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July 26, 2006

Insider Tip of the Week - 07/26/06

A crash course in effective offline testing

by Bob Serling

It seems a lot more people are starting to heed my
advice to include offline marketing in their overall
marketing mix, particularly with the bizarre rules
changes Google has implemented this week with
Adwords. So let's take a look at a simple, extremely
effective testing procedure you can use to ramp up
the success of all your offline marketing.

Ready? Here we go...

A client called me last week in a panic, "The lead
generation letter bombed," he wailed.

"Bombed how?" I asked. I've been through similar
conversations with clients many times before, so I
know better than to buy into their panic.

"I only got 24 responses and of those, just 4 want
to set up an appointment. I was hoping to get at
least 10 appointments," he replied.

The key to all successful marketing is testing

One of the most valuable features of direct marketing
is the ability to test a variety of components to determine
what works best. Then you kill the losers and run with
the winners. But even though everyone knows they
should be testing, most people just give it lip service.

"How many different lists did you test to get your 24
responses?" I asked the client.

"Just the one. List rental costs are really high these days,"
he answered.

"I know they are, but your costs are much higher if you
test only one list and it fails. Then you've lost all your
money. If you test at least three different lists and just
one of them proves to be a winner, you'll generate
at least a year's worth of business from it, won't you?"
I asked.

"I'm sure that's true. I'm just always looking to save a
buck, you know," he answered. "But I'm not really
saving anything if I lose it all on one list."

Now he was starting to get the picture!

How to conduct multiple tests with the same mailing

"Now, let me ask you one more thing," I said. "Did you
test two different versions of your copy?"

I have to admit, I could have predicted his answer.

"No, I was in a rush to get this thing in the mail and
bringing in the business," he said.

Unfortunately, as I explained to him, he had missed
an opportunity to actually test six different packages
with just one mailing.

Here's how. First, you start with the three different
lists. Second, you split-test by sending 50% of the
people on each list one version of your copy, and
the other 50% a second version.

By doing this, you're actually testing six different
combinations. Your mailing costs are the same,
except for the additional rental fees for the lists.
But the difference in results are almost always
substantial.

Plus, it gets even better. Once you've found the
right list/copy combination, you can have your list
broker profile the successful list (or lists) against other
lists to find those that are the closest matches.

The likelihood of these profiled lists performing well
is far greater than any other lists. Once you test these
new lists, if they prove successful, you're ready to
roll out in style!

====================================

How did one of my students sell 9,500 copies of his
information product with almost no prior experience?
http://www.directmarketinginsider.com/9500copies.html

Posted by Bob Serling at July 26, 2006 07:57 PM

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