A major life insurance company wanted to understand how the addition of digital display advertising to recipients of a direct mail campaign would affect the overall performance of their acquisition program. They needed a partner who would manage the online targeting component and accurately measure the impact of display on response and Cost Per Converted Policy (CPCP).

In order to conduct a fair test, Alliant segmented the direct mail prospect list into two groups:

1) Test Panel to receive both direct mail and display advertising

2) Hold-Out Panel to receive direct mail only

Two direct mail campaigns were deployed in February and March of 2015. Alliant onboarded the Test Panel for digital targeting and served display ads to the audience concurrently through May 15^th.

At the conclusion of the campaign, an analysis was conducted to determine the source panel of all online, direct mail and call center conversions.

The results were powerful: Audiences who received both direct mail and digital display had a 7% higher response rate, at a slightly lower Cost Per Converted Policy, than those who received just direct mail. The study also found the Test Panel generated 14% more Internet orders than the Hold-Out Panel.