| |
|
| |||||||||||||||||||
|
| | | | | | | |
How to Make Co-op or Package Inserts Play a Major Role in Your Testing Program By Larry H Tucker In attempting to stay ahead of your market (and your competitors), you should continually be testing both new products and new ways of presenting your tried-and-true offerings. Most direct marketers have developed a series of “control” packages and ads— the winners that consistently pull in the most—or most profitable—responses over time. Of course, the offers, pricing, and some of the layout elements can easily be adapted to the standard 5-1/2” X 8-1/2” or 5” X 7-3/8” two-sided formats, generally used for package or co-op inserts. We’ve discussed this in previous articles in this series. But your controls, even when attractively adapted to the insert format, simply may not perform as well as you might expect in the co-op or package insert environment. Nestled among more than a dozen other, unrelated offers competing for the recipient’s attention, your insert will do much better when your offer is specifically constructed for this environment and “dressed up” to appeal to the audience the medium reaches. Here’s why an insert that does well in one program, or several similar programs (i.e., clothing buyers’ package insert programs) may do poorly in other programs, or in co-ops that approach the market differently (a demographically oriented co-op like ours, for example). Your product may be equally appealing to many groups, but you have to sell it to them with words and graphics and colors that they find particularly attractive and compelling. Often geography can enter in: New Englanders may respond strongly to an appeal that falls flat in the Western or Southern states. In order for you to judge the specific medium accurately and fairly, you will generally have to develop and test several new concepts and strategies. Even if the adaptation of your control pulls satisfactory response, where your bottom line is ahead of projections, you still should be testing continually with your inserts. The low cost and wide distribution of insert programs provide you with the least risky way to try out new offers, formats, or pricing on a diffuse audience. The line in real estate is that the three most important factors are location, location, and location. In direct mail, you can’t afford to ignore testing, testing and more testing. Remember that the other elements, which traditionally are so important in direct mail, are beyond your control. In co-ops and package insert programs, the lists and envelope or carrier package are the responsibility of the program sponsor. Your responsibility is to make sure that your insert is as effective as it can be. Your choice of headline, offer, graphics, format, color, stock and copy used on the insert itself—and on how easy you make it for the interested reader to respond to you—will have a major impact on the results you generate. Unlike solo mail with its many pieces and high production costs, new inserts can generally be produced quickly and at relatively low cost (particularly if you can use existing four-color separated film). In our company, for example, our sales and marketing people are frequently able to pass along successful techniques and strategies to our clients, based on our experience gained from running many billions of successful inserts in our targeted co-ops over the years. We understand the elements that go into creating winning inserts, and adapting existing materials to the insert format. We also have a team of graphics specialists who create “comps” and suggested layouts within a matter of a few days. Varying your inserts can be inexpensive The simplicity of the insert format makes it easy to isolate specific test elements: price, color, headline, and offer. A true A-B split can be achieved by having your printer intermingle the different sheets within shipping boxes as they come out of his bindery, or simply by asking the sponsor of the distribution program for a “box sort,” alternating boxes of inserts within the same geographic area, type of package delivered, demographic audience, etc. From a printing point of view, you’ll get sixteen 5-1/2” X 8-1/2” pieces out of a typical press sheet, and twenty-one 5” X 7-3/8” pieces, so it’s an easy matter to run several same-size lots simultaneously, especially if you can keep your variations within a vertical cut of the press sheet. Some marketers code each vertical “strip” of inserts differently. Or you can obviously create either 16 or 21 separate codes to give yourself maximum flexibility in placement and testing. A further variation on this is to set up a string of code letters or numbers on the response device or order form: ABCDE or 12345. Every so many impressions, the presses are stopped and the last letter or number is rubbed off the printing plate. ABCDE becomes ABCD and then ABC, with the code response reports generally reflecting the last letter or number in the series. Different paper stocks can be tested in a similar way: when the code changes, the new stock is substituted on the press. Grades or colors or tints of stock will therefore relate to the appropriate code. You might experiment with high bulk (no finish) against glossy finish card stock, or with different weights from 45# to 80# coated stock. Color or graphics changes within the same-size format are easily accomplished, one at a time. This is also the best way to test price differentiation—when all the other elements are constant. You can test the total price, or methods of presenting the price (four payments of $7.50 instead of $30). Or you can try lowering your product price (or giving it away), and raising the postage & \handling charge. Testing and tracking over several months or mailing cycles will give you a statistical basis for making a “rollout” decision. The insert medium can allow you to develop and test literally dozens of offer variations, from premiums to terms to guarantees. Ajump in response generated by one or more of these could alert you to new consumer tastes or a shift in the market—and could suggest ideas that you can then apply to your next solo mailing or catalog. Inserts that are delivered year-round (and properly coded separately for each month’s distribution) can also help you track the “seasonality” of various promotional appeals, taking some of the pressure off your continuing solo mail testing to your house list and rented/exchanged lists. But never, never ship a full year’s worth of material for inserting without setting up proper coding (with instructions) to guide the inserting people—and to control your own tracking which facilitates your back-end analysis. Make your coding simple and consistent Naturally, you’ll mark all of your response cards and order forms clearly with “keys” to each offer, combination, color, etc., so that you can accurately read the results. These codes become part of the permanent order record. If you don’t keep your alpha-numeric combinations simple, you can be sure that significant errors in data entry will occur. Separate significant parts of the code with hyphens: TYF-l/00 B will refer clearly to the B offer on an insert in the Tucker Young Family co-op mailing in January 2000. Note that when a numeral comes next to a letter, there’s no need for a hyphen. The same B offer in a different format could easily be B2. Keep your most common variables either first or last (in this case, the program and offer). Your “800” number response must also be identified clearly, generally with a department number (unless you have the luxury of tying an “800” number to each offer). And, of course, you’ll want to track each offer in each medium over time. In the circulation business, you really don’t know what you have until renewal time rolls around. In continuity clubs, you’ll want to rate performance over a period of months. Catalog marketers can generally tell within three mailings whether the initial order was marginally profitable, of average profitability, or from a treasured multi-buyer. Appending source and data information to your lists will help you decide how to treat each media program in the future (soft offer, harder offer, easy terms, etc.) and will also allow you to segment your lists for improved rentals at better prices. Test headline variations thoroughly The headline that grabs reader attention is an especially important element in determining the success of an insert. Changing just a word or two, or altering a statement into a question or command can make a world of difference in response. Different wordings, type styles, sizes, underlines and word placement should be experimented with—even different colorings or backgrounds. A reverse into black or a deep color may stop ‘em dead (but make sure that it’s very readable). Or how about a bright color headline dropped out of a darker tone? If you can’t make the reader pause and examine your offer, everything else you do is wasted. So test any variations carefully. For example, the word “FREE” is always an attention-grabber. But use it carefully and rationally to make a bona fide offer (free premium with purchase, free first issue, etc.). Each of our participants is delighted to see the other offers in the co-op mailing succeed. They know that the stronger each individual offer appears to the audience, the more valuable is the entire insert package, and the better the chance of response. Next time, we’ll discuss a number of factors which can strongly affect your ultimate profitability, from quantities and scheduling to various options in bringing in response: “Stamp-no-Stamp”... “800” and “900” numbers.. .requiring signatures or telephone numbers, furnishing envelopes for payment, etc. It’s not just bringing in response that matters—you want to make your insert programs profitable in both the short term and the long term. | |||||||
 | |||||||
[ Home ] | |||||||
Copyright © 2000 Supermarket of Savings. All Rights Reserved | |||||||
