We can make guesses and assumptions all day long, but until you get out there and try
it, an assumption is all it will ever be.
Split testing is the process of trying out different things and tracking the results. For
example, you may want to set up two phone numbers for people to call. On half of your
direct mailers, with the yellow paper, offer Phone Number A. On the other half, with the
white paper, offer Phone Number B. Then send them out - and see which group offers
the most calls. It's important that you be extremely diligent in keeping good paperwork
on how well your split tests perform, or it will quickly overwhelm you.
It's unlikely that small changes like the color of paper will make that big of a difference.
However, larger changes (like including a fake key) may drastically change your results.
Even a small difference in conversion rates can make a drastic change on your bottom
line. For example, if 5% of people usually call on your direct mail letter and you can
increase that to 8%, it my seem small but if you are mailing to 2,000 people a month
that's a difference of 60 phone calls. If you close 5% of those deals, that could be an extra
three deals every month - just by raising the phone call conversion rate from 5% to 8%.
Now don't you think it's worth spending some time on a split test? I can almost
guarantee - the local car company did their split testing and learned that the key
provided a higher conversion rate.
Additionally, when split testing, it's important that you allow for enough results to
consider the test valid. For example, if you send out 10 letters to group A and 10 to
group B, and Group A gets you 3 phone calls and group B gets you 4, don't assume
group B was better. With such a small number it's hard to get a solid grasp on a "trend."
Maybe a couple people in Group A were out of town, or were dead, or whatever.
Therefore, I'd recommend sending to at least 500 per group to do an adequate split test.
A good marketer is always testing, tweaking, and improving in an effort to achieve the
greatest return on investment. Once you "crack the code" to a successful direct mail