How to improve the performance of direct mail by enhancing the testing process

Panel-based online research can significantly improve the performance of direct mail by enhancing the testing process. It's also a more efficient and cost-effective testing medium. And although it will never replace live direct mail testing, it can certainly support and complement it.

This CCB fast.MAP white paper outlines how a well-constructed online survey can answer any questions and deliver objective, quantifiable analysis to guide decision-making, reducing the risk of error.

It describes how online research can be used to:

- Deconstruct key elements of a mailing, such as the price, creative, headline and incentive, so these can be presented randomly in the survey, to remove bias and increase the potential for analysis.

- Build an extensive audience profile using the demographic, geo-demographic and sector-specific behavioural data gathered on panellists, allowing each deconstructed variable to be related to an audience profile to create endless possible test/analysis matrices.

- Complement live direct mail tests to remove many of the campaign uncertainties so that real-life tests - which take longer and cost more - can focus on key pre-launch campaign attributes.