The beauty of direct response marketing is that it produces a result. Your campaign is either profitable or it’s not. You know exactly whether a mailshot or advert has worked.
But do you test? That is, test one advert with a different headline or offer against another.
Just recently I decided to run an unusual test with an offer to my existing clients.
A while ago, I sent an offer to 750 of my newsletter subscribers. The offer was that there was going to be a price increase but if they booked now (even if the job was a few months ahead), they could benefit from the current price.
I had quite a number of responses.
Now, what if I sent a different offer to some of those who hadn't responded? Well, surely they had all seen the offer of the price increase and those that wanted carpets cleaning took advantage?
Just two weeks later I sent a different (inferior) offer on a postcard to just 49 of those that hadn't responded. The result? A further FOUR jobs booked in with a total value of £784.30 at the new increased price. And all this for a total outlay of under £30!  That’s a return on investment of over 25 to 1.
Imagine that. Customers who have already received a better offer just two weeks earlier paid MORE money to have their carpets cleaned.
Did I think it would work? Not really. But I'm glad that I tested it.