| |
| |
|
Marketing Resource Center |
|
|
|
How to Use Direct Response Post Card Decks as a Valuable Market Research Tool
Market research specialists have discovered a new tool which enables them to quickly identify target market cells, measure buyer acceptance, test new product or service concepts quickly and inexpensively and survey market characteristics...the Direct Response Card Deck. For two to four cents per contact, the researcher can now gather market intelligence from both specialized vertical markets (lawyers, doctors, etc.) or broad based horizontal markets (all marketing executives across industry lines). In addition, these same markets can now be tested in such confined geographical areas as business executives in Hawaii or professionals in Minneapolis. Not only does the marketer overcome one of the traditional problems in research--test sizes... he or she also reaps the huge advantage of accurate measurability and accountability. Since all responses can be directed back to the research organization, market feedback is both quick and accurate. Many firms have difficulty in obtaining statistically significant samplings through traditional channels because of budget restrictions. It's not uncommon for important strategy decisions to be made on the basis of sampling as few as 2,000 names out of a universe of several million potential buyers. This is risky at best. It could lead to marketing disaster based on serious sampling error, or wrong conclusions drawn from insufficient data. With direct response card packs, it is now possible to test or survey as many as 100,000 potential buyers for as little as $2,000 or less. For the direct marketer this results in meaningful figures which are both statistically significant and forecastable. Proper analysis of this larger sampling should result in strategy decisions which are more accurate, more meaningful, more valid, and more profitable for the direct marketer. The ability to order and conduct true A/B (or more) split run tests of offers, prices, etc. has important implications for the creative team. The marketing intelligence gathered through card packs can be a valuable road map to success. Critically important data, discovered through card deck advertising, can determine the answers to such questions as: ==> Have we targeted to the correct audience? ==> Is the audience responsive to the degree necessary to maximize potential profitability? ==> Do we have the right combination of offer, price, copy, graphics, headlines, terms, etc.? ==> Are the response/profit characteristics such that they justify testing such other direct response media as direct mail, space or broadcast advertising? ==> Is there potential for a variation of this product/service to be marketed to a closely related audience? ==> What is the potential for back-end profits from related item sales? ==> Are we barking up the wrong tree? Should we cut our losses now and thank our luck stars that we were able to discover, inexpensively, that we were wrong? While the advantage of card decks as a market research tool outweigh the disadvantages, there are some restrictions you need to be aware of: 1. The card itself is small (about 3"x5") and as such restricts your ability to test such things as long copy and multiple option offers. Some decks provide larger format sizes with the ability to do fold-over inserts which provide more space, but these options are at a substantial premium in price. The small space can work to your advantage because it forces you to limit your testing to those factors that have the most profound affect on response and profitability...i.e. offer and price, for example. 2. Color reproduction, if it is important to your product, is not always the best. The conventional .007 Hi Bulk paper stock normally used in card decks is not the best choice for color printing. Most deck publishers, however, offer a coated stock option and you may find it useful. 3. Response rates are,on the average, lower in card decks (1/4th of one percent to 1 percent) than they might be in a free standing direct mail package. On the surface this may appear to be a disadvantage. In fact it is not. Your goal in market research/testing is to obtain statistically significant data across the broadest sampling possible...consistent with budgetary limits. Card decks allow you to achieve this goal, precisely. It's much better to have a 1/4th of 1% response from a 100,000 name universe (250 responses) than to have a 12.5% (250 responses) from a small 2,000 name test cell. Although the total numbers are the same, the former example gives you a truer picture of market conditions and possible product/service acceptance. In summation, we have found that direct response card decks, if used properly, can be ideal market research tools. Card decks are inexpensive to use. They give quick accurate and projectable results. They reduce the risk of sampling error, and the resulting data is both statistically significant and inherently more valid. There's only one way to know for sure...test it! ©Copyright 2005 Thom Reece All Rights Reserved Thom Reece is the CEO of Online Marketing Group, a Hawaii based direct response marketing and web development firm. His primary website, the Online Marketing Resource Center [http://www.e-comprofits.com] is visited by thousands of marketers daily. For a free subscription to Thom Reece's Web Marketing Strategies & Techniques Newsletter go to: http://www.WMSTDirect.com mailto:thom@e-comprofits.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
8 Proven Ways to Get Referrals Do you find it hard to ask for referrals? I know I do! Your heart starts racing, you stumble for words, and sometimes you break out in a sweat just thinking of asking for a referral. But the secret to getting referrals without having to ask is to develop a system that does the asking for you. Medias Dirty Little Secret I'm constantly amazed by all of the media reps from all of the different media outlets that can help your advertising to "reach the right people."Why am I amazed?Because they all reach the same people. The Power Of A Story If you want your marketing to be effective, you absolutely must connect emotionally with your prospects. And one of the best ways to do that is by telling a story. 12 Lessons I Picked Up from Attending Seminars So you just dropped a tidy sum to attend a seminar or some other three-day event. Now it's over and you're exhausted. People Do Business with People They Like People do business with people they know and like! In my networking classes I have been saying this for six years. Can't say I was the originator of it, yet it appears people are catching on. Like Brushing Your Teeth What do the following things have in common: brushing your teeth, regular exercise, eating a balanced diet, paying your bills on time, cleaning your gutters, spending quality time with your spouse and kids??They're all forms of regular "self-care" that, if you neglect them for a period of time or take the wrong approach, there will be costly negative consequences.The same goes for marketing. 5 Steps to Success: A Surefire Way to Achieve Your Goals No doubt you started this year with some big ideas about what you wanted to accomplish. I know I did!Maybe it was how many new clients you wanted to get, or how much money you wanted to make, or how many products you wanted to sell. Top 10 Marketing Pitfalls Ten Marketing PitfallsBy Stuart ReidIf you want to make it BIG in Internet Marketing you need avoid some common mistakes. Here's a list of the top ten Pitfalls that catch out beginner Marketers (and many established ones too!). Using Flyers In Your Business If you are not using flyers in your business you are missing out. Flyers can be used to sell your product, promote your product, promote your services, and in a number of other areas. The 5 Musts of Marketing For most of the small business owners I work with, marketing has become the equivalent of a four-letter word. Inevitably, when I ask the question, "Do you have a marketing plan?" or "What marketing activities do you engage in?" I get the full gamut of responses from the proverbial deer in the headlights stare, to a vociferous, "I hate marketing, it's the least favorite part of my business!"After years of witnessing this reaction, and learning a bit about modern marketing, I'm starting to understand why traditional marketing is perceived and experienced as a necessary evil and avoided like a root canal. 15-Minute Marketing: Lots of Results in Little Time Do you think you don't have enough time to market? Here's a solution that can help you get started on marketing, or any other task you've been putting off.Promise yourself you will spend 15 uninterrupted minutes working on one aspect of marketing. What to be Successful? Marketing Makes the Difference When you hear the word "marketing" what comes to mind? More business or wasted money? If your experience with marketing or advertising has been less than positive your cynicism may be well founded. Yet, have you ever noticed a competitor with a mediocre product and a healthy business? The difference is often marketing. For Ongoing Success, Make Marketing a Habit Make Marketing a Must, Not a MaybeWhen business is booming, it's easy to put marketing on the back burner. Why focus attention on getting new customers when you already have all you can handle? The reason is simple: when things slow down, you want to have new clients in the pipeline. Six Secrets to Creating Successful Tourism Marketing, Websites, Ads, Tradeshow Booths, & More If you want to substantially increase your tourism prospects and sales without a lot of effort and expense, then read on and prosper. You are going to learn the power and impact of the written word. Resistances To Marketing a Practice-Part 1 If you are a therapist, counselor, or an alternative or complementary health practitioner (naturopath, homeopathetic doctor, massage therapist, body worker, etc.), in all likelihood, you are not only uninformed about effective marketing methods, but you are also likely to have some negative feelings about self promotion and marketing. AIDA From A Different View - I Call It the 5 Ws My childhood was my foundation for how I write and how I think. I caught on at an early age that writing is an art and it has a very distinct way of reaching out to people depending on how you apply it. How Price Gouging Can Hurt Your Business "Price gouging" is an emotional, inflammatory term. Everyone is against it, but only buyers, angry over excessive profit-taking, proclaim it. Top 10 Ways to Create and Manage Opportunity Most of us are used to the concepts of risk management or time management. Many of the same principles can be applied to creating and responding to opportunities. Small Business Pricing Strategies Think the best way to get more customers is to have the lowest prices in town? Think again. Think the best way to create a successful business is to try to appeal to everyone? Wrong again. Marketing From Both Sides Of The Ball In the world of business, marketing is often conveyed as a game. It is not uncommon to hear or read of a company "playing the marketing game" or "establishing a marketing game plan".
|
| home | site map | Advertising Articles |
| © 2006 |
