Why are inserts still such an overlooked media channel?

Below I am going to try to answer some of the perceptions and specialist knowledge needed for this media channel

I have worked in offline media for over 10 years from planner/buyer to developing offline media strategies for clients to meet their business challenges and I am still shocked by the under representation of this highly responsive media channel….am I biased? Of course I am, because I have seen the results it delivers time and time again, but this is the important part…..when planned properly.

There are lots of misconceptions about this media channel and some people believe that it is not right for eCommerce brands.

THIS COULDN'T BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH!

I have seen the results from the hundreds of campaigns I have worked on and getting inserts to work for brands who have had below average results previously. It's all down to the planning and specialist knowledge of the channel.

Part of our job as marketeers is to step outside of our comfort zone and expand our knowledge, so that we are sufficiently skilled to not only help our clients overcome challenges they are experiencing, but also to make sure we’re not guilty of only recommending media channels that we feel more experienced in.

It makes sense that we are reluctant to recommend a media channel that we do not properly understand and that we don’t want to come across as having a lack of experience in. Our clients look to us to be an authority on the recommendations we put forward after all.

Essentially our recommendations have a huge impact on the brands we work with, so should it not be our responsibility to expand our knowledge and fill those gaps to make sure we are delivering the best solution for brands who are relying on us to help grow their businesses?

When you work for a media business forecasts and billings are a huge part of what we do, but the bit we all enjoy is the success we see from the planning and recommendations we make when they help to grow the brands who have trusted us with their marketing budget.

I work with a lot of start-up eCommerce brands and brands who are at different stages of their growth and each stage comes with its different challenges. With an eCommerce brand their marketing spend has naturally been focused on digital channels, but a lot of the brands I work with start to see their CPA’s creeping up and are close to “optimising themselves into a cul-de-sac”.

They are not quite ready for Above The Line (ABL) channels like TV yet (or so they think…but that’s for another post), but they know they need to diversify their marketing mix to keep growing based on their direct response metrics and to possibly help them get to that next round of investment.

This is where inserts fit perfectly into the growth journey and marketing mix

But first let’s answer a few perceptions that surround insert media:

“Inserts are only used by mail order brands looking to target the grey market”

Mail order brands do use inserts to acquire customers, but the largest growing sector who are using inserts to recruit new customers are eCommerce brands like Graze, Hello Fresh, Bloom & Wild, Cox & Cox, Tails.com and AO.com just to name a few.

“They are unresponsive and therefore do not work”

If the nuances of any media channel are not properly understood and planned/bought badly, then of course they will not perform at the required level. There are many moving parts to an insert campaign that needs specialist knowledge to make sure that it performs at it’s optimal level to maximise ROI, if you or your media agency do not know these you will not see the true effectiveness of this channel.

“There’s too much wastage with unsold copies in newspapers and newsstand magazines”

If you are not 100% au fait with inserts as a channel you will not know how to side step this wastage by focusing on other distribution methods. Newspapers and newsstand still has a place on plans, you just need to know that this is likely to be your least responsive distribution method and therefore media cost plays a huge part in whether it will hit the KPI's or not.

Subscription copies of magazines have 0% wastage through unsold copies, they are twice as responsive as newsstand inserts and if bought properly are not twice the media cost of newsstand. Meaning lower CPA’s (Cost Per Acquisition) for the client.

Often planning tools are used that only take into consideration newspaper and magazine media, which is only part of what is available to brands in the insert universe. These tools do not include the most responsive insert media……parcel inserts.

Here is an example of just some of the brands who accept inserts into their parcels: https://www.connectionsbytsw.com/marketplace

Parcel inserts have no unsold copy wastage, they are mailed into the home where nearly 90% of us do our buying from and are to a named individual meaning the open rate is 100% giving the insert the best chance to be seen. When a customer receives a parcel they are also in a positive mind set meaning they are more open to advertising messages.

There is also the simple fact that as sentient beings we still trust something we can see and touch, more than something we can just see. Just another reason why inserts perform so well

Research from Millward Brown for Royal Mail has proven that physical media evokes more of an emotional response when compared to digital media and also leaves a deeper imprint in the brain.

“I just throw them in the recycling bin”

This may shock you, but that is actually a really positive thing. How many other media forms do you need to physically interact with to get rid of? As consumers we are so aware of being advertised on a daily basis, we ignore banner advertising on websites, have pop-up blockers and email filters. By having to physically interact with the insert you still have that all important 3-5 second window to capture the consumers attention.

The lack of understanding in the channel I believe is a big reason why inserts are still not part of some brands marketing mix, but I believe another reason is because the channel is underrepresented from a “grass root” level. Very little is covered in marketing courses, degrees and even advertising bodies who offer CPD (Continuing Professional Development) courses.

In fact there are not many media businesses flying the flag for inserts either, but the ones who do are hugely passionate about this media channel because we know how good it is.

As I said earlier, I am unashamedly biased, it was the first media channel where I cut my teeth as a planner/buyer and as I have grown my media channel knowledge over the years, the misconceptions I hear on inserts has always been a huge frustration for me. I'm unbelievably passionate about their effectiveness and it deserves to be part of the mix for the majority of direct to consumer marketing strategies.

There will be 100’s of brands out there who are not seeing the benefits of this media channel and 1,000’s of marketeers who are reluctant to consider it because they have either had a poor previous experience (likely the planning needs a specialist approach), they have the wrong perception of where is sits in the media mix or that they are not confident or knowledgeable enough in the channel to make the recommendation.

I hope that this has sparked an interest in either thinking about this channel again, gaining more knowledge or exploring it for the first time.

If you would like to find out more information on how this highly responsive channel could benefit your brand’s growth please get in touch and I will gladly give a short and snappy “Inserts 101”.