A Crash Course on Postal and E-mail List Testing

Give a pop quiz to most direct marketers on postal list testing and you'll find an incredibly knowledgeable group of professionals. Give a similar quiz to the same group on e-mail list testing, and the score may be entirely different.

Just like the proverbial apples and oranges, postal lists and e-mail lists are just not the same when it comes to testing.

Individual knowledge about the nuances of each type of file is essential to a successful outcome. While it's impossible to cover everything that separates these two direct marketing list tactics, here are some vital tips to make smart list choices for the fourth quarter and beyond.

Step One: Pulling your list and determining selects. Traditional postal list campaigns are most often targeted by specific geographical locations, while e-mail lists are most often target by consumers and their behaviors.

An example of this might be the fact that postal lists are traditionally pulled by the designation of "residents or homeowners" within a particular postal carrier route or very narrow zip code radius. E-mail lists are traditionally pulled by the designation "consumers" and further targeted by demographics or behaviors within a set geographical area.

Step Two: Uniques Within Your List. In postal list marketing there's a need to be certain you have unique names. Because of printing, shipping and mailing costs in postal list marketing, it essential to request unique names and go "1 per" to addresses.

The same is not true for e-mail list campaigns. Having every member of a family get the same postcard in one residential mailbox is wasteful. Having every member of a family get the same e-mail message in separate e-mail mailboxes is what email list marketing is all about—blanketing.

Step Three-Determine List Quantity. In postal list marketing, a campaign might be considered a viable test with a total list quantity of 5-10,000. However, in e-mail the same is not true. Quite often traditional postal marketers make the mistake of using small quantities in e-mail list tests, which can net them disappointing results.

Let's use the example of a traditional postal list mailer trying e-mail for the first time. This mailer might use what they know about postal lists when determining parameters for their new e-mail campaign—and this could result in disaster.

This mailer might request an e-mail list based on a very tight geographic area because that's how they are used to pulling lists. Let's say they net a total quantity of 6000 e-mail addresses. This mailer might further split the list into two groups of 3000 for multiple creatives. With the typical .5 to 1% response rate this mailer would net approximately 15 to 30 clickthroughs per e-mail message. If the mailer had opened up the parameters of the e-mail list and targeted by consumer behaviors or demographics for a larger universe of even 30,000 you can imagine that the response would be significantly improved.

Step Four: Remailing the List. Another mistake many traditional postal marketers make is the "one and out" strategy. Where postal mail might be more response driven, e-mail is both response and brand driven. Many subscription-based record clubs report that a person might see their postal mailings six times or more before they place an order. But many mailers believe that a single e-mail to a single list will do the trick with just one blast.

Frequency is actually one of the factors common to both postal and e-mail lists, so you need to remarket to a list multiple times to know if the file is viable.

The bottom line is that there will always be a need for both postal and e-mail marketing. One compliments and reinforces the other when used in tandem. However, marketers need to understand the nuances of each type of list in order to make smart decisions when planning and implementing tests to get a true determination of both the list and the medium.

Allison Doyle-Eichler (adoyle@1touchmarketing.com) is a senior business development representative for 1Touch Marketing, Boca Raton, FL.

Like to submit an article to List Talk? Contact Jim Emerson at jim.emerson@penton.com