Programmatic mail specialist boosts green credentials

Paperplanes, one of the pioneers of programmatic direct mail marketing in the UK, has reinforced the company’s commitment to green business practices by partnering with environmental organisation TeamTrees and pledging to make a donation towards reforestation.

Teamtrees is a collaborative fundraiser that raised over $24m from launch in October 2019 to July 2022, and continues to raising funds to plant trees. All donations go to the Arbor Day Foundation, which pledges to plant one tree for every dollar they receive. Paperplanes will now attempt to aid its goal of planting 25 million trees by the end of this month.

The issue of direct mail’s environmental impact is a contentious one; many believe the paper industry is one of the world’s biggest contributors to deforestation but the sector argues that it only uses sustainable practices.

And by its very nature, programmatic personalised mail allows companies to reduce their mail volumes – Paperplanes insists by up to 78% compared to conventional postal marketing – while still achieving their performance targets.

Even so, Paperplanes is still keen to bang the environmental drum.

In addition to the partnership, the company is committed to continuous optimisation based on proprietary data software continually improving the sustainability of programmatic mail marketing while enhancing platform efficacy and efficiency.

It argues that this gives brands an automated “hands off” marketing option that optimises impact in the physical world and minimises waste.

Since its launch, with initial backing from both Royal Mail and Go Inspire Group, Paperplanes says it has been committed to sustainable business practices, ensuring that marketers print only what is needed to succeed. The firm maintains it increases the average conversion rate for marketing campaigns compared to all digital counterparts up to 12-fold.

Paperplanes estimates these practices can save millions of trees, with each one removing 16KGs of carbon a year.

CEO Daniel Dunn said: “Paperplanes is focused on a culture of conscious marketing and helping brands reduce their postal campaigns’ carbon footprint with sustainable materials, enabling a targeted approach to digital-to-direct mail and fostering partnerships for social good.

“We recognise the brands we partner with are socially conscious, and we support their efforts by providing a sustainable, transparent and engaging way to reach consumers. We’re committed to providing solutions to brands that help them achieve their marketing objectives whilst also helping set the standard for green marketing.”