Salmat has launched an house-built app, salmatHub, following its soft launch and subsequent testing six months ago, which it says should drive advertisers back to print.
David Webster, general manager, Marketing Solutions, Salmat, explains, “It is designed to make the lives of our distributors easier. The app enables them to monitor their progress of their localised distribution areas via dynamic mapping tools, and receive and archive their weekly contracts and routes. It also provides a messaging service for distributors to contact their local area managers or counterparts easily.
“At the same time, salmathub makes the delivery system more transparent, so that distributors and brands can be sure their letterbox campaigns are delivered correctly.”
Webster says that the app could bring previously untapped sectors into direct mail marketing.
“From the print industry perspective, this will be seen as a positive. It gives the big companies the ability to track the ROI for catalogue production. We have a fantastic tool to show that they are being delivered, so they can see how that affects the sale of products in the catalogues.
“A lot of sectors outside of retail have been struggling with letterbox, with no accountability comparison to TV or Radio. Now we have removed that barrier, so non-traditional sectors like telcos, banks, services might look at print advertising through the letterbox as a viable way to communicate with customers.”
“Three quarters of our national network utilise the app, it has been a successful innovation, and one that we are really proud of.
“We have moved forward over the years at Salmat in how we audit services, from paper-based checklists to GPS at a supervisor level. So prior to the app, supervisors would go out into a section, randomly select three or four homes and check delivery.
“It was the market leading system, but the app takes this to the next level.
“Now we can see the distribution in real-time. High volume users have been asking for it for the past two decades. They are spending in excess of 50 per cent of their companies’ marketing budget on the catalogues program. They want to make sure they are getting the job done and getting it in letterboxes.
“The other benefit, is in how it helps our distributors. It is a great tool for the walkers to plan their route. We help them too, we want to make sure they complete their distribution in the most efficient way possible. Route planning helps.
“Depending on the volume of catalogues, they may do it over two separate days. The app can record every house on the first day, and the walkers can go and continue where they left off.
“We do have scenarios where families might share a route, one teenage kid might do half the route on the first, pass their brother or sister on the next, and they can take over seamlessly on the next day.”
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