Many businesses in Australia still use classical marketing KPIs like clicks, CPA, unique visits or page views... all of which are vanity metrics that do not reveal anything about the health and efficiency of a business. Instead businesses should use actionable metrics like conversion rates and efficiency factors to analyse whether or not a marketing channels performs well. At ParcelPush we always do AB testing based on actionable metrics and we encourage our network partners to UTM tag the whole customer journey to see what value is created during each step... In additional actionable metrics help to establish a fair attribution model and to analyse how leads from channel A converted in a channel B, C or D... At Ad Tech Sydney on 18th March 2014 we presented the attached presentation. Please contact [email protected] in case you would like to receive further excel calculators or attribution model readings in PDF format and we are happy to send it to you.

The ParcelPush team has designed and analysed hundreds of voucher flyer creatives over time and shares with you a 5-step guide about how to design the perfect flyer with a voucher code offer on it in order to get the highest possible conversion rate results for your webshop:

Step 1: Print Size And Weight
We have found a DL-sized format (99x210mm) at 150gsm or 175gsm to work the best for the following reasons:

1. It fits into envelopes
2. It is big enough to be noticed
3. It reminds customers of a dollar note shape (perceived value)
4. It can still be folded or carried in a pocket easily
5. It is big enough for all relevant elements (see below)

Step 2: Copy writing And Text Elements
The copy of your flyer is crucial and these are the standard elements that need to be worded according to your brand guidelines:

1. Headline: Your headline needs to stand out in big letters and should ideally be less than 5 words. Based on your brand you can choose to make it catchy, dramatic, fun or informative. It always helps to be different and creative.
2. Main text block: It helps to inform your customers in very short bullet points or through customer stories about your product or service, but remember that it is always better to talk about benefits or why customers really want it rather than talking about features or why customers need it - Customers want EASE, PHYSICAL COMFORT, MENTAL STIMULATION, IDENTITY REINFORCEMENT or SOCIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.
3. Deal terms and conditions: This part is usually the fine print on the bottom somewhere in small letters (legally, they need to be readable though!). You need to inform the customer about all the terms of your offer. Be honest and try not to forget a detail. You also need to specify the currency and GST or other tax implications accurately. Often retailers forget to mention that "this is a one-time offer" and that "no cash redemption is possible", which is very important in order for customers not to claim that they can use a voucher code more than once or that they can exchange it for money. A link to your terms and privacy policy may be needed as well plus ideally another explanation how and where the voucher can be redeemed.
4. Disruptive element: You may choose to include a disruptive element e.g. like a circle or bubble with a short single message like "Free Delivery" or "Act Now" or "Free Signup" or "Only valid in June"

Step 3: Define Your Offer And Set Up The Right Conversion Tracking
This is probably the most important part, which many advertisers still get wrong although all marketing should really be made trackable. Always use these three elements for a flyer with a voucher code offer on it:

1. Highest possible value for your offer: We found Dollar values to work better than a percentage-off. Think twice about who you market to, what their customer lifetime value is and what offer you can afford. Obviously a $20 off will work better than a $10 off. If your webshop / shopping cart system allows you to attach minimum order values to a voucher code, it may help to consider your gross margins and shipping costs as well on certain order values in order to maybe raise the dollar value of your voucher code offer by attaching it to a large enough minimum order value. Whatever you decide, you will need a two or three digit value e.g. "$20 off" as a key design element for step 4.
2. You will also need a voucher code they customers can enter into your online checkout to receive the offered discount. Make it as easy as possible to redeem the voucher. Very sophisticated advertisers that ParcelPush works with, even let us print personalised codes for them on thousands of flyers, which prevents the codes from being published on numerous coupon sites. Other advertisers choose to only disclose the voucher after customers signed up with their email on a landingpage which can work, but may reduce your conversion rates slightly. Make sure that you have a reporting set up for any voucher code setup in order to exactly measure when codes have been redeemed, by whom, how much the customers spend and what their customer lifetime value is over time.
3. Landing page URL: We always recommend to set up a special landing page URL (e.g. www.yourwebsite.com/get-the-wow) for your offer rather than sending customers straight to your website for the following reasons:
   a) It allows you to measure the "click" conversion rate (#visits / #flyers) as well and to track what the customers do on your site before they purchase (funnel metrics) rather than just measuring the code redemption rate (#redemptions / #flyers)
   b) You can give customers a smooth landing through a nice design that picks up the elements of the flyer and that explains again in brief words or in a video or graphic how it works
   c) It allows you to drop a cookie e.g. to measure returning visits and to measure other interesting data like time on site, exit paths, etc.

Step 4: Design and Layout
You need a graphics designer or an agency like ParcelPush, who is experienced in Photoshop to get this right as the design really makes a difference. Here are our design tips to get it right:

1. Avoid an overload and minimise text as much as possible
2. Use the colours of your styleguide
3. The front of the flyer needs at least 30% of space for the value of your offer. Have a look at a 100 dollar note... the size proportions of the number is your minimum!
4. The headline should stand out with enough free space around it
5. You need ideally only one catchy image in the front and one in the back. Again: Less is more. Product images are good, but images that create emotions e.g. through people, faces or animals are better, especially if you promote a service.
6. Make the landing page URL obvious with or without a www. in front of it.
7. Some designers prefer to use the front e.g. like on a postcard only for one big image and all the information gets put onto the back. While we accept this method since it surely looks nice and it can bring a brand message across quite nicely, we would always recommend the "dollar note" approach with a clear value and a dollar symbol in the front.
8. Only use images for which you have the copyright e.g. buy them from istockphoto.com or use the advanced search of flickr to find images with a tolerant creative commons license by checking all the CC fields on the bottom
   - Only search within Creative Commons-licensed content 
   - Find content to use commercially 
   - Find content to modify, adapt, or build upon
   so that the search string looks something like this example for the word "apple": http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=apple&l=commderiv&ss=0&ct=0&mt=all&w=all&adv=1

Step 5: Create And Test Different Versions Of Your Flyer By Measuring Results
Graphics Designers need to think like managers or entrepreneurs in today's data-driven world and need to find ways to learn and iterate designs quickly. Hence there is no way around AB testing different designs. Here are a few tips how to do design AB testing correctly:

1. Make sure to only change one crucial element as a point of difference between version A and B in order to test the result.
2. Make sure both designs go out to enough people at the same time, so that results are statistically relevant and free from any external influences such as weather conditions.
3. Really think hard about what graphical elements will make a different and what to test. Come up with a hypothesis beforehand and read the book "The lean startup" by Eric Ries
4. Ask your IT team for all the data and make sure you get it in time and that you understand it to make the next design decisions and to iterate your work. Conversion rates or customer lifetime values are always the best actionable metrics. Avoid vanity metrics such as visits or views.

February 27th, 2013: ParcelPush, the insert marketing specialist based in Sydney has launched Australia’s first advertising network for e-commerce parcel inserts under www.parcelpush.com.au already distributing over 200,000 inserts per month.

Inserts into e-commerce packages are a targeted way for advertisers in attracting new customers among online shoppers and especially baby boomers through direct marketing or national brand campaigns.  The flyers, samples or vouchers reach the consumer in a positive moment and show high conversion rates especially in conjunction with a coupon offer.

In addition Australian online retailers and eBay powersellers of any size can now connect with advertisers through ParcelPush and leverage inserts as an attractive way to reduce shipping costs while giving value to their customers with attractive offers.

Everyone benefits by bundling insert capacities through the ParcelPush network: online retailers benefit by making additional revenue through inserts while providing a value-add to their customers, advertisers can reach out to active online shoppers by targeting specific product categories through large nation-wide campaigns across Australia and New Zealand.

E-commerce insert marketing was pioneered in the US and Europe through Amazon and even reached the European e-commerce long-tail in the last few years. The largest proportion of e-commerce shipments are handled by small to medium sellers and online shops.

About ParcelPush

ParcelPush is the insert marketing specialist around e-commerce parcels who brings online retailers and advertisers together. ParcelPush Pty Ltd is based in Sydney, NSW and was founded in 2012 by Craig Morris, an experienced general manager and e-commerce entrepreneur Bjorn Behrendt, who also is a co-founder of StyleTread.com.au.

For further information please contact

Website:          www.parcelpush.com.au       
Tel:                  1300 436 806
Twitter:            https://twitter.com/parcelpush
Emails:            [email protected]


Download press release as PDF

We just launched our new network pages where our advertising and retailing partners can view updates around the latest distribution and insert opportunities. This solution is designed also for the long-tail of e-commerce e.g. all online shops or eBay powersellers can participate with a minimum monthly shipping volume of 500 orders. http://www.parcelpush.com.au/network.html

We have an exciting news for advertisers: We have now grown 200,000 monthly insert opportunities and the first slots of up to 5 flyers per insert have already been sold.

Today was a big day for ParcelPush since we celebrated our founding day 27/11/2012 in our office in the Eastern suburbs of Sydney. We are excited to offer Australian advertisers a new innovative marketing service around the distribution of flyers and samples plus to establish a network of powerful retailers that surprise their customers with value-adding inserts. More soon...