Super Shoes, a Hagerstown, MD-based footwear retailer, recently sent postcards and tri-fold mailers to customers to test which performed better.
The company teamed with Quad/Graphics Inc., a national commercial printer that uses a system called the Applied Marketing Test Process (AMTP) to help companies assess direct mailpieces.
“For us to determine if one was better than the other was going to require multiple events, lots of calculation. It would become very expensive and very time consuming,” Matt Willard, Super Shoes’ marketing director, told Direct Marketing News.
Willard used AMTP to test mailpiece designs online with customers, who provided feedback through a survey.
In another test, he mailed targeted customer groups’ coupons on postcards and tri-fold mailpieces to gauge the redemption rate.
The results: Postcards had the best return on investment for driving sales, while tri-fold mailers were best for coupon redemption.
“As we move forward, we’ve adopted those sensibilities into our direct mail strategy. We’re not always seeking to drive increased profit. In some cases, we’re willing to settle for a reduced profit for more eyeballs,” Willard said.