6 Good Reasons to Test Into Insert Media
May 2008 By Britt Brouse, Associate Editor, Inside Direct Mail
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Direct mailers now face the 2008 postal rate increases, in effect on May 12, along with heightened paper and production costs and a sluggish economy. In a doom-and-gloom environment, insert media is a promising option to expand both your company’s marketing reach and pocketbooks.
With new insert programs built every day, there are varied opportunities for mailers to cash in. “There are companies out there that are not using insert media—that probably should be. I think there’s a lot more out there that we can reach,” says Judy Feyas, VP of insert media sales, for Specialist Marketing Services in Hasbrouck Heights, N.J.
Taking a look at today’s trends, Feyas and other leading experts recommend the top reasons for direct mailers to consider testing package inserts and other direct mail-based insert programs.
1. Managing a Program Buys Instant Exposure
Opening an insert media program not only creates a new revenue stream, it also gives your company brand exposure. “Every single time that program is marketed to a broker, there’s a brand recognition and visibility of what they actually sell. If I’m looking for insert programs for an advertiser and I’m flipping through them, that name L.L. Bean keeps jumping out at me. And after a while you say, ‘Oh yeah, I wanted to buy a jacket.’ So they get visibility for their brand recognition and what they’re selling constantly, and that’s free,” says Diane Caruso, owner and president of Amherst, N.H.-based Choice Media.
2. Get New Leads at Low Costs
A big benefit of insert media is its acquisition capability. “One of the things that insert media can do is create a new incremental source of acquiring new customers for our mailers,” says Dennis Erickson, VP of insert and print media in the Minneapolis office of Paradysz Matera. “I know advertisers that the only way they get customers is through insert media; their entire company is insert media,” adds Caruso.
What makes the insert such a low acquisition cost is the marketer’s ability to leverage the media purchase to produce a favorable cost per lead. “The response needs to be in conjunction with the media cost, so the lower you can negotiate a media cost, the response doesn’t have to work as hard to generate an acceptable cost per customer,” Erickson says.
3. Inserts Offset Mailing Costs
With new insert programs built every day, there are varied opportunities for mailers to cash in. “There are companies out there that are not using insert media—that probably should be. I think there’s a lot more out there that we can reach,” says Judy Feyas, VP of insert media sales, for Specialist Marketing Services in Hasbrouck Heights, N.J.
Taking a look at today’s trends, Feyas and other leading experts recommend the top reasons for direct mailers to consider testing package inserts and other direct mail-based insert programs.
1. Managing a Program Buys Instant Exposure
Opening an insert media program not only creates a new revenue stream, it also gives your company brand exposure. “Every single time that program is marketed to a broker, there’s a brand recognition and visibility of what they actually sell. If I’m looking for insert programs for an advertiser and I’m flipping through them, that name L.L. Bean keeps jumping out at me. And after a while you say, ‘Oh yeah, I wanted to buy a jacket.’ So they get visibility for their brand recognition and what they’re selling constantly, and that’s free,” says Diane Caruso, owner and president of Amherst, N.H.-based Choice Media.
2. Get New Leads at Low Costs
A big benefit of insert media is its acquisition capability. “One of the things that insert media can do is create a new incremental source of acquiring new customers for our mailers,” says Dennis Erickson, VP of insert and print media in the Minneapolis office of Paradysz Matera. “I know advertisers that the only way they get customers is through insert media; their entire company is insert media,” adds Caruso.
What makes the insert such a low acquisition cost is the marketer’s ability to leverage the media purchase to produce a favorable cost per lead. “The response needs to be in conjunction with the media cost, so the lower you can negotiate a media cost, the response doesn’t have to work as hard to generate an acceptable cost per customer,” Erickson says.
3. Inserts Offset Mailing Costs
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