2 Testing Approaches That Can Redefine Campaigns
April 22, 2009 By Ethan Boldt, Editor-in-chief, Inside Direct Mail
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"It's noon, do you know how your marketing campaign is doing?" asked Erik Charles, executive vice president of business development and analytics for MindFireInc, at a recent luncheon meeting held by the Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association. He pressed that timing was everything, saying that it's no longer good enough to respond to leads in a day or even hours—response time is now measured in minutes. He asked if marketers could track a marketing effort in real time, and if they could improve on the campaign based on real-time information.
The best way to answer his provocative questions, of course, is to make sure you're testing properly, and he offered the following best practices for improving results through testing.
1. Define long-term goals right away.
Charles pointed out that an individual direct mail piece is very different from a campaign, which should represent a concrete strategy for responders and nonresponders. A properly prepared campaign will know what to do with new customers, returning customers, partial respondents and nonrespondents.
2. Send less, but better, mail.
It's far more productive and profitable to send a better mail piece to more highly qualified leads, Charles explains, than a cheaper piece to a broader, less qualified list.
The best way to answer his provocative questions, of course, is to make sure you're testing properly, and he offered the following best practices for improving results through testing.
1. Define long-term goals right away.
Charles pointed out that an individual direct mail piece is very different from a campaign, which should represent a concrete strategy for responders and nonresponders. A properly prepared campaign will know what to do with new customers, returning customers, partial respondents and nonrespondents.
2. Send less, but better, mail.
It's far more productive and profitable to send a better mail piece to more highly qualified leads, Charles explains, than a cheaper piece to a broader, less qualified list.
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