Mailing Campaign Response

Hello all,

I'm sure I could dig it up from some posts within this forum, but does
anyone know (and are generous enough to relay) what the statistics are
for a:

a) poor mailing campaign
b) typical or average mailing campaign
c) good mailing campaign
d) excellent mailing campaign

I have a scheme in my head that I would like to put to the test. *grin*

Cheers,
K-

"Kringle" <mtngnome@rev.net> wrote:
> I'm sure I could dig it up from some posts within
> this forum, but does anyone know (and are
> generous enough to relay) what the statistics are
> for a:
>
> a) poor mailing campaign

Getting less than 0.5% response rate.

> b) typical or average mailing campaign

Getting 1% response rate.

> c) good mailing campaign

Getting 1-2% response rate.

> d) excellent mailing campaign

Anything above 2% response rate.

> I have a scheme in my head that I would like to
> put to the test. *grin*

If it is world domination, I've already called dibs on it. ;-)

Scott Jensen
--
Peer-to-peer networking (a.k.a. file-sharing) is entertainment's future.
If you'd like to know why, read the white paper at the link below.
http://www.scottjensenshow.com/P2PRevolution.pdf

"Scott T. Jensen" wrote:

> > I have a scheme in my head that I would like to
> > put to the test. *grin*
>
> If it is world domination, I've already called dibs on it. ;-)
>

lol Well, perhaps we can work on it together! *wink*

Thanks for the info!

Cheers,
K-

"Kringle" <mtngnome@rev.net> wrote in message
news:ch10ef082e@enews4.newsguy.com...
>
> Hello all,
>
> I'm sure I could dig it up from some posts within this forum, but does
> anyone know (and are generous enough to relay) what the statistics are
> for a:
>
> a) poor mailing campaign
> b) typical or average mailing campaign
> c) good mailing campaign
> d) excellent mailing campaign
>
> I have a scheme in my head that I would like to put to the test. *grin*
>
> Cheers,
> K-

When I read your message, I remembered seeing this info at the US Postal
Service site:

http://www.usps.com/directmail/welcome.htm

They have a pretty exhaustive resource library you might find useful. In
fact, it would be interesting to learn how our collective experiences in the
real world compare to what the USPS reports as ROI expectations and success
rates.

Enjoy..!

------
Joe E.
------

Well, I'm learning from here...as well as from other sources...that a
successful direct mailing campaign will have a response rate of 2% or
greater.

"Success" is in the eye of the beholder, when planning a direct mailing
campaign, one should define their own "success" criteria.

Cheers,
K-

"Kringle" <mtngnome@rev.net> wrote:
> "Success" is in the eye of the beholder, when
> planning a direct mailing campaign, one should
> define their own "success" criteria.

But that should always be tempered with what's realistically possible. ;-)

Scott Jensen
--
Peer-to-peer networking (a.k.a. file-sharing) is entertainment's future.
If you'd like to know why, read the white paper at the link below.
http://www.scottjensenshow.com/P2PRevolution.pdf

"Joe E." <askmeforit@newsgroups.com> wrote:
> When I read your message, I remembered seeing this
> info at the US Postal Service site:
>
> http://www.usps.com/directmail/welcome.htm
>
> They have a pretty exhaustive resource library you might
> find useful. In fact, it would be interesting to learn how
> our collective experiences in the real world compare to
> what the USPS reports as ROI expectations and success
> rates.

Always consider the source. The US Postal Service financially benefits from
junk mailers. Junk mailers are their bread and butter so it is in USPS's
interest to make junk mailing as attractive as possible. ;-)

Scott Jensen
--
Peer-to-peer networking (a.k.a. file-sharing) is entertainment's future.
If you'd like to know why, read the white paper at the link below.
http://www.scottjensenshow.com/P2PRevolution.pdf

ABOUT Direct Response Rates..

Well, I see what you're sayin' but in this matter true success is
normally not so much in the eyes of the beholder as in the eyes of the
banker.

Once the general response rate numbers are respected, the attention of
the marketer must turn to GROSS rate of return, and response rate must
become secondary from a campaign planning standpoint. He should
spreadsheet Gross Margin as defined by Revenues less Mailing Costs. This
should be the focus or he will be working backwards (after the initial
ballpark response rates are respected).

A .5% response rate may be solid and successful based on the profit
margin of each sale. Further profits can be potentially realized by
raising the product price or value of each response, reducing the
printing costs by raising the scale of the campaign (for example going
from 500,000 pieces to 2,000,000 pieces) adding or dropping a color or
mailing in a tighter geographical area. What affect would it have on the
response if you added 60 cents to the price 60.00 to the price of your
425.00 product to make it 485.00? What if your cost to mail was 60.00...
What would happen if you covered the cost of mailing in your total
pricing structure?

Sequential mailings as opposed to one main mailing could further boost
the value of each piece to it's cost by you redirecting the heftier
piece to the more responsive segment on subsequent mailings.

Then you have the variants of season, time of the month, the pull of
headlines and graphics, and the value of research from your mailing all
affecting it's "success" as defined by the profit outcome. Everything
should be coded for testing in every way.

While I'm at it let me vent about something else.. somewhat related.

ABOUT LOGOS

How many websites in this forum right now have a proper company logo in
its contents? Go look. You will be surprised. The funny thing is that
many of these people can spot an amaturish logo on someone else's
materials but thinks their's somehow comes in under the radar, lol.

I even knew a guy who said that a few thousand dollars is too much to
spend on a logo for ANY company. Many pros would walk away from this
guy right there. In their minds, if he does not have the capacity to
understand the value of a corporate identity program to ALL marketing
objectives, then there's no way that they will waste precious hours in
free consultation trying to educate this fella, ... not when the wife
and kids are calling and haven't even seen him without a tie on in
weeks.

Anyway he claimed he was ok without one or that his brother and law can
throw a decent one together for a few hundred bucks plus change. But
here is the question - How do you define value and quality of a logo?
The fact that you like it? Yes, this is the common determinant among
small businesses. And because of this, logos are often sold in the same
way cars are sold... by CEO/ decision maker emotional response and
price.

What's wrong with this you may ask? What's wrong with this is that your
trademark is a marketing tool ... and a performance item!

Just like your business name... and it is a ONE TIME expense and an
extremely small facet of your cost over the value of a customer life
cycle over the course of the life of your logo.

Because it has a very powerful effect on the market, and the market pays
the bills, your logo must should developed by a committed marketing/
branding professional and an artist. When you buy a logo based only on
the fact that you, your partner and your husband likes it, you are
inadvertently doing self-centered marketing. Those of us who side with
Jeffrey Lantz and so many others, know that this is the fastest road to
perdition one can take, because the market dynamics are nothing if not
researched, and appreciated. And marketers are also bad with this,
believe it or not. We really need to police ourselves with this and hold
to this basic marketing step. Having killer headlings and no logo is
like having a killer suit on , but your hair is unkempt...lol

Don't get me wrong. Having a company design your logo or paying a high
price does NOT alone make it a good logo. But having the market offer
feedback on your logo is vital if you are serious about your marketing
results, and results are what matters. Having a variety of solid designs
to test are just beginning. IS your designer conversant about their
designs? do they have the knowledge base to know what they are doing
from the psychological and technical standpoint?

Is he able to explain how the logo scales well, goes from color to black
and white well, grabs the eye? How it creates strength with its
verticals, consoles with its horizontals, and move with its diagonals?
How it's contrast stimulates, it's lines direct the eye, how its
formality breeds confidence? What have the chosen colors been employed?
How has all this been communicated simply? and More importantly, what
does all this have to do with what is known about the market? Look at
the large successful companies logos. You will see what I'm speaking
about.

Using symbols, your positioning statement, corporate culture, product
line, mission, level of formality, level of professionalism, price level
and customer target can all be communicated in 3 seconds with your name
slogan, and trademark.

Yes, there was a time when all you had to do is throw a box around your
name. Times have changed. Competition is unrelenting. If your competitor
has a logo that raises credibility and you have one which raises
skepticism and slows down your sales times, what have you really
saved...?

So you tell ME what that's really worth. Certainly more than a hunch
from your brother in-law. Please ensure that your designer understands
and markets professional visual communications. Don't skimp on this part
of your marketing formula.

Define your market and with a pro, decide symbols that speak to their
needs and emote understanding of, (and solutions to) their problem. This
will give you a better success rate from the point of gross margin over
cost of mailing.

By the way, this same guy went under. He told his wife it was due to a
"fickle market". Why is it always somebody else's fault? Meanwhile his
competitors really raked in the loot. Go figure. Savvy marketers NEVER
blame the market for soft sales. Don't let this happen to you!

The fact is that unless you're selling something your mother wouldn't
approve of you must adapt a lifestyle in which you do all that you
can as often as you can to attract and retain a constant flow of
customers. And if you do this successfully things will go well..
because, money, experience and credibility all come with that... if you
do not, as 90 plus percent do not, things wont, friend.

~zion~

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Scott T. Jensen wrote:

|
| Always consider the source. The US Postal Service financially
benefits from
| junk mailers. Junk mailers are their bread and butter so it is in
USPS's
| interest to make junk mailing as attractive as possible. ;-)
|
| Scott Jensen


Of course, the USPS charges a per-piece rate for junkmail delivery.
Since when did you negotiate a delivery-rate for your email-junkmail
delivery to any given ISP?

To think that an ISP must deliver your junkmail for free, and at
their expense, is unreasonable, and goes against the concept of a
free-market economy; and yet most (All?) email marketers expect this
delivery to take place free of charge, at the total expense of the
service provider.

I run an ISP, with tens of thousands of customers, and a bit over a
thousand domains. I have published rates for email-marketers, which
will give them access to my customers. No it's not free! Nothing in
life is free. I have to aggressively block ALL email-marketing email
to my networks because of the persistent attempts to reach my
customers with advertisements, which the marketer did not pay ME a
fee for.

Any attempts to send marketing email to my customers, constitutes a
theft of service attack on my private networks, and is blocked as
such; unless the marketer has signed our marketing contract, agreed
to our AUP, and payed for that specific access.

Unless and until email marketers understand that the commercial
Internet is exactly the same as radio and TV, where there is such a
thing as advertising rates, and no-pay-no-play rules are strictly
enforced... severe blocking of such commercial emails will not only
persist, but become ever more effective.

What's fair is fair no? How an I, as a network operator to benefit
unless the marketers pay for advertising access?? Pay and you can
play, try to steal, and you will be blocked... simple!


Bob

- --
~ Bob Richards Chief Engineer | Spam - FREE email accounts
~ Blythe Systems | email/Web/Domain hosting
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What did my reply or this thread have to do with unsolicited email
correspondence (a.k.a. spam)? This is about junkmail which is a unsolicited
postal correspondence.

Scott Jensen
--
Peer-to-peer networking (a.k.a. file-sharing) is entertainment's future.
If you'd like to know why, read the white paper at the link below.
http://www.scottjensenshow.com/P2PRevolution.pdf