Direct marketing is used by many marketers to generate sales, in both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) enterprise. The same technique also can be used to test and optimize your selling proposition, and various elements of an advertising campaign. My mantra is “test before you invest.”
The definition of “direct marketing” is the delivery of promotional messages directly to prospective customers—on an individual basis as opposed to through a mass medium. This “direct marketing” definition holds true for traditional, digital and social delivery methods. The most common delivery methods are direct mail, telemarketing, e-mail, the use of landing pages and social media networks.
Using direct marketing for testing is a popular marketing tactic because it can generate quick results and is very easy to measure. Its measurability is why direct marketing is a great testing tool. Before committing (long term) to a promotion strategy or extensive advertising campaign, test various elements to hone in on the most effective messaging and imaging combination.
Although you can use any form of direct marketing to test your proposition, I’ll use direct mail to illustrate our four-step process. This course of action—also referred to as A/B testing—assumes you are already clear on your promotion objectives and target audience.
- Begin by creating a control message. Use a postcard to communicate the offer you think will work best to attract your target market and motivate recipients to respond. It should include a headline, a graphic or photo, a few key copy points and a call-to-action with contact information.
- Next, you’ll create a variation as a test against the control message. Determine which element of the control message you want to test, such as the headline, photo or call-to-action, e.g. discount or incentive. Important: you can only test one element at a time; in other words, don’t test a different headline and photo in the same test version, because you would not know which element generated the difference in response rate.
- Contact a few mail service companies to buy a list of well-targeted prospects within your core market radius. By getting pricing and guidance from three companies, you’ll learn about direct marketing and make an informed decision. The process will be easier if you work with a company that can provide the list, printing and mailing services. You should target at least 1,000 addresses for each variation, e.g. one control and one test would require a list of 2,000. Another important success factor is to distribute your two variations (control A and test B) evenly over the entire list, as opposed to by zip code. Each carrier route should have an equal number of each variation.
- Mail your control and test pieces and measure the results. Document the number of responses to each variation to determine which version generated the best results. After you’ve tested one element, e.g. the headline, you can choose the best variation (the winner of you’re A/B test), create a new control message and conduct another test on a different element, such as the call-to-action.
You can conduct an A/B test digitally and socially as well. On your website, you can split your traffic to two different landing pages, each with one element changed. Instead of using direct mail, you can do a small pay-per-click ad test through Google, which will automatically split the traffic. Socially, you can test two different Posts (or social ads) and count “Likes” and click-throughs.
Using direct marketing as a testing mechanism can be less expensive and quicker than doing focus group or consumer panel research, and you’ll likely acquire new customers during the test—which can offset the cost of your test. This approach requires a short-term, up-front investment, but is well worth it when you consider the long-term impact of improving your selling proposition and sales results.
Before embarking on a long-term campaign or promotion strategy, be sure to “test before you invest.”