Direct Mail Control

March 27, 2012 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Direct Marketing Lists 

One of the greatest features of direct mail marketing is your ability to control and improve every aspect of the direct response medium.

As the creator, you are in total control and when starting out If you use direct mail, one of your biggest challenges is beating the control in a A/B split test. Your testing your control package, this is the direct mail piece that has been used in the past that has pulled for you. Now you are testing a new version of the control to increase the response rate.

When trying to improve your control package you may use random formats, offers or creative approaches, and the package that nets the most response becomes the new control package. The first step when launching any new direct mail marketing campaigns is to first write a plan on what problem your trying to resolve or what goals are you trying to achieve.

If your trying to cross sell or up-sell to your current customer base be clear in writing your objective and target segment and what response you hope to break-even on.

Analysis

Look at the control and the history of it’s performance, has the response rate decreased steadily each year when you mail it at the same time? Have you tested different offers, is your copy compelling and does it ask for a call to action? Remember to define success is it break-even in costs, or breaking records in new subscribers, members or customers.

Then look at the numbers — response rates, conversions, ROI, cost per customer, etc. Arrange tests chronologically or by response. Do you see a pattern? What has worked and what has not? Why?

Try to define why the old control doesn’t perform as well and what tweaks did you make in the test that made it out perform your control. The acquisition package is getting a good response and has beat out all contenders, but the ROI could be better. The package must be made more cost efficient while maintaining the current response and conversion rate.

Analyze your new control or think you can do better, go back to creating for a while. When the deadline gets close or when you stop generating useful ideas, move on. Try to figure out exactly which change you made that improved the response level of the control This is the one you will develop.”

EXPERTISE

  • Ability to perform all list brokerage duties for clients, including providing thorough list research and recommendations
  • Back-end analysis, marketing metrics Google Analytics, Market Samuria generates revenue & interest via email marketing, SEO, SEM and social media
  • Can target local business landing pages on Twitter, Facebook, Google Places, Google AdWords and other social networks and track results from coupon offers
  • Accelerates sales by tying email campaign and website tracking to CRM system data
  • Creates and executes marketing strategies that support business goals
  • Lead generation and capture and marketing plan development

More Articles on Direct Mail Control

  • Down with focus groups! – I’ve been at many a focus group (eating snacks and trying not to laugh out loud behind the one-way glass) where the group was shown a long-standing direct-mail control. The reaction: “I hate that! I’d never respond to that!

  • How to Beat Your Own Direct Mail Control | WildFire Performance … – Have you ever wondered if you could beat your own direct mail control? Here is an interesting way to think about it – I ran across this article from http://DirectMarketingIQ.com – they give you 7 ways to beat your own control… One of the most …

  • A 7-Step Method to Beat Your Direct Mail Control | Direct Mail Bulletin – A 7-Step Method to Beat Your Direct Mail Control. March 22, 2012. By DirectMarketingIQ Direct Mail News. by Dean Rieck If you use direct mail, one of your biggest challenges is beating a control in a head-to-head test. Most people use the …

  • 20 Year Direct Mail Control: Burn Disease Out Of Your Body – 20 Year Direct Mail Control: Burn Disease Out Of Your Body. How many direct mail packages in the alternative medicine market can boast two decades of mailing? This one, written by Eugene Schwartz and first mailed in …

Email Marketing Still Best Choice

March 14, 2012 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Email Lists 

As for its effectiveness marketers prefer emails in acquiring customers and nurturing prospects, these approaches are completely different and include frequency as well as opt-in best practices—or lack of when acquiring new customers.

A new BtoB study based on an online survey of 332 b2b marketers in December and January. It found that customer acquisition, cited by 32% of respondents, and lead nurturing (27%) are the two primary goals of email programs.

The survey found marketers approach the frequency of their email blasts in different ways. Many marketers worry about mailing to their customer base too often.

Email is still the best marketing choice, but just like with direct mail it’s about quality versus quantity.

When you have new products coming out, but I’m not going to spam people with ineffective emails.Marketers feel they face significant challenges in growing opt-in contact lists. The survey revealed that opt-in practices are far from ideal and may sometimes threaten the viability of entire campaigns.

More than half of all marketers said they build their email lists with opt-ins, many send out unsolicited emails with no prior opt-in approval at all, and the few who use rented or sponsored lists said they thier that the recipients have opted in.

Such customer behaviors as registering for a webinar or downloading a white paper are the most common actions that prompt an automatic follow-up email.

Auto response when customers purchase an item or service from you linked to whatever is going on with our site,” said Rachel Rodenborg, marketing manager at Insite Software. “If someone searches for us or our products and winds up on one of our landing pages, we’ll generate an automated response.”

EXPERTISE

  • Ability to perform all list brokerage duties for clients, including providing thorough list research and recommendations
  • Back-end analysis, marketing metrics Google Analytics, Market Samuria generates revenue & interest via email marketing, SEO, SEM and social media
  • Can target local business landing pages on Twitter, Facebook, Google Places, Google AdWords and other social networks and track results from coupon offers
  • Accelerates sales by tying email campaign and website tracking to CRM system data
  • Creates and executes marketing strategies that support business goals
  • Lead generation and capture and marketing plan development

More Articles on Email Marketing

Email Marketing – Obama Machine 2012

March 6, 2012 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Email Lists 

The GOP email marketing campaigns are varied in approaches.

Romney’s campaign approach is classic email marketing in comparison to Santorum’s messages are more personal notes and breaking news stories.

The GOP doesn’t have a prayer next to the Obama presidential marketing machine.

This is why

The Obama campaign is now emailing it’s 751st email that began back in March of 2008 that was titled “What Happened Today”

Since last year, I requested to be put on the Obama e-mail list. I have saved all Obama organization communications and I know that anyone that knows anything about campaign direct marketing knows that the Obama has one of the most successful outreach to voters by any politician in american history.

Kick-Ass Database Marketing

Since 2007, the Obama campaign has built a 3.1 million supporters and raised more than $700 million, surpassing what all other candidates from both major parties combined.

It doesn’t matter if you like Obama, if you are in any type of business, consumer or business to business and you do not watch how the Obama machine communicates with it’s constituency and prospects by email than you have a lot to learn about the great communicator.

EXPERTISE

  • Ability to perform all list brokerage duties for clients, including providing thorough list research and recommendations
  • Back-end analysis, marketing metrics Google Analytics, Market Samuria generates revenue & interest via email marketing, SEO, SEM and social media
  • Can target local business landing pages on Twitter, Facebook, Google Places, Google AdWords and other social networks and track results from coupon offers
  • Accelerates sales by tying email campaign and website tracking to CRM system data
  • Creates and executes marketing strategies that support business goals
  • Lead generation and capture and marketing plan development

More Articles on Obama 2012

  • Obama Campaign Slams Koch Brothers: Americans For Prosperity … – … Obama Campaign, Barack Obama 2012, Elections 2012, Video, Americans For Prosperity, Charles And David Koch, Koch Brothers, Americans For Prosperity Donors, Jim Messina, Obama 2012, Obama Campaign 2012, …

  • Obama Campaign 2012 in Worcester County | Ocean City … – Obama Campaign 2012 in Worcester County. Posted on February 28, 2012. Howard Sribnick, a member of the OCADC, has been appointed the Worcester County coordinator for the Obama Campaign. Howard may be contacting you by …

  • ‘Stick It To Obama’ Campaign 2012 | Wizbang – ‘Stick It To Obama’ Campaign 2012. March 5, 2012 | Filed under Barack Obama,Energy | Posted by TWB. In general, I hate sticky notes. For several years now, I’ve always seemed to have an abundance of sticky note packs in my office, in my …