5 Tactics for Designing Magalog Mailers

5. Test a Control Package Versus a Magalog
"We did a head-to-head test where we had a copywriter write copy-one version of it for the magalog and one version for the 6˝ x 9˝ package-and they didn't have to do that much changing to make it work in both formats. It was much more of a design issue-pulling the pieces apart and making them into their own little components," Wolfe says. In that test the magalog format won by a considerable margin. It is also possible to repurpose a control package into a magalog format for testing. "All the components of a [letter] package are actually in a magalog, just in a different shape," Davidson says. While you can translate some control package elements to create a magalog test, Davidson warns that a traditional package doesn't provide nearly enough content to complete a magalog version and requires additional copywriting and design treatments.