Thinking of switching your media spend into door drops?

Let me start by declaring that some of the most successful door drop activity I have been involved in over the years, has been part of an integrated campaign.

Whether that be any appropriate combination of broadcast media, digital, direct mail and/or OOH, door drops played a vital role in the mix.

Decades ago, a wise agency man once said to me in a meeting; broadcast media creates brand awareness, door drops stimulate product trial and purchase, combine the two and watch the results.

But the door drop medium can equally generate great results for clients as a single strand solution.

On a rare, recent journey on a London bound train and then tubes, I was struck by the lack of advertising both in stations and particularly on the tubes. I never used a taxi, but assume the level of in-cab advertising has declined as well?

Obvious really with worker and visitor footfall into central London hugely reduced for many months now, but as we (hopefully) start to enter Summer is that likely to change?

And once Summer is over, does it not seem increasingly certain that many people will only return to office life part time and some not at all?

There is currently huge concern over city centre businesses future welfare, so if the masses are not returning to city life, is it worth spending your advertising budget on media few will see?

So when thinking strategically, how else can you engage with your target markets?

Given many will be spending more time at home, perhaps a door drop landing on their doormat will trigger instant engagement and also allow you to expand upon the message you normally send?

Based predominantly on Jicmail data, 2020 proved to be a hugely successful one for door drop, with engagement, retention and commercial actions as a result of a leaflet drop all increasing and commonly outperforming direct mail and business mail.

But if you have never used door drops before, how do they work, how can they be planned, what information do you need to supply to make them work, how quickly can you turn them on and what will it cost?

At TLC, our favourite briefs tend to be “I’ve never completed a door drop before, what do I need to do and how can you help me”.

Our position in the door drop market allows us to respond to all client briefs with an independent and impartial proposal driven solely by the client’s needs and not fuelled by the need to fund internal final mile distribution solutions, when there may be better options.

Our mission is to truly provide any client with a door drop plan with their best interests uppermost in our minds.

If you use a media agency, we are more than happy to liaise with them. But if they are not regular users of the medium, there may be industry developments and options they may not be aware of and we will work them to create a plan to suit your needs.

Some agencies are very well versed in the medium, but to be honest, the in-depth experience of door drops sits within door drop suppliers. On a weekly basis we are planning and executing multiple campaigns for a wide variety of clients, providing targeting solutions and using numerous final mile solutions in isolation or combination where required.

And in many instances, when using Royal Mail door to door, we are able to advise on financial incentive opportunities a client may be eligible for, in the short and long term.

That knowledge is stored and drawn upon when clients/agencies present us with a new brief and the ability to be able to advise a client at planning stage based upon real life experiences in the same or similar market is invaluable.

Agencies will equally possess skills that we do not and our existing, successful relationships with agencies of all descriptions across the UK are successful because we work together. And that’s how so many integrated campaigns have been created, executed and produced great results.

So whenever you next review your media spend with or without your agency’s input, consider a door drop test and allow the UK’s only truly impartial and independent source of door drop planning and advice to provide guidance and advice.

Graham Dodd, Managing Director