A/B Testing Your Marketing Campaigns (with Direct Mail)

A/B Testing Your Marketing Campaigns (with Direct Mail)

Marketing success is usually derived from rigorous testing and data refinement to find the eventual golden goose – and companies cannot afford to miss out.

6 minute read

Direct Mail Marketing

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Marketers love crafting the perfect campaign, but the first draft rarely makes the final cut. In a similar vein, the first marketing campaign is rarely the instant smash hit that company leadership wants it to be.

One of the hard truths about marketing is that success is usually derived from a culmination of rigorous testing and data refinement to find the eventual golden goose.

For the uninitiated, campaign testing is an essential process that focuses on identifying which characteristics generate better results, such as better offers or discounts leading to higher conversion rates.

If a company opts out of campaign testing, they automatically forfeit any potential future gains that may come from adjusting different elements of a campaign.

There is no “set it and forget it” when it comes to running a successful marketing strategy.

Just as the socioeconomic climate constantly evolves, so too must marketers ride the wave to encourage future campaign conversions through strategic testing and analysis.

Why A/B Testing?

When crafting the perfect campaign, it’s easy to fall into a trap of your own making. As marketers, the key to prolonged success is not necessarily more budget, but rather to test, test, test.

Because while one campaign may find success, understanding WHY it became successful is arguably more valuable to ensure long-term company growth.

A/B testing occurs when marketers change a single element of their campaign (Campaign A and Campaign B) to monitor the different results (or a lack thereof).

The variable element could be the message, offer, design, or targeting strategy – but only one component should be tested at a time.

Understanding which campaigns found success (and why) can help bolster future success by implementing the right characteristics to help future marketing endeavors.

And some marketing channels are more successful than others when it comes to rigorous A/B testing.

A/B Testing In A Digital World

Not every marketing channel is created equal. Digital platforms, for example, can be spammed at a higher frequency but have more unknown variables to account for.

It can be difficult as a marketer to conduct a proper A/B test campaign when up against third-party algorithms, bot activity, and competitor spending.

Digital Marketing’s Hidden Algorithm & Bot Traffic

A/B testing thrives on simple comparisons with limited volatility, but digital marketing adds another layer of complexity by shrouding its algorithm strategy and targeting parameters.

Not to mention, the constant influx of updates means that older data from past campaigns may no longer be relevant in the decision-making process.

Bot traffic, that is, internet bots clicking and interacting with digital ads, may also skew metrics and lead to uninformed marketing decisions based on falsified activity.

If 30 bots clicked on Campaign A while only 5 human users clicked on Campaign B, engagement metrics would lead one to assume that Campaign A was more successful.

If bots behave like real users, their activity masks true customer actions and messes with essential data – leading to uninformed decision-making.

Competitor Spending Interference

Competitor spending is another factor that plays a role in campaign performance. For example, let’s assume your company plans to launch an A/B campaign over the next 2 months.

Campaign A will launch in the first month, and Campaign B will launch in the second month.

If a competitor also decides to run a similar campaign for only ONE month, their keyword bidding is likely to raise prices and place higher among the search results.

In the end, customers will see the competitor ad first – taking attention and sales away from Campaign A.

In this example, Campaign A underperformed through no fault of its own, but rather as a consequence of competitor activity.

This outward pressure meant that Campaign A suffered in engagement and sales much more than Campaign B did in the following month.

How does one compare Campaign A to Campaign B if one campaign had a clear advantage? How can a company confirm a campaign’s success based on its own merit and not because of unknown factors affecting the end result?

Without further examination and testing, it is impossible to say.

But there is no question that digital marketing is rife with plenty of unknown factors that could contribute to a campaign’s success or failure.

It takes an experienced marketer to not only account for their own customers’ preferences, but also the preferences of an online algorithm.

A/B Testing For Direct Mail

A/B testing truly shines with direct mail.

Not only do companies have full reign on the messaging, offer, timing, size, and branding elements of a mail campaign, but the lack of an algorithm means that targeting audiences and measuring response rates is much more straightforward.

Full Creative Control

Unlike digital marketing channels, direct mail is not limited by dimensions, runtime, or sending speed.

Each mailer can be as big or small as a company desires. It can feature specialized technology, such as sensory and interactive pieces, or deliver as a postcard, envelope, or bi-fold.

Full control over the design means every possible element can work for A/B testing, allowing each element on a piece a chance to be tested in the future.

Less Unknown Variables

Direct mail overall has fewer variables to account for during campaign comparison, as delivery times do not often change, and the prospects you target are all from verifiable addresses and not bot accounts.

A/B campaign comparison across the years is much more straightforward when one does not have to account for an invisible algorithm.

Whether a campaign is successful or not, you never have to question if a third-party is tipping the scale against you.

No Competitor Conflict

Finally, direct mail is not subject to the whims of competitor spending. Comparison between two campaigns is much more 1:1, as competitor spending does not increase postal prices nor effect your campaign’s open rates to a significant degree.

Regardless of campaign scope and spending, your mail piece and a competitor’s mail piece have an equal opportunity to be noticed in a mailbox.

A/B Testing with DK Solutions

Direct mail reigns supreme in terms of its customization and A/B testing capabilities.

Its ability to reach and retain lifelong premium customers is one of the many reasons why this channel is considered the gold standard of the marketing industry.

Interested in starting your direct mail journey? Contact us today by calling (855) 755 – 9008 or visit our blog to stay up to date on direct mail and marketing industry insights.

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