Russell Martin & Associates is one of the IT industry’s most-loved training firms. Instead of delivering the standard, dull training presentations, they’ve developed an intimate understanding of how people learn, and they apply it to helping project managers and others in the IT world improve their efficiency, quality, and workflow (among other things).
One of the most sensible strategies used by direct marketers is what’s known as a split A/B test. A split test offers a way to compare two different messages, or two different offers, and to determine which will produce a greater rate of return.
Suppose you’re thinking of sending an offer to a list of 100,000 prospects. You aren’t sure whether those prospects would prefer a discount or some kind of bonus offer in return for their business. So what you do is take a small percentage of that list… say 5 percent… and divide that portion in half.
In the old days, before marketers began to mistake technology for knowledge and sophistication, most companies relied on a variety of tried-and-true tactics to make the most of their marketing budgets. One of the most effective tools they used was called the split test.
Essentially, what they would do is make two different offers to two identical groups. Suppose they had a mailing list with 50,000 names. They would take 1000 names from that list, divide them into two groups, and send them offers that differed in content or approach.
… is one of the oldest in the book. I’ve always been a fan of direct mail (the targeted kind, not the mass junk mail version). And my clients will tell you that I’m quick to recommend it in this age of tweets and suites. In fact, I’ve told audiences that direct mail may even be more effective today, simply because so few companies are using it.
But don’t take my word for it. Lois Geller has been one of the doyennes of direct marketing for decades, and in a recent blog for Forbes, she shares her thoughts on why direct mail continues to outpull most other marketing channels.