Generating maximum return from a reduced marketing spend, assumes an even greater level of importance in these very worrying economic times.
In previous recessions, door drop marketing was one of the few mediums to flourish and delivered above-average performance levels for marketers in all sectors.
Since the 1990’s, improved targeting techniques and independent validation have combined to further enhance the medium’s growing reputation. This has resulted in door drops forming a major element of many advertisers’ strategic marketing plans.
Until now, door drop targeting data has been overlaid on to the standard postal sector level of geography, which represents on average 2500-3000 households.
It is not uncommon on postal sector ranking reports for index scores to be high, but actual penetration levels of the core target market can often be at any level between 50% and 80%. In theory, that could represent a high level of “wastage” by covering households which are not your primary target market.
Well, I have some very good news for you. Door drop marketing is about to become even more effective.
Zoom in Precision (ZiP) provides a growing opportunity across the UK to target in units of literally hundreds of households rather than the traditional thousands.
An extract from a data report produced for one client, showed a postal sector distribution plan covering 22,360 households, of which 7,061 exactly matched the target market. ZiP reduced the overall quantity dropped to 17,124 and increased the matched target market to 8,462.
ZiP has been in operation since mid 2007 and clients undertaking test door drop activity delivering perhaps a few hundred thousand items (typically money off coupons, product samples and high value multi page brochures), have benefited from ranking reports which on occasions match the target market 100%, but have never fallen below 90% penetration.
This clearly shows that the use of ZiP enables door drop campaigns to work even harder.
ZiP draws upon the irrefutable reliability of the UK’s free newspaper distribution structure and offers clients the opportunity to either deliver their door drop item alongside the free title, or on a solus basis, on days of the week other than when the free newspaper itself is delivered.
It is not uncommon for clients to take a view that free newspaper distribution is unreliable, but that perception flies in the face of independent validation results. A summary of over 500,000 interviews conducted on the doorstep by The Front Door, one of the UK’s leading validation companies, will show that between 2002 and 2007, free newspapers were year on year a more reliable than some other routes to the door to door market.
The opportunity to distribute on a solus basis responds to a client’s possible concerns about any consumer negativity to receiving the item alongside the free newspaper.
And the ability to select units of hundreds of households rather than thousands also negates any concern that the door drop item will not be reaching the required target market.
The key to this potential success is of course targeting.
The first stage of ZiP’s planning cycle would be to profile a client’s customer database to establish a MOSAIC profile. If a customer database is not available, other targeting tools can be accessed to help establish the profile and the results are then overlaid on to the geographic or postcode areas required for distribution.
Many clients’ postal sector door drop plans commonly use a 100 index score as a cut off point.
This can often be poor practice. At that level, target market penetration levels can be as low as 20%, which implies significant levels of potential wastage.
Yet even below that level, clusters of the core target market will still exist albeit in small quantities.
These hitherto untouched potential door drop areas can now be covered using ZiP, because the very nature of the targeting and distribution product is covering such small units of geography.
A hybrid of ZiP is also available to cover areas where the free newspaper network does not provide any level of coverage, which naturally means solus distribution. The entire proposition remains the same.
ZiP provides a fantastic test opportunity for clients who historically have considered door drops as wasteful.
Clients’ historical use of inserts, direct mail and field marketing techniques should now be challenged.
The inclusion of a small ZiP test within a media matrix will allow clients to judge for themselves the effectiveness of door drops.
And for clients who still have doubts about the reliability and effectiveness of door drops, independent validation is available.
Starting at around 3,000, clients have the opportunity of using validation techniques to firstly authenticate the level of distribution actually achieved and secondly (and perhaps more importantly), question the consumer about their perceptions of the brand or service in question, their potential use of the door drop incentive delivered and their possible subsequent use of that brand or service.
As an example, fmcg clients who have door dropped product samples can receive hugely encouraging comments from consumers who have trialled the sample. Consumers will almost certainly be stimulated to redeem the coupon provided within the sample pack to purchase the product.
Door drop marketing is often perceived as a standard medium which has made little or no progress in recent years, but the truth is very different.
Efficiency and reliability levels have improved, the medium has maintained its reputation for flexibility and now targeting is moving into the next generation.
With an improved reach of their target market, combined with the potential to reduce overall volume, clients will be optimising the environmental aspect of this medium.
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