If there's one thing that makes direct mail a reliable method of
drumming up new business, then that would have to be the ability to
test if different version of a pack achieve a better return on
investment. Having processed many mailings over the years, I can attest
that clients rarely take full advantage of this feature. In fact, more
often than not, clients don't test at all.
Not testing is commercial suicide. In today's competitive climate, if
there is anything that can be done to reduce the cost of acquiring a
customer, then it must be done. It's a no brainer. Research shows that
in times of depression, those that continue to advertise are those that
do well. It also shows that those that continue to advertise also make
efforts to stretch their budget even further.
You decrease your direct mail costs by application of a little
commonsense and by testing which produces the best response. We'll take
the example of direct mail pack that comprises five parts in all.
The parts of the pack are as follows:
1) Envelope
2) Personalised letter
3) Brochure
4) Leaflet/Order form
5) Business reply Envelope
Looking at this you would think that this it, but we've forgotten the most important part of all:
6) The data
So, there's enough there now to get your message out.
Experience shows that the most important part of the mailing is the
data, so we must test this part. A badly produced but well targeted
letter will almost certainly produce a better return than a well
written badly targeted letter.
You may have a particular target audience already decided, for example,
lawyers. You will be able to get lists of lawyers from more than one
source, that can be tested. Equally you'll have the option of mailing
to a named individual, or to a job title, so you can test that too. So
far that's at least four permutations provided you use 2 data
suppliers. It would be 6 if you used 3 suppliers. If you hadn't
narrowed your field to one sector, then the choice of tests to run
could be massively increased, but it's not practical to take it to the
extreme.
Targeting is everything, you must get that right, and you can only find that out if you test.
Looking at the envelope, you have a huge number of choice here too.
You can send plain with a stamp, or printed with a message. You could
make the material from an unusual paper, print in full colour, use
different sizes. You could print different designs, use different
taglines and the like.
Depending on how your envelope is made you may be able to run multiple
designs for a minimal charge. The nature of some jobs is that they are
printed 2 or 3 or up on a sheet, so you will be able to produce equal
quantities of more than one design. Even if it's not free, chances are
that it won't be hat expensive for a plate change.
For the letterhead, you can change the material. Studies by paper
merchants have shown a 20% increase in response just by changing to a
textured paper. The copy itself on the letter can be changed, offers
can be changed. The number of options to test here is almost limitless.
Moving on to the leaflet, the same applies here as did for the letterhead. Copy, material, imagery; they're all fair game.
Last but not least we move on to the BRE. There's not a huge amount
you could do here. White or manila envelopes perhaps? Maybe even a
coloured BRE? if it isn't going to cost a lot, why not try it.
Using these methods over time you can increase the effectiveness of
your mailings. Always test, even when you think you have the perfect
pack, continue to run a test campaign against it, even if the
difference between the two is really quite small. If you continue to do
this, your costs to acquire a customer should fall and fall.
Overall, the point is that there an almost infinitely large and
almost limitless opportunity for testing. Maybe it's this huge scope
for testing that puts people off, but I don't think it is. I think it's
just a lack of awareness of what you can do. You don't need to
complicate things, you can just run two packs with one difference
between them and see how it goes.
Whatever you do though, don't commit commercial suicide and fail to test.
About The Author
, a print, design and direct mail business specialising in direct mail
and envelope production for small and medium sized businesses.
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Distributed by Hasan Shrek, independence blogger. Also run
online business ,matrix,internet marketing solution ,online store script .
Beside he is writing some others blogs for notebook computer ,computer training ,computer software andpersonal computer,Cyber Forest,internet weapon,talk about business ,business is my blood ,hasan's blog ,cyber business,my net info
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