[REVEALED] The one things smart co.'s are running with their digital marketing...

Now, we’re not having a go at the digital natives out there. They bring an epically talented skillset to the marketing arena. But like the power Thelma can have to marketing’s Louise… have you ever tested running a printed media channel alongside your digital marketing …? And then run the same campaign solely in digital? If you have then it’s likely you’re part of the converted tribe…

Give the people something to touch…

Recent research on brand equity and market share shows that 74% market share growth can occur from running a print and digital marketing strategy – especially one that splits a marketing budget 60% for brand and 40% for promotional activation. [1]

We can throw stats out there all day long, because there are many like this. Take letterbox marketing in NZ for instance, this channel has an engaged audience of around a million people who purchase from it each week, AND it drives over half of those people to visit a stores website! [2]

Back to basics – and better brand engagement…

Printed mediums like magazines, letterbox and direct mail are having their ‘hey day’ yet again. They never lost their engagement power, only the attention of marketers and business owners. This lack of attention is mostly due to years of jumping on digital gravy trains and flocking to the latest fads for online advertising, all which leave the marketing decision maker feeling unsure and overwhelmed.

This overwhelm has led to brands (especially small to medium brands in NZ) putting all their eggs in one basket and losing hard-earned marketing dollars into cluttered and fast-scrolling online arenas.

But enter Covid, and the years of us all spending more time within our homes, gaining increased balance and curating life from relevant communications. Slowly but confidently, the marketing that happens to cross our household thresholds - these REAL marketing channels, are regaining the trust and attention they deserve again. Not to mention statistically packing a punch not only on the brand engagement front, but on the actual sales and foot traffic front also.

But, don’t rob Peter to pay Paul… it’s Peter WITH Paul…

A critical point here is that this is not a ‘one or the other’. When paired with digital, letterbox marketing for example can drive a crazy amount more market share for a brand than digital alone – but they leverage best off of each other.

This combined success proven only recently with two large Australian supermarket retailers, where one ran digital and letterbox together and the other just digital. This interesting difference saw the multi-channel strategy far surpass its competitors, with a whopping 5.5billion in additional sales growth achieved over a period of 14 weeks. [3]

Validating this locally in NZ recently, I caught up with Head of Marketing & Customer Experience – Angela Hurst from Liquorland, a smart marketer using both letterbox and digital channels in an effective ongoing strategy. And Liquorland have seen first-hand what happens when they aren’t in peoples letterboxes with their offers. This test had a material impact on sales and foot traffic to their local stores.

Liquorland’s Angela Hurst adds, ‘…after Covid we were one of the first mailers back in people’s hands and we got a lot of direct feedback from people thanking us because they got a sense of life is returning to normal and they looked forward to getting instore for the specials’.

Real marketing is a nice surprise, it’s a helpful shopping tool and if done well (we’ll talk about how to nail real marketing in a follow-up article) it hangs around in people’s homes for up to 2 weeks or more!

Don’t believe everything you hear

Education is lacking around what real marketing channels like the letterbox can offer, and the more niche digital marketers of the non ‘generalist’ generation aren’t really doing it any favours, due to a hangover of old school perceptions and myths.

Real marketing mediums have moved on significantly, in terms of sustainability, creativity and targeting. Printed media is increasingly sustainable (regenerative forestry sources and recycled paper options), relevant, impactful, and probably arguably most important - hyper-targeted and data driven.

So take another look at your marketing mix, is it time for your marketing to Get Real?

[1] RMC Indistry Insights Report 2023 | [2] Roy Morgan Research 2019 | [3] RMC Industry Insights Report 2023