Summary

A revolutionary platform, IllumisTM combines best-in-class intelligence, media, and technology for marketers to plan, execute, and optimize marketing in connected ways that expand reach and results. But what is the real return on investment for companies that switch from fragmented digital marketing processes to the Illumis platform?


Valassis commissioned Forrester Consulting to find out. This Total Economic Impact™ study is intended to help businesses see the potential financial impact partnering with Valassis can have on their bottom lines.

This research involved interviews with four Valassis customers who wanted to use Illumis to simplify their previously convoluted, expensive, and inefficient omnichannel marketing processes. The companies looked to Illumis to help them improve their digital marketing effectiveness and strategy — and to better understand the impact of their campaigns.

Forrester used this interview data to create a composite company — a global brand based in the United States — and ran a multiyear financial analysis to understand the economic impact Illumis would have to its bottom line.

The Net: More Effective, Efficient Campaigns

The total incremental costs for the composite organization were $2.2 million over three years. This included internal labor costs of $125,000 as well as $2.1 million to plan, run, and report on campaigns with more than 500 million impressions.

But the benefits for the company far outweighed the costs, Forrester found. The composite company increased its ad viewability from 55% to 80%, leading to nearly $800,000 in additional operating income from ad placements.

Additionally, the composite company was able to reach the right consumer at the right time in the purchase journey, increasing sales by $1.1 million in operating income. The technology grew revenue by increasing the click-through rate (from 0.16% to 0.29%) and the sales conversion rate (from 0.25% to 0.4%), driving $12 in additional revenue per thousand impressions. In addition to raising revenue, the composite company avoided $2.2 million in marketing costs such as ad placement, technology, labor, and agency fees.

Forrester’s financial analysis found that the composite company reaped incremental benefits of $4 million over three years by switching to Illumis, generating an 83% increase in ROI and nearly 4:1 incremental return on ad spend.

Marketing Activities Streamlined

During interviews with Valassis customers, Forrester found that the benefits of a unified platform go beyond the bottom line. Using integrated technology means less labor is necessary to coordinate vendors and populate different platforms with data. As a result, digital marketing campaigns can be executed much more quickly.

Customers also gain access to top-notch digital advertising expertise when planning and executing their ad campaigns. This saves them from dedicating the time and resources that they would need to achieve these results on their own. Combining data and media channels that previously were managed by separate teams also made it easier to track valuable metrics such as conversion, traffic, and sales. This ease of use ultimately helps marketing teams defend their budgets.

Finally, Illumis helped raise halo sales for other brand products and general retail sales thanks to increased foot traffic to brick-and-mortar stores.

All of these benefits generated by Illumis led to an enhanced ability to scale and execute larger, more frequent marketing campaigns. Customers indicated an interest in increasing their partnerships with Valassis and expanding consumer engagement to include video, social, print, and search. Forrester’s financial model suggests this increase would bring those customers an even bigger ROI from the platform.

Check out the Forrester case study for a complete analysis of how investing in Illumis for your business can streamline your marketing activities, make your digital campaigns more effective and efficient, and help you track and quantify your campaigns.