Lob's website experience is not optimized for Internet Explorer.
Please choose another browser.

Resources / Case studies /

VentureStack

VentureStack

VentureStack brings home 2x marketing results with intelligent direct mail

Impact at a glance

  • 8.3x return on ad spend from direct mail campaigns
  • 90 percent of marketing budget shifted to direct mail
  • 6x target ROAS consistently achieved, outperforming industry norms of 4–5x

“Direct mail is the cornerstone of our marketing program, and we’re going to continue to double down on what’s working for us.”

Tim McGarvey, Co-Founder

VentureStack

VentureStack has shifted 90% of its marketing budget to direct mail. See why.

Industry

Real Estate Investment

Website

https://venture-stack.com
Problem: Campaigns lacked personalization and efficiency

Direct mail for the real estate investing market had barely evolved in a decade. Most firms relied on generic handwritten templates that looked the same and lacked:

  • Personalization or customization options
  • Tracking tools like QR codes for attribution
  • Flexibility in structure, content, or calls to action

For VentureStack, these limitations meant struggling to stand out when trying to acquire new home-selling clients.

Manual execution added to the challenge:

  • Placing orders one by one and emailing representatives for batches
    Managing lists through Google Sheets
  • Losing time that could have gone to A/B testing and optimization

VentureStack needed technology to make direct mail as flexible and measurable as digital channels.

Solution:  Personalization and automation with Lob

VentureStack discovered Lob through a FinTech referral and quickly saw the difference automation could make.

With Lob, VentureStack can:

  • Customize every mailpiece with unique designs, property images, and sponsor details
  • Save time with automation, removing manual ordering bottlenecks
  • Experiment with structure (letters vs postcards, two-page vs one-page, different CTAs)
  • Track responses with QR codes, unique URLs, and phone numbers
  • Retarget leads by combining QR code scans with Facebook pixels and website tracking

“A real differentiator was the ability to customize our mail pieces. Not having the bottleneck of someone fulfilling an order was a big win from the start. I could focus on A/B testing and tweaking different things, so Lob was a big game changer for us.”

— Tim McGarvey, Co-Founder, VentureStack
‍

One standout example: a two-page letter introducing VentureStack’s services on page one and its qualifications and purchased properties on page two, complete with a personalized link and a photo of the representative.

Postcards also proved effective, using QR codes to drive prospects to a website form, where pixels retargeted them for further engagement.


“We’re able to craft very specific messages, including pictures of properties that look like their property in their neighborhood, and that’s been really powerful.”

— Tim McGarvey, Co-Founder, VentureStack​​

Results:  Direct mail becomes VentureStack’s top channel

VentureStack measures direct mail success by return on ad spend (ROAS), tracking each campaign with unique phone numbers and links.

  • 8.3x ROAS from direct mail, far exceeding the industry standard of 4–5x
  • 6x ROAS target met consistently, signaling a sustainable, scalable channel
  • 90 percent of marketing budget reallocated to direct mail campaigns
  • Increased lead flow and stronger online engagement driven by offline mail

“In our industry, companies normally target a 4 to 5 times return to be a viable, sustainable marketing channel. We have an 8.3 return on ad spend from direct mail, so we’re blowing that out of the water.”

— Tim McGarvey, Co-Founder, VentureStack

Campaign Spotlight:

One of VentureStack’s most successful campaigns featured a two-page personalized letter:

  • Page one introduced services and benefits
  • Page two highlighted qualifications and recent property purchases in the area
  • Included a personalized link and photo of the representative to add a human touch

This format drove strong engagement and conversions, reinforcing the value of personalization at scale.

Looking ahead:  

VentureStack recently integrated Lob with Podio’s customizable work management solution, layering in address verification and more advanced follow-up.

The company plans to continue scaling its direct mail program, optimizing campaigns, and doubling down on what works.

Resources / Case studies /

VentureStack

VentureStack brings home 2x marketing results with intelligent direct mail

  • 8.3x return on ad spend from direct mail campaigns
  • 90 percent of marketing budget shifted to direct mail
  • 6x target ROAS consistently achieved, outperforming industry norms of 4–5x

The challenge - Campaigns lacked personalization and customization

Direct mail for the real estate investing market hasn’t changed much in the last decade resulting in many firms using very similar-looking boilerplate mail. The templates were basic, handwritten letter formats and lacked personalization, customization options, and elements like QR codes for tracking and attribution. Because of the limiting templates, VentureStack struggled to stand out from the competition in its efforts to acquire new home-selling clients with its direct mail campaigns. VentureStack wanted options for its direct mail marketing, aiming to have the capability to personalize and craft its unique designs. Additionally, VentureStack sought the ability to experiment with various aspects, such as mail piece structure, length, content, calls to action, and methods of response, including QR codes, URLs, and phone numbers.

VentureStack was also getting hamstrung by the manual, time-consuming nature in which it was executing its direct mail campaigns. It was placing individual orders and then sending emails to representatives for different batches of mail. Furthermore, it was using Google Sheets to manage all of its lists.

The solution 

Enter Lob’s automated direct mail. VentureStack was introduced to Lob through a friend in the FinTech industry who was using Lob in a highly scalable manner. VentureStack was intrigued. 

A real differentiator was the ability to customize our mail pieces. And something that stood out immediately was not having the bottleneck of someone fulfilling an order. Having a technology integration to be able to get some of my time back and not have to focus on placing orders was a big win from the start. I could focus on A/B testing and finding new data,  and tweaking different things, so Lob was a big game changer for us. - Tim McGarvey, Co-Founder, VentureStack

VentureStack began using Lob in its new customer acquisition campaign for its home buying company, Green Street Home Buyers. It found near immediate success with a two-page letter. On the first page, VentureStack introduces its services and benefits. The second page provides the company's qualifications and the properties it’s purchased in the area. Lastly, it includes a trackable link to its website and an image of the person the prospect would be working with to give it a personal, human touch.

VentureStack has also had success using direct mail postcards. Its postcard includes a QR code to drive traffic to its website leading prospects to fill out a form. It then uses a Facebook pixel and pixels on its website to retarget and capture leads that way.

VentureStack direct mail letter example
VentureStack direct mail letter example with testimonials

McGarvey explains, “We're able to craft very specific messages that we think resonate with each person and customize it, including pictures of properties that look like their property in their neighborhood, and that’s been really powerful.”

VentureStack has also had success using direct mail postcards. Its postcards include a QR code to drive traffic to its website leading prospects to fill out a form. It then uses a Facebook pixel and pixels on its website to retarget and start to kind of capture leads that way. 

Direct mail has been a nice complement to our online initiatives. We’ve found that many people who receive direct mail will never pick up the phone and call us, but they'll check us out online. It's a highly effective way to be able to drive traffic to our online presence. And then we have the protocol set up with retargeting and recapturing that information to be able to monetize that later on down the line. - Tim McGarvey, Co-Founder, VentureStack

‍

Direct mail postcard from VentureStack

The results 

The most important metric VentureStack uses to measure the efficacy of its direct mail campaigns is return on ad spend (ROAS), essentially return on investment. It tracks each campaign with an individual phone number. VentureStack has done a lot of A/B testing of different types of content and types of lists to achieve its target of six times return on a campaign. McGarvey told us, “If we're at or above that mark, that's an indicator that we need to put effort into the channel, and we'll break that apart and figure out how to continue to increase the return.”

"In our industry, companies normally target a 4 to 5 times return to be a viable, sustainable marketing channel. We have an 8.3 return on ad spend from direct mail, so we're blowing that out of the water."

McGarvey and his team only realized how successful their direct mail campaigns were once they met with other companies and started benchmarking results. They quickly realized they had very successful campaigns and decided they needed to double down on direct mail marketing and optimize what was working. 

The future

VentureStack recently began using Lob’s integration with Podio’s customizable work management solution about six months ago and is layering in address verification and following up with people through Podio.

VentureStack plans to continue scaling up its direct mail marketing and has shifted 90% of its marketing budget to the channel. 

Direct mail is the cornerstone of our marketing program, and we’re going to continue to double down on what's working for us. - Tim McGarvey, Co-Founder, VentureStack

‍

See VentureStack's campaign examples on the Best Direct Mail Campaigns page here.

The Challenge

Direct mail for the real estate investing market had barely evolved in a decade. Most firms relied on generic handwritten templates that looked the same and lacked:

  • Personalization or customization options
  • Tracking tools like QR codes for attribution
  • Flexibility in structure, content, or calls to action

For VentureStack, these limitations meant struggling to stand out when trying to acquire new home-selling clients.

Manual execution added to the challenge:

  • Placing orders one by one and emailing representatives for batches
    Managing lists through Google Sheets
  • Losing time that could have gone to A/B testing and optimization

VentureStack needed technology to make direct mail as flexible and measurable as digital channels.

VentureStack

VentureStack has shifted 90% of its marketing budget to direct mail. See why.

Profile

VentureStack has shifted 90% of its marketing budget to direct mail. See why.

Industry

Real Estate Investment

Website

https://venture-stack.com

The Solution

VentureStack discovered Lob through a FinTech referral and quickly saw the difference automation could make.

With Lob, VentureStack can:

  • Customize every mailpiece with unique designs, property images, and sponsor details
  • Save time with automation, removing manual ordering bottlenecks
  • Experiment with structure (letters vs postcards, two-page vs one-page, different CTAs)
  • Track responses with QR codes, unique URLs, and phone numbers
  • Retarget leads by combining QR code scans with Facebook pixels and website tracking

“A real differentiator was the ability to customize our mail pieces. Not having the bottleneck of someone fulfilling an order was a big win from the start. I could focus on A/B testing and tweaking different things, so Lob was a big game changer for us.”

— Tim McGarvey, Co-Founder, VentureStack
‍

One standout example: a two-page letter introducing VentureStack’s services on page one and its qualifications and purchased properties on page two, complete with a personalized link and a photo of the representative.

Postcards also proved effective, using QR codes to drive prospects to a website form, where pixels retargeted them for further engagement.


“We’re able to craft very specific messages, including pictures of properties that look like their property in their neighborhood, and that’s been really powerful.”

— Tim McGarvey, Co-Founder, VentureStack​​

“Direct mail is the cornerstone of our marketing program, and we’re going to continue to double down on what’s working for us.”

Tim McGarvey, Co-Founder

Results

Next Steps

Conclusion

Mail that's high volume and high quality? Absolutely.

Highest Adoption Rate Fall 2025Fastest Implementation Fall 2025Best Est ROI Fall 2025Easiest to do business with Fall 2025

For more information about how this data is handled, please view our Privacy Policy

Blue Hero Form Status Bar Image