Challenge Your Direct Mail Package – Don’t be Afraid to Test
It can be tempting to keep using the same direct marketing plan you’ve had for years. Now, however, is the perfect time to try something totally new. Challenge your current direct mail control package by testing it against a new creative appeal with these proven “Testing Strategies that Raise More Donations.”
How to Test in Direct Mail?
A/B Testing
Direct mail utilizes what’s called A/B testing, also known as a split test. It is when your current mail piece, the control, is mailed at the same time as the test package to equal segments of your donor file.
The goal is to identify which version of the direct mail package performs better in terms of a chosen metric, such as response rate, average donation, or revenue generated.
A/B testing gives you clear, actionable insights into what your audience actually responds to and eliminates any guesswork.
Test a Single Variable
Running a proper A/B test requires more than just sending out two versions and hoping for the best. Test one element at a time. If you change too many variables, you won’t know which one led to the difference in results.
Segmentation
Collecting giving data for all donors is essential for any direct mail campaign and is necessary for an effective testing strategy. A donor file should be segmented using the follow RFM metric and ranked within each of the segments.
Recency: How recently a donor has given. A donor who gave in the last month gets a higher rank than someone who gave a year ago.
Frequency: The number of times a person has donated. Frequent donors receive a high ranking, while one-time donors get a low ranking.
Monetary Value: The average amount a donor has give. Large givers receive a higher ranking than low-dollar givers.
Determine the Size of the Test/Select the Segments
When testing a direct mail package to your core donors, determine the size of your test. For cost-effectiveness determine the test size, and then determine which segments to test.
Eliminate all segments where the donor is treated differently, such as monthly donors and lapsed donors, as it will skew the results.
Select donors by utilizing an “nth” selection strategy which is a statistical sampling that involves mailing to every nth name on the donor file to assure a fair and accurate test.
What should you test?
There are countless variable in a direct mail campaign that can be tested. Here are some of the most impactful:
Envelope Size, Design, and Teaser Copy
The most attention-grabbing part of your mail piece is the envelope teaser copy. For ideas about envelope tests, read “Envelope Test Ideas to Increase Response.” The envelope teaser is often what determines whether or not your donor opens the envelope, so this is one of the most important elements to test.
Package Design and Format
Aesthetic presentation plays a big role in how your message is received. You can test; inserts, long versus short letter copy, various calls-to-action, different types of donation forms, premiums, and different headlines and visuals to see what best captures your audience’s attention and encourages a response.
Personalization
The donation form and letter can be personalized with variables such as name, donation amount, and recency of last gift.
- Personalized Name: “Dear John” versus “Dear Special Friend”
- Location-specific appeals versus generic: Your gift will help stray cats and dogs in (your town) receive veterinarian care.
- Donation amount and recency: Your last gift of $25 was month/year.
- Variable gift asks: $15, 25, 50 versus $10, $20, $45
- Tailored letters to lapsed versus current donors
Generally personalization will increase response rates and very often the donation amount too, but testing is necessary to quantify the results.
I’ve had clients who had great success testing a new creative targeted to their lapsed donors.
Others, dramatically increased their direct marketing efforts by testing a premium package against their tried and true non-premium control. While more expensive, the premium package increased percent response, raised the average gift, and because of those metrics proved to be more cost effective then the less expensive package. Premiums that can be worthy of a test are name and address labels, notepads, note cards, holiday cards, and stickers.
How to Test Inexpensively
One road block I hear from some clients is that they don’t have the budget to test brand new packages because they are more expensive. There are many tests that don’t cost a lot of money. Envelope color, teaser copy, gift asks, and letter copy tests shouldn’t add any cost to your budget.
You might find comfort in this:
Testing actually saves you money in the long run by ensuring that you’re not wasting funds on packages that are less cost effective and less responsive.
How to Determine the Winning Package
Be sure to track results accurately and don’t draw conclusions from too small a sample size. Once you’ve found a clear winner, roll out the package to a wider segment of your donor pool to confirm consistent results.
Don’t assume results apply to all audiences. Lapsed donors will respond differently than current donors. High-dollar donors will respond differently than low-dollar donors. To get the best results, treat A/B testing as a continuous process of learning.
Start planning Your Next Test
Testing in direct mail is essential for any nonprofit. “Testing Strategies that Raise More Donations” provides insights into the importance of testing and what to test. The knowledge you gain from every test you track will allow you to learn what your donors like and don’t like. As you build on this knowledge, tweaking your direct mail packages as you go along, you will improve your campaigns and raise more money. Happy testing!
Ready to Improve Your Direct Mail Results? Contact Write Choice Marketing today!
Write Choice Marketing-Helping nonprofits raise donations through compelling copy, engaging content, and donor responsive strategies that get results. We offer creative, cost-effective, fundraising and marketing solutions.