Last week we received a gift…not a tangible present, but still a great, unanticipated gift. A client dropped by to share some information he had collected over a 30 day trial period. Just a little background, we had developed marketing materials for this client who owns a professional services firm. We developed a direct mail piece including a custom folder with feature sheets designed and professionally printed. We stayed within our client’s budget, even ensuring that mailing costs were accurately budgeted. The prospect list is very specific in need and if motivated by the material, responds within days. The firm used the materials, tracking their conversion rate monthly. So far, so good.

But then, they had a thought—why not reduce expenses? They eliminated the folder, copied the sheets on their own copier and mailed everything in a standard business envelope. The cost dropped from about $4.90 per packet to $1.00, a sizable expense reduction. They continued mailing to the prospect list of 20 names per week for one month. From my perspective, the results were dramatic.

With the professionally designed packet the firm spent $390 per month in direct marketing expenses to achieve $4000 in new business, a ratio that had held true for a year or so.

With the office version, the firm spent $80 per month to achieve…nothing! No new business, none.

After one month of no new business, they reverted to the original marketing strategy. Our gift: the client sharing those results!

Marketing doesn’t always pay, their test proved that.

Good marketing, developed to support a plan and created to meet the needs of the target audience, does pay.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 30th, 2007 at 5:39 pm and is filed under Marketing Insights. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.