“We’re really the only company doing what we do”: The startup changing the future of audience engagement – Interview

Trying to reach your desired audience has simultaneously become harder and easier than ever before. With so much online activity it can seem that the internet is a crowded space to present your ideas and offerings. However, with the advancements of new technologies and businesses, we now have more power to pinpoint our desired audience, hoping to grab their attention, even just for a second, to deliver our message.

While this might sound like a complicated task, experts in this industry have mastered this art through new processes, using novel technology.

One of these industry experts is the innovative company Audience Innovation, which aims to cultivate businesses’ most valued targets, for both B2B and B2C, while enriching business and consumer relationships with direct+digital targeting solutions.

To get a better understanding of this industry and the work this bright startup is doing, we spoke with Paul Kostial, President of Audience Innovation.

I understand that Audience Innovation uses tangible touch points. Can you briefly explain what this is and how it has become such an effective tool for your company?

Tangible touch points are customer engaging interactions that are delivered to the customer or client in a physical form.  They are tangible and delivered in-hand, and include options like gifts, gift cards, promotional items and, ours, in particular, are designed like a company brochure attached to the front cover of magazines like Fast Company, Forbes, ESPN, Texas Monthly and 400+ more.  Our brand name partners are the best in the world, and we use co-branded content to deliver high-impact tangible touch points that drive customer engagement.

I can see from your website that you have a lot of positive feedback and references from clients. Is there a specific case study that you are particularly proud of? 

The automotive most recent is the most amazing example, client invested about $500,000 and generated $145,000,000 in sales, and that’s a 341% ROI – they loved their tangible campaign so much, they’ve now continued it for 7 years. Another example, another Fortune 500® company, targeting a c-suite audience generated nearly 60% call-to-action with their tangible overlay on their online campaign, which was +97% higher return than their online-only component.

The results of tangible targeting are viable, and impressive, and validate that humans very much like to integrate with tangible media, and tangible solutions.  Our clients are also impressed, their customers actually often send them thank you notes for sending them their gesture of goodwill. It’s compelling.

Who do you consider to be your main competitors and how do you differentiate yourself from them?

We’re really the only company doing what we do in the manner we do it.  There are a few others who do ‘cover wraps’, but their campaigns are not integrated with interactive and other tangible online devices.  We are considered the innovation pioneer in the category, and clients who have returned to us now for 11+ years.

What was the main motivator to solve this problem, for example, did it arise from a personal experience or something you recognized others having issues with?

I’m a customer advocate and believe in interactive sales relationships.  This is a natural extension of that passion, and an expertise we’ve developed spanning two decades now.  It’s so gratifying to have our customers call us and repeatedly thank us for the impact we had on their business.  We often integrate both with marketing and sales teams, in order to bridge the gap and to produce the most effective results for all aspects of their business, and sales.

What is the main focus for Audience Innovation over the next 6 months? 

Continued innovation with interactive devices, higher impact campaigns that deliver even more effective results, online overlay, and cultivating the relationships of most value for our clients and their growth goals.  As we continue to cultivate these assets, we’re approached more and more for partner and reseller opportunities, and integrated with CRM functions, and growth goals that will support our clients most effectively.

Disclosure: This article includes a client of an Espacio portfolio company