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Eric Smith

SVP of Growth

Channel-surfing: Finding the Right Avenues of Growth

Unlocking the Power of Package Inserts with Fairing's Attribution Technology


Explore Incremental Media's comprehensive guide on package inserts. With over 18 years of experience, Incremental Media excels at selecting the perfect insert programs to reach any audience. Their innovative approach, coupled with Fairing, ensures measurable sales and insightful data. Discover how they navigate the entire package insert landscape, from program selection to overcoming attribution challenges, in this essential marketing resource.

In This Article:

Package Inserts: What are they?

You’ve seen it before. You open a package and wonder how those little ads from other brands got in the box. Well… there’s a good chance it came from my company: Incremental Media.

Incremental Media’s (IM) 18+ years of data and history in insert media has helped us choose the right insert programs for brands targeting any audience.

By inserting ads into vehicles like packages and billing statements, IM is bringing a new-school approach to a time-tested tactic… and the best part: You drive clearly measurable sales… thanks to Fairing.

How we pick the right insert programs for our clients

There are essentially two main types of insert programs:

  • The ones that hit people in their 30s - 40s, typically more female consumers in programs like HelloFresh, Gilt, and Carter’s.

  • The ones that target 55+ who like brands such as Hammacher Schlemmer, Dr. Leonard’s, and HSN.

Depending on the brand’s target audience, we curate a list of insert programs that makes sense for their audience.

The problem (and solution) for DTC brands and inserts

In 2019, Incremental Media began working with various direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands in package inserts. Historically, package inserts were a channel aimed at an older demographic—the 55 and up group outlined above. These campaigns often drove customers to call a 1-800 number, resulting in surprisingly high direct attribution.

But then, DTC brands, ever-hungry for new channels, started exploring the world of inserts.

As the largest buyer of package inserts in the U.S., we thought we had it all figured out. But something wasn't adding up. Our core programs weren't delivering the results we expected. For digital-first brands, we were struggling with proving the value of inserts unless the company had an extremely high CPA that we could typically hit based on the direct attribution alone.

Then, after much brainstorming, it clicked. We knew that many people ignored our promo codes, URLs, and/or QR codes that we put on the piece but still came through and converted. But without a matchback capability like direct mail, how could we capture the halo effect? How could we prove that our inserts were driving more conversions than just those people using the promo codes?

Calculating attribution for package inserts

Direct Attribution

With people ignoring our promo codes, URLs, and QR codes, we couldn’t see the full picture.

We use basic methods of promo code and vanity URL attribution, similar to channels like podcasts, to get an understanding of which programs are seeing the most code redemptions. However, they don’t capture anywhere close to the full number of conversions.

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