresponsive or avoidant of all other channels. With only three or four opt-outs per campaign, engagement stayed consistently strong.

"We’ve managed to convert people we had no other way of speaking to and were at risk of lapsing."

- James Tresadern, CRM Lead - Marketing

Campaigns that match the brand

Every LANX campaign has to feel authentic. From the brand’s bi-annual “Backdoor” sale (coined after their founding story of storing shoes behind the back door of a local pub) to their in-person sample sales, direct mail gave LANX the ability to keep messaging fresh while staying on-brand.

And while LANX avoids splashy “Sale” messaging to protect their positioning, Direct Mail postcards allow them to speak directly to the right customers at the right time with incentives and messaging tailored specifically to the recipient. Tracking ensures an eye is kept on performance through unique discount codes, Shopify reporting, and UTM-tagged QR codes.

The correlation between mail recipients and orders told a clear story: customers were engaging, and direct mail was certainly working.

Measurable ROI that stacks up

When looking at campaign results across 30 and 60-day windows, LANX consistently saw strong returns:

Average: ROAS 2.22 (30 days) → 2.60 (60 days)

These results reassured the team that Direct Mail could hold its own in their marketing mix – especially when used selectively with their hyper-targeted segments.

"For LANX, Direct Mail via ZAP~POST has been effective in reaching customers who are showing interest (browsing our website for example), but that we have no other way of speaking to via the typical digital methods of abandoned browse & cart email flows..."

- James Tresadern, CRM Lead - Marketing

Support that makes it easy

James highlighted the role of the ZAP~POST team in making the process smooth and stress-free.

"The ZAP~POST team have been brilliant throughout. Someone’s always on-hand to answer questions, help with tech queries, or point us to an existing help guide. The App itself is intuitive whilst still being rather simple to navigate and use, so building and sending campaigns feels really straightforward regardless of how complex the segmentation and level of personalisation may be. To date, we’re yet to experience a single issue with any of the campaigns we have sent."

- James Tresadern, CRM Lead - Marketing

LANX use the ZAP App regularly to build and send their campaigns, with the team describing the experience as intuitive and reliable – especially for last-minute changes.

Looking Ahead: more creativity, more personalisation

With confidence in the channel, LANX are already planning how to scale their Direct Mail strategy. Ideas on their horizon include:

• Geographic targeting

• Loyalty engagement

• Trying out new Direct Mail formats

• Cross-selling & promoting repair services

• Taking advantage of the Klaviyo Flows Integration

"We’re conscious not to over-market & lose loyal customers – that’s not our style. Timing Direct Mail campaigns strategically works perfectly for us, and we can do that in an automated fashion via the Klaviyo flow integration."

- James Tresadern, CRM Lead - Marketing

 For James, it all comes back to balance: reaching lapsed or offline customers without overstepping. By using ZAP~POST, LANX can keep campaigns personal, respectful, and brand-consistent – all while proving ROI.