Ok,

About to run a direct mail promotion test. A product for £997. 16 page letter. Financial Newsletter. **** hot copy....

Should I run the first 1000 letter test with full price (£997)... or

Run it at a lower price such as £297... to check if the market is interested.... then raise the price in a further test....

Alex Hunter

Hi Alex,

A few things...

1. 1,000 letters is a small test sample. You may not get an accurate response from this. Or, you may find that the response fluctuates wildly until you can test larger numbers. Usually, it is 5,000 per test.

2. Even if you use much smaller test sample sizes, it is best (and far more profitable) to test different lists.

If you only mail 1,000 letters to one list, and get an miniscule response, you may conclude the market is not interested.

But, other lists may prove far more responsive. Testing, say, 4 different lists at 2,500 names per list may show 3 that are not worth pursuing...and one that works like gangbusters!

So, don't discard your product/service until it's been tested in sufficient numbers to varying lists.

3. It's always good to test on price, but I would likely go with the lower price first. Why? Because, one of the 3 main reasons people do not buy is:

A. People don't want what you are offering.
B. They don't believe what you say in your ad.
C. They can not afford what you are selling.

Because of "C" I'd test the lower offer first.

Ok and how much do you think accepting only postdated checks will affect the results instead of a phoneline and credit card orders? I thought maybe not much as it is such a high priced item...

what ya 'tink?

the reason im not mailing more than a 1000 at first is this is a dollar bill letter and I dont want to risk loads...

As for the lower price it is a 12 month financial subscription should my first test in your opinion be:

1) Full price £997 12 month sub
2) £297 12 month sub (or thereabouts)
3) month on month auto rebill £99/month and I'll apply for a merchant account...

Alex