Beyond Tracked Revenue: What Did the Campaign Actually Add?
A campaign generates 500 redeemed voucher codes and €30,000 in revenue. At first glance, that looks like a clear success. But one important question remains: how much of that revenue would have been generated even without the package insert?
This is where incrementality comes in. While traditional tracking shows which campaign a purchase can be attributed to, incrementality goes one step further by examining the additional impact the campaign actually had.
Because not every tracked sale is automatically an incremental sale.
What Are Incremental Sales?
Incremental sales are purchases that are generated specifically as a result of a marketing activity.
Let’s say a package insert campaign leads to 600 orders. If a comparison shows that around 400 of those purchases would probably have happened even without the insert, that leaves 200 genuinely additional sales.
These 200 sales represent the incremental effect of the campaign.
The difference between attribution and incrementality is therefore relatively straightforward: attribution shows which campaign a purchase can be linked to, while incrementality shows the additional impact that campaign actually created.
Why Package Inserts Can Generate Additional Purchases
Package inserts reach customers at a particularly relevant moment. An order has just arrived, the parcel is being opened and the customer’s attention is focused on what is inside.
A relevant insert therefore reaches an audience that is already in an active purchasing context. If it is combined with a suitable offer, such as a voucher, product sample or QR code leading to a landing page, it can create an additional purchase incentive.
This can also play a role in new customer acquisition. Package inserts allow brands to reach people who may not yet have been reached through their own channels. Whether this actually results in additional purchases, however, can only be determined through appropriate measurement and comparison with a control group.
How Can the Additional Effect Be Measured?
To measure incremental sales as accurately as possible, marketing campaigns often compare a campaign group with a control group. One group is exposed to the marketing activity, while a comparable group is not.
For package insert campaigns, however, the feasibility of this type of test depends on the individual campaign setup and the publishers involved. If the distribution can be separated accordingly, it is possible to compare metrics such as conversion rate or revenue between recipients who received an insert and those who did not.
If a control group is not feasible, tracking data, different distribution periods or comparisons between campaigns can still provide additional indications of performance. In these cases, however, drawing a clear conclusion about incrementality becomes more difficult.
Tracking Remains the Foundation
A reliable data basis is essential for analysing incrementality.
Voucher codes, QR codes, tracking parameters and campaign-specific landing pages can help attribute interactions and conversions to a particular distribution. Unique or campaign-specific codes, for example, can show which campaign a purchase originated from.
Based on this data, the next question can then be asked: how many of these purchases would not have happened without the package insert?
From Incremental Sales to Incremental Revenue
The additional effect can also be translated into revenue.
If a campaign generates 200 additional orders with an average order value of €60, this results in €12,000 in incremental revenue.
This makes it possible to assess a campaign not only based on redemptions or conversions, but also on the additional revenue it actually generated.
Especially in larger campaigns, this perspective can help brands allocate budgets more effectively towards the audiences, publishers and offers that generate the strongest additional impact.
Why Incrementality Matters for Insert Marketing
Customer journeys are becoming increasingly complex. Customers often encounter a brand across several channels, including social media, search, newsletters, influencer marketing or traditional advertising.
This makes it more difficult to determine which touchpoint actually triggered an additional purchase.
For insert marketing, the question is therefore not only whether conversions can be measured, but also what difference the campaign actually made.
Rather than looking only at the number of redeemed voucher codes, brands can also ask a more specific question: how much additional revenue did the package insert actually generate?
Conclusion
Tracking shows what happens after a customer receives a package insert. Incremenstality adds another layer by examining what happened specifically because of the insert.
Combined with voucher codes, QR tracking and suitable control groups, this can help brands better assess the additional contribution an insert campaign makes to sales and revenue.
Package inserts can therefore be evaluated not only through traditional tracking metrics, but also, depending on the campaign setup and available data, through a more differentiated view of their actual impact.
Want to find out what additional revenue potential insert marketing could offer your brand? Together, we develop campaigns that reach relevant audiences and make performance measurable. Drop us a line!
