Frequently Asked Questions

A. The time needed for your entire project depends upon how many parts (which we will call Selling Factors) of your direct mail package should be tested in order to maximize your Sales Conversion Rate. For example, how your Outer Envelope ‘looks’ and ‘what it says’ can change response by 100%. The way your Letter ‘looks’ can change response by 150% and ‘what it says’ by 300%. Offers can have a 500% impact on response, up or down. List Segmentation decisions can create a 1000% difference in response, to say nothing about Brochure/No Brochure tests or Response Device Acceptance Statement tests.
Fortunately, our mathematically powerful software can quickly analyse an indentify which 10 to 20 Selling Factors need to be tested in Phase 1, so normally we can recommend your optimum test structure within a week of getting your direct mail package history and details. And clearly the time you take to approve our suggestions can make a difference in the duration of the testing period. Creative, production and mailing time frames depend on the complexity and quantity of Selling Factors being tested, but normally 3 to 4 weeks is sufficient. Then, a normal direct mail response curve of 6 to 8 weeks with a doubleday at the end of week 2, followed by our software’s analysis of Phase 1 results to determine the final 2 to 3 versions of your direct mail or verification testing against your existing control package brings us to the 3 to 4 month typical time needed for MultiVariate Tests of direct mail packages, as follows:

A. As we provide a turn key, end-to-end solution, you will be able to maximize the response rate of your mailing package without having to:

1) deploy any internal human resources for this activity
2) budget for additional staff
3) pay anything to an outside agency or designer
4) invest too much of your own time

A. Our software has been built to insure that there is minimal involvement of your IT people during the project. As for marketing and creative, we will develop all new copy and design for your tests, requiring minimal input from your people.

A. No.You will never need to acquire a license to the software because we provide you with a complete turn key service that takes care of everything from start to finish.

A. We can and do work with agencies and would certainly work with your agency if you prefer it. In that case, we would discuss all proposed changes with both you and the agency and then interact closely with your agency to implement the changes needed for your MultiVariate Tests.

A. Yes. No changes will be made without your explicit approval.

A. Yes, they will. Though the highest Conversion Rate gains can be achieved when there are no restrictions on testing changes that could be made on a direct mail package, we will work within the framework of your corporate rules, branding policies, etc and deliver the best results possible within that framework.

A. As mentioned under “How long will the tests take” many Selling Factors and Variations could be tested, but usually not all will be. Listed below you will find the likely Factors we will study before recommending which specific Factors and Variations have the greatest gain potentials for you.

• 
  The Look of your mailer - paper color, quality, size
• 
  Outer Envelope Format – Correspondence, Statement-Invoice, Direct Mail
• 
  Letter Layout - paragraphing, margins, indentations, underlining, bulleting, highlighting, etc
• 
  Typeface - font, size, color
• 
  Length of copy
• 
  Johnson Boxes
• 
  Letterheads
• 
  Salutations
• 
  Opening Paragraphs
• 
  Content - is it sufficiently benefit oriented?
• 
  Offers
• 
  Gifts / bonuses
• 
  Coupons
• 
  Signature
• 
  Post Scripts
• 
  Illustrations
• 
  Response Devices and Acceptance Statement Copy
• 
  Brochure/No Brochure

A. Websites that have engaged our services in the past have achieved gains in revenues ranging from 37% to 85% without any increase in their marketing costs, thereby increasing their profit margins substantially. Direct mail programs utilizing our Conversion Multiplier software and services can expect the same, or even greater, gains in their response rates.
Generally speaking, the specific gain potential will depend on the content of your direct mail package and the Factors / Variations we are allowed to develop and test after an in-depth analysis of the customer benefits of each. Our services have produced the highest response rates when we had complete flexibility to test any or all combinations of key Selling Factors / Variations with the power to weave compelling messages for your target markets.

A. The Conversion Multiplier has been designed with NO requirement that your direct mail program must reach a large number of potential customers in order to to be statistically projectable. On the contrary, it was specifically designed to maximize response rates with very small sample sizes, often 1/10th as many as required by traditional A-B Split Testing. Consequently our analytical software can produce excellent results with as few as 500 test mailings per package.

A. During every test, each test version of your direct mail package goes to an equal number of the potential customers in each test segment. This insures the average profile of potential customers receiving each version is basically the same, insuring that the split is statistically sound. The lower test quantities needed for MultiVariate Tests are taken care of by the complex mathematical calculating powers built into The Conversion Multiplier’s software.

A. The Verification Test, where the new versions of the direct mail package recommended by our software are tested against your original package at the same time, neutralizes the market change conditions. We are testing all the versions on a real-time basis under the same market conditions. Consequently, any changes in market conditions that occur between the initial tests and the verification test will be equally applicable to all the versions. Therefore, any difference between the conversion rates of our versions and your original version must be because of the Multiplier’s software analysis.

A. We can optimize your entire direct mail package or a single page, depending on your objectives and requirements. Also we can optimize a sub-set of your pages whenever the research and analysis indicates potential gains in doing so.

A. No, we don’t need your customers’ personal information at all. Our software will only keep track of the number of mailers sent out, the response rate produced during the test period and the ROI from those orders. That’s all you and we need to identify the most profitable test version of your direct mail package.

A. Without question. We shall never rent, lease, sell or otherwise disclose such data to any third party. Please review our privacy policy for more details.

A. The Multiplier has been designed to give you stable as well as robust results. Therefore, the increase in the response rates produced through your MultiVariate Tests should persist short of unanticipated, galvanic future changes in your marketplace.

A. Our service can be used to improve any metric that you want, including the Response Rate, Total Revenue, ROI, Cost per Order, Cost per Inquiry etc. Before the contract is signed, we shall discuss these with you and finalize the specific metric(s) that you want to use to judge the success of the project.

A. Our methodology is powerful enough to optimize whatever metrics are important to you. We can optimize your mailer for Total Revenue or ROI instead of merely its Response Rate. Accordingly, the difference in total revenues for multiple products is automatically taken into consideration to insure that the version of your mailing package we recommend not only has a higher response rate than the existing version, but also has a higher total revenue and ROI.

A. We generally target the entire mailer to improve its overall response rate and increase sales for all featured products. However, if you want us to improve the response rate for a particular offer or product in your package, we can do that as well.

A.Yes. We can, and we do. We not only help to reduce the number of people who throw away your mailer without opening it, but also find out how to increase the rate of opening, reading starts, read-throughs and responses to your mailer, adding a customer-relationship value beyond merely increasing the overall revenue generated by your direct mail program.

A. We’re happy to provide you with references to aid your decision to employ our services. Please Contact Us asking us for references.

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