We hear it all of the time. It's probably the #1 piece of feedback when we get when we present inserts to a brand who has never run in the channel before. "These inserts are a $60, $70, $80 CPM? I can get CPMs half of that on Meta!
In all honesty, we used to say the same thing. Over the past five or so years, there's been an explosion of brands entering the insert space. Brands are looking for any way to squeeze out revenue, and inserts are a relatively low-lift way to get incremental revenue.
Wide-ranging companies like Blue Apron, Tovala, Ann Taylor, and Rue La La have entered the package insert space and are charging a premium to reach their audience. In the old days, the insert industry was built on catalog companies. CPMs with those catalog companies were usually in the $20 - $40 range, but you were often collated into an envelope with anywhere from 6-10 other brands.
Now, inserts are primarily hand drops. That means your insert, plus maybe 1-2 others, are physically dropped into the box, often above the merchandise that sits in the box, so you are getting ideal real estate to reach your prospective customer. We've found, even at these higher CPMs, the responsiveness significantly increases to offset the increase. It also helps to do attribution the right way, but nevertheless, inserts are hitting CPA goals for the right type of brands, even at these CPMs.
Maybe the most important thing to remember is that inserts aren't an expensive way to reach someone. They are a cheap way to get mail into someone's hands. Direct mail can cost anywhere from $0.40-$0.70+ to reach someone. That's a $400 - $700 CPM! Inserts are 10-20% of the cost, and in our tests, deliver half the cost per order of direct mail. There's also shared mail, where CPMs are often in the single digits, but it's much less responsive than inserts or direct mail, so the lower CPM is warranted.
All this is to say: Don't be afraid of high CPMs in inserts. If you work with the right partner who can execute the channel correctly, and you are a considered purchase or subscription brand, you can get the channel to hit your performance goals.
The choice is yours: Spend more on Meta with diminishing returns, or expand to a channel like inserts...
Eric Smith is the President and COO at Incremental Media. Want to share your thoughts or pick the brain of the author of this piece? Email Eric Smith at esmith@incrementalmedia.com.
