Penny Black FAQs
Keep reading for answers to common questions about how to implement Penny Black, our sustainability credentials and how we work with your marketing and fulfilment solutions.
Implementing Penny Black
Penny Black works by taking customer data directly from your ecommerce platform and bringing it into the Penny Black platform. You can then create segments as well as personalised campaigns and designs based on your customers’ profiles, demographics, purchase history and more. Your campaigns are then ready to go and start delighting customers and growing their lifetime value.
At the same time, the Penny Black team will set up the printers you need in your fulfilment centre (whether you fulfil in-house or using a 3PL). Once the set-up is complete, your flyers will print on demand at the fulfilment centre as part of the pick and pack process. Head here to read more about how the Penny Black platform works.
It only takes one click to integrate Penny Black into your store and we tend to need half a day (or less, depending on how many printers you need) to set up the print tech in your fulfilment centre.
Time is then spent creating designs and setting up campaigns. This can be as fast or as slow as you need to make sure you’re happy with the designs and campaigns we launch with.
After launch, designs and campaigns can be tweaked in real-time, within the Penny Black platform, without causing any delays to your pick and pack processes.
Once we’ve connected Penny Black to your ecommerce store, we’ll have a meeting to discuss your business objectives, the kinds of campaigns you want to run and how we can help create your designs. We’ll then be on hand to set up those campaigns with you within the platform.
We’ll also set up a fortnightly catch-up to make sure we’re always working together to see results with Penny Black.
Aside from this, we'll also need an introduction to the individual that handles operations in your fulfilment centre so we can make sure the set-up is as smooth as possible. Set up can then take as little as an hour (depending on how many printers you need).
No, we don’t. Instead, we give you the power to personalise every unboxing moment – whether that’s through leaflets or stickers. What we do provide is the consumables for your Penny Black flyers. That includes all the ink and paper you need. We also monitor these levels closely to make sure you never run out.
If you would like to be introduced to a packaging partner, don’t hesitate to reach out to info@pennyblack.io
This depends on your order volume and how many campaigns you’re running through Penny Black. It will also depend on how you fulfil orders and how many packing benches you use. We’ll always advise on the correct amount of printers to meet your needs.
Sustainability
We try and operate as sustainably as possible – always opting for eco-friendly papers, inks and printers. Keep reading for more information on how we make these stages of our process as sustainable as possible.
We only work with recyclable and sustainably sourced FSC certified and eco-label awarded paper stocks. We also offer you the choice of using recycled or non-recycled paper depending on how intricate you want your designs to be.
We only use water-based inks that are much less harmful to the environment than petroleum-based inks. They’re also non-toxic and make our flyers much easier to recycle. Plus, because the ink is water soluble, it takes much less energy and fewer chemicals to strip it. And, finally, we only purchase ink cartridges that are made of recycled materials and even manage a recycling program with our clients.
We do our best to make each and every print count so we don’t create excess waste. There are four key ways we do this:
- First, because our service is only print-on-demand, it means you won’t ever be left with excess, unusable prints that end up getting thrown away
- Because our flyers are personalised we’re making sure we’re always creating purposeful marketing that customers will treasure and keep, rather than adding clutter to their lives
- Our flyers allow brands to consolidate information that would normally be spread across multiple pieces of paper (for example, return slips and receipts)
- Finally, all the paper we use is recyclable and sustainably sourced
We use inkjet printers because they’re fast and use much less energy than laser-based printers. The model of printer we use consumes up to 85% less power and generates 85% less CO2 than laser printers.
Penny Black and your Marketing
Our cost-per-print model will make sure you see a significant return on investment. Clients already using Penny Black see a 300% ROI within three months and an average of £1.10 return per insert. Not only does Penny Black contribute a direct revenue uplift, but it also improves the performance of other KPIs including retention rates, customer lifetime value (CLTV) and lower customer acquisition costs (CACs).
We’re building integrations all the time to make sure Penny Black is an essential part of your marketing stack and will be able to integrate with your ESP (email service provider), SMS platform, loyalty program and reviews provider.
If you have an integration suggestion, email us at info@pennyblack.io
Overall, personalised experiences delight customers and, ultimately, keep them loyal long term. In fact, 80% of shoppers say they are more likely to purchase from a company offering personalised experiences. And, any direct mail that includes the customers’ name, increases response rates by as much as 135%. When we compare Penny Black’s personalised flyers to the performance of direct mail, brands see a 3% higher scan rate, showing that when the content is personalised, customers engage with it more.
In a nutshell, personalised flyers motivate customers to take action and in turn, converts them into long-term loyal advocates.
Our platform allows you to see and track key metrics including; total matched orders, total printed flyers, total scans and scan rate. We also have an integration with Google Analytics meaning you can bring in specific data such as sessions, transactions, revenue, AOV and conversion rate for customers that have scanned a Penny Black flyer. Plus, because all the QR codes including tracking URLs, you’re able to see the journeys customers take when they land back on your site.
There’s a whole multitude of campaigns you can run depending on your business objectives and your customer base. You can create segments for new customers, all customers and loyal customers. Or, on particular customer attributes like the number of orders a customer has made, their location or what product they’ve bought (and much more).
You can then create designs with all kinds of content. This could include: discounts, content related to the purchase (like recipes or how-to tutorials), requests to leave reviews or make referrals or to sign up for your newsletter – the possibilities are endless. Check out this ebook, full of examples of high-performing Penny Black campaigns, for inspiration.
We specialise in hyper-personalisation meaning you can personalise based on previously bought SKUs, the number of orders a customer has made, location, language and more. All data is synced across from your existing ecommerce platform.
