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As marketers continue to adjust to the May 2007 U.S. Postal Service rate hike, more companies are attracted to the world of insert media, says Doug Guyer, president of new business development for Berwyn, Pa.–based International Direct Response. Low costs and circulation in the millions make inserts a viable supplement for almost any marketing program. The seven tips below will help jump-start your insert media strategy.
1. Make a strong offer.
Focus on the offer and call to action before branding initiatives. “Insert media can have some brand marketing benefits, but it is best looked at as a direct response marketing vehicle,” says Ben Quigley, vice president of marketing for Songbird Hearing, the New Brunswick, N.J.–based creator of the first disposable digital hearing aid, and former director of marketing at Vonage, a telecommunications firm. Along the same line, Guyer warns marketers against “taking their print ad campaign, putting it on an insert and expecting to get response, when it’s just about brand awareness and there’s no call-to-action.” If you have a product that’s complex, an insert approach may not be feasible.
2. Establish good price points.
Price points below $10 work best for freestanding inserts (FSIs), and prices between $20 and $30 are most successful for package insert programs (PIPs), says Al Stanton, president of Elmira, N.Y.-based Stanton Direct Marketing. Bolstering a good offer with free shipping or an exclusive discount helps boost response. Offer deadlines are good motivators but must be relative to the carriers’ distribution time line. Avoid heavy discounts, which may win in response but come out as a bottom-line loss.
3. Use big numbers to your advantage.
“You can test 250,000 package inserts for the cost of roughly 30,000 to 35,000 direct mail pieces,” Guyer says. FSIs can reach millions of potential customers for only $5,000 or $10,000, according to Stanton. For a client’s first PIP test, Guyer recommends a 250,000-piece campaign with multiple test cells, and Stanton suggests clients test into FSIs at between 1 million and 2 million pieces on their first trial.
4. Vary your approach.
For the first rollout, “test as many channels as you can afford,” recommends Jill Eastman Vidal, director of third party marketing for 1-800-Flowers.com. “If you’re testing a number of different variables and any of those variables win, that opens up a greater universe or a greater potential for you,” Quigley adds. Even if you get poor results on your first rollout, you will gain valuable information about which channels to use and which audiences to approach on your second time out.
5. Always include tracking.
Key coding is a big strength in insert media and should be applied in every campaign. For each offer or variable, use a unique code and keep the codes simple. Vidal suggests incorporating the name of the offer into the code and using unique URLs and toll-free numbers for each item tested. If you are driving prospects online, use pURLs or mandate that prospects enter a key code to effectively monitor this channel.
6. Maintain control with a broker.
Brokers are key to achieving printing and placement discounts, as well as to maintaining a high level of communication and timeliness “In insert media, you’re dependent on somebody else’s business, projections and operations to get your ads out there,” Quigley says. As an intermediary between program managers and carriers, a broker alleviates some of the industry’s stresses. When sourcing a broker, look for an individual “who anticipates your needs, understands your business and is looking out for you from a competitive perspective,” Vidal notes. “It’s really a two-way street,” Guyer adds. “The company needs to educate the broker on who their target consumer is and the broker needs to come to the table with their advertising media history to match up the right lists and vehicles.”
7. Be timely.
Low entry costs may mean lower risk to a lot of marketers, but to maximize the benefits of insert media, allow enough lead time to develop a successful campaign. Quigley advises marketers build a sizable learning curve into their programs, so that initial results can lead to better targeting and a surer path to their coveted niche audience. In a competitive industry, marketers also need time to get clearance into popular programs. “I’ve already got mailers placing orders in my program out in the second quarter [of 2008],” Vidal reveals.
Succeed in insert media, and you stand to gain what Guyer cleverly calls “an annuity of new customers every month.” With a diverse offering of programs and vehicles and a potential circulation in the millions, “there’s enough opportunity out there that insert media can become a really important part of the marketing mix for any company that recognizes what it can do,” Quigley concludes.
1. Make a strong offer.
Focus on the offer and call to action before branding initiatives. “Insert media can have some brand marketing benefits, but it is best looked at as a direct response marketing vehicle,” says Ben Quigley, vice president of marketing for Songbird Hearing, the New Brunswick, N.J.–based creator of the first disposable digital hearing aid, and former director of marketing at Vonage, a telecommunications firm. Along the same line, Guyer warns marketers against “taking their print ad campaign, putting it on an insert and expecting to get response, when it’s just about brand awareness and there’s no call-to-action.” If you have a product that’s complex, an insert approach may not be feasible.
2. Establish good price points.
Price points below $10 work best for freestanding inserts (FSIs), and prices between $20 and $30 are most successful for package insert programs (PIPs), says Al Stanton, president of Elmira, N.Y.-based Stanton Direct Marketing. Bolstering a good offer with free shipping or an exclusive discount helps boost response. Offer deadlines are good motivators but must be relative to the carriers’ distribution time line. Avoid heavy discounts, which may win in response but come out as a bottom-line loss.
3. Use big numbers to your advantage.
“You can test 250,000 package inserts for the cost of roughly 30,000 to 35,000 direct mail pieces,” Guyer says. FSIs can reach millions of potential customers for only $5,000 or $10,000, according to Stanton. For a client’s first PIP test, Guyer recommends a 250,000-piece campaign with multiple test cells, and Stanton suggests clients test into FSIs at between 1 million and 2 million pieces on their first trial.
4. Vary your approach.
For the first rollout, “test as many channels as you can afford,” recommends Jill Eastman Vidal, director of third party marketing for 1-800-Flowers.com. “If you’re testing a number of different variables and any of those variables win, that opens up a greater universe or a greater potential for you,” Quigley adds. Even if you get poor results on your first rollout, you will gain valuable information about which channels to use and which audiences to approach on your second time out.
5. Always include tracking.
Key coding is a big strength in insert media and should be applied in every campaign. For each offer or variable, use a unique code and keep the codes simple. Vidal suggests incorporating the name of the offer into the code and using unique URLs and toll-free numbers for each item tested. If you are driving prospects online, use pURLs or mandate that prospects enter a key code to effectively monitor this channel.
6. Maintain control with a broker.
Brokers are key to achieving printing and placement discounts, as well as to maintaining a high level of communication and timeliness “In insert media, you’re dependent on somebody else’s business, projections and operations to get your ads out there,” Quigley says. As an intermediary between program managers and carriers, a broker alleviates some of the industry’s stresses. When sourcing a broker, look for an individual “who anticipates your needs, understands your business and is looking out for you from a competitive perspective,” Vidal notes. “It’s really a two-way street,” Guyer adds. “The company needs to educate the broker on who their target consumer is and the broker needs to come to the table with their advertising media history to match up the right lists and vehicles.”
7. Be timely.
Low entry costs may mean lower risk to a lot of marketers, but to maximize the benefits of insert media, allow enough lead time to develop a successful campaign. Quigley advises marketers build a sizable learning curve into their programs, so that initial results can lead to better targeting and a surer path to their coveted niche audience. In a competitive industry, marketers also need time to get clearance into popular programs. “I’ve already got mailers placing orders in my program out in the second quarter [of 2008],” Vidal reveals.
Succeed in insert media, and you stand to gain what Guyer cleverly calls “an annuity of new customers every month.” With a diverse offering of programs and vehicles and a potential circulation in the millions, “there’s enough opportunity out there that insert media can become a really important part of the marketing mix for any company that recognizes what it can do,” Quigley concludes.
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