Testing Times

When was the last time you DIDN'T open a plain faced envelope personally addressed to you?

Over the next few weeks, we will be running a series of effectiveness tests with a client to assess the reach and response impact of traditional mail vs email. This particular client is in the financial services industry.

Clearly, the cost of preparation and delivery favours the electronic version (Cell A). Both Cell B, the plain white envelope delivered via AusPost, and Cell A will each inform the recipient of the sending company - via the "From" & "Subject" fields in the email and the "If undeliverable..." address on the envelope. Importantly, the text and layout will be identical in the interests of ensuring there is only one variable between groups.

Whether there is any difference in the desired client-action rate based on the delivery method is yet to be seen. And the analysis of the customers that do respond should be able to provide some insight into whether there is any discernible difference between 'letter openers' and 'email readers'.

Although simplistic, this form of continual testing is important. The more we continue to learn about our clients' behaviour and the triggers that elicit that behaviour, the more likely we are to able to achieve better returns through improved CRM tactics - after all, CRM is actually a two-way street.