Insert advertising can be simply described as follows: You pay a publisher to insert your promotional flyer, card or booklet into their magazine or newspaper.
Now sit back and watch your response rates soar by a staggering 300%!
That's being conservative.
I've personally seen inserts out perform full-page advertising by:
- 612% for a bedding company
- 355% for a Business to Business technology supplier
- Over 500% for an office furniture supplier.
*A comprehensive test in the UK not so long ago showed inserts out performing full page advertising by a little over 500%! This was just an average, across various industries.*
Sound like a big claim?
Well let me ask you something...
Why do publishers run inserts soliciting magazine subscriptions? After all, they can book page advertising for a fraction of what it costs you and me.
You guessed it: inserts pull -- BIG TIME!
Think about it: the publisher owns the space in their magazine. They almost always have filler space. They try to sell this at the last minute as distress space (heavily discounted space snapped up by smart marketers).
That's best case for the publisher. Worst case? They run ads for their best clients and charities for FREE.
Trust me - I used to work within a marketing role at a magazine and newspaper publisher - it does happen!
But as far as printing up loose leaf inserts and getting extra machinery to place the flyer in their very own publication; it's quite a hassle. The publishers do it anyway.
Why? Publishers practice a rare discipline that 95% of their client advertisers are yet to clue on to: they test and measure their response. And test again. Then they test again. So why do inserts pull so well?
Inserts fall out of the publication. They're three dimensional. You find it difficult to ignore them. Unless you do something, they'll probably float around and be immensely annoying forever!
So you - or at least a good percentage of people - put them aside. Even throw them in the bin perhaps. But they force you to make a decision. They get you moving.
Ads on the page don't do that.
And when it comes to inserts, there are some other equally big benefits.
Four of which include:
Benefit number 1.
You can test inexpensively.You can run a statistically valid test in a publication without paying through the nose for a full page display ad. You can preserve your capital and find out what truly works, before you roll out.
Benefit number 2.
Go only to your prospective customers.You can target geographically through a publication. You can also often choose between either subscribers or news stands. The reader profile can vary tremendously with these seemingly minor differences. Booking ads on the page doesn't allow you to do this.
Benefit number 3.
Tell your full sales story with colour pictures, graphics.You can tell your complete sales story in full colour - without cramping your creative.
The difference in costs between distributing a big insert (with full colour pictures, lots of great sales copy and graphics) and a small insert (in black and white) is not even close to the huge costing difference between running big and small ads on the page.
That's because most publishers rarely run out of insert space. They only pay for a machine to drop the inserts in the publication.
Benefit number 4.
Massive flexibility.Because an insert is a stand-alone enquiry generating document (or sales generation, in some cases), you can distribute your insert through other means such as direct mail, promotional stands, tradeshow marketing and even offer an additional sales tool to your sales force.
We've learned over the years that there are between 23 and 35 factors that are critical to achieving maximum response from your insert advertising - and integrating the tactic into your overall promotional and sales strategy.
Here's a few tips on making your campaign pay:
Tip 1.
Negotiate the per thousand insertion fee with the publisher. If you're conducting a test and potentially rolling out on the premise of getting a good response, educate your advertising sales representative about your process.
They might not be excited about your spend on a test, but if they know how much money you could spend long term, they will want to do business with you. This can aid your negotiation power.
Tip 2.
Do a 'spot' distribution check. Always. Remember: you make a booking with a publisher. And usually their mail house does the insertion. So you're working with a secondary supplier. There's an additional link in the chain that can be broken without you even knowing about it.
The publishers won't like me saying this but we always follow up the mail house directly on the front end of the insertion going into the publication. If you are doing a big run, find a simple way to ensure that your insert does go out to the area that you've booked. That's an assignment for you on the back end.
Mail houses are extremely busy and like all of us, they can make mistakes. The worst thing that can happen is for some of your inserts to go AWOL and you thinking it was a clean run because your publisher told you so.
You could write the publication off as an ineffective vehicle when in fact half your inserts are lying in the back of some mail house.
Tip 3.
Forecast return on investment.I believe that it's critical to forecast Return On Investment even when you're conducting an unprecedented test. Make a statement, in writing, as to how many responses you're going to get, how many conversions you'll achieve (if this is the natural first step by the prospective customer) and how much money you are going to make.
It'll keep you sharp and can also shed light on the distribution viability -- saving you expensive mistakes. Not to mention being committed to overseeing conversions, delivery and all the critical factors down the pipeline.
Tip 4.
Invest in a great headline.Ideally you want a headline that offers some perceived (implicit or explicit) benefit to your prospective customer - and arouses curiosity. Here's four examples of great pulling headlines:
- "If you've already booked your vacation this year, don't read this - it'll break your heart..."
- "They laughed when I sat down at the piano... but when I began to play! - "
- "Send me to any city outside New York. Take away my wallet. And in 48 hours I'll buy an excellent piece of real estate using none of my own money."
- "What everyone ought to know about trading on Wall Street."
So what publication is your target market reading? Does it warrant testing insert marketing?