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With this in mind, here are four key areas where testing via the Web particularly can prove insightful.
• Copy tests. For anyone participating in paid search marketing, copy should be tested on an ongoing basis. So instead of treating those learnings as solely beneficial to future paid search campaigns, methodically structure your paid search tests to gather data on which keywords, benefits, copy approaches and combinations thereof draw the most clicks and sales conversions. If there is a clear, consistent winner, use the same copy approach, words and benefits to craft the headline for your space ad or the teaser for your direct mail envelope. If you have more than one winner, the top two performers now become ideal A and B tests for your next mailing package or insert.
• Pretest price/offer variations. There are times when you have a bevy of price and offer combinations to consider: three or four installment payments, three different price points, whether to offer one or two bonus gifts. In these circumstances, the Internet is ideal for preliminary testing.
In an e-mail or on a Web landing page from search marketing, test an alternating round of the various offers under consideration. Once you see a trend toward two or three offer options gathering the most response and sales conversions, test these top winners offline to validate the results in the more statistically reliable medium of direct mail.
• Merchandising and product selection. Not sure which of three or four new product ideas is the strongest? Merchandising consultant Susan Bates, of Susan Bates Consulting, recommends purchasing a small quantity of each product and offering all of them on your Web site’s homepage or via an e-mail to gauge feedback and interest. The favorite then can be selected for the direct mail package, space ad or package insert. The results also can help you determine how much space to allocate in your catalog for each of the products you do carry, which to feature on the Web site, etc.
Bates also suggests creating a “best customers only” page online, where customers can “vote” and provide input and feedback on new product ideas before their development or purchase is finalized. Ask which color, topic or other version customers prefer. This way you can learn that 18-inch necklace chains are preferred over 24-inch chains, and you will ensure your supplier delivers the most likely winner to you.
• Premium selection. Tom Link, of Link Direct, says that for some of his B-to-C clients, he has used Web surveys to online newsletter recipients to gauge interest among a list of premiums. “Since we can’t test all the premiums in direct mail, this helps us zero in on which ones to test. If you combine this type of premium question along with demographic questions in your survey, you can create cross tabs to see what premiums might be of most interest to specific segments of your audience,” he explains.
An additional way to use the Web for testing premiums is to offer an unannounced bonus gift to Web customers at checkout. Let them choose from four or five premiums. This gives you good data, in a relatively similar situation, as to how premiums should be offered. One premium may emerge as the winner or you may need to do a second round of Web tests that allow customers to select between the top two winners.
There are numerous areas where your Web site, e-mail and search marketing can provide insights: copy, price and offer, benefits focus, merchandise, and premium selections. These online methods all provide answers fast and inexpensively, helping you refine your plans before you further hone in on the best approaches via direct mail, inserts, DRTV or space ads. Approach your testing plan in a multichannel manner, and let your online involvement improve not only your offline results, but also your speed in determining what works. And don’t forget to take what you learn offline and apply it online. Then you’re taking advantage of the full circle benefit of a multichannel test plan!
Shari Altman is president of Altman Dedicated Direct, a direct marketing consultancy specializing in acquisition, continuity, DRTV and loyalty marketing. Prior to launching Altman Dedicated Direct in 1999, she spent 20 years as director of marketing for direct response marketers and catalogers. She can be reached at (336) 969-9538 or by e-mail at saltman@altmandedicateddirect.com.
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