Drip, the marketing automation unit of Minneapolis software developer Leadpages, is adding the direct-mail service of another local startup company, Inkit, to its main product.
With it, businesses and individuals who use Drip to design the marketing portion of their websites will be able to add direct mail as one of the actions that can be triggered by customers. Previously, Drip has allowed for e-mail, text messages and advertising to be used to communicate based on customer actions.
"It's really bringing direct mail into the digital world, encompassing all communication styles," said Brandon Lytle, partnerships director at Leadpages.
Inkit, founded last year by Michael McCarthy and Abram Isola, created a way for businesses to design and print customized advertising and get it mailed in one online process online. Typically, businesses have to rely on several firms to design, print and distribute direct mail. Inkit's process allows customized messages with no minimum printings.
For Inkit, the integration of its service into Drip's main workflow product is a major expansion. The company has been marketing itself, but it will now get access to the tens of thousands of customers Leadpages has built up since its start in 2012.
Drip won't charge customers for the Inkit add-on and provides its web-based service to the smallest businesses, those with customer lists of under 100 addresses, for free. Inkit gets revenue from orders for direct mail.
