Triple Your Direct Mail Response Rates with Forced
Free Trials by Jeanne S.
Jennings,
Published in The Marketing Advents Newsletter, Direct Marketing Association of
Washington, October 1999
I've been managing a successful forced free trial
program since 1997. And no, that's not a typo in the headline--our response
rates with the trials are more than triple our average direct mail response
rates with the same lists.
Six-Part Effort Our program consists of a welcome letter,
three invoices, and five publication issues sent to each recipient as follows:
Initial contact--First free issue with welcome
letter
2 weeks later--Second free issue
2 weeks later--Third free issue with first invoice
2 weeks later--Fourth free issue
2 weeks later--Fifth free issue with second
invoice
2 weeks later--Third invoice (no issue)
Why Do Forced Free Trials?
1. They can offer a much higher response rate--more subscribers--than regular
direct mail. We're seeing response rates as high as triple our average direct
mail response rate.
2. Historically, subscribers coming in from a forced free trial tend to renew
better. Why? Hard to say. But it works.
3. But aren't they much more expensive than one-effort direct mail? Yes, but
we've found that the response rate more than makes up for the extra cost (with
the right lists--see the following).
Key Things to Consider in a Forced
Free Trial Program
1. How many free issues will they get? Here, you'll want to do some testing. We have
a twice-monthly publication, and we give them 5 issues free. With a monthly
publication, you might be better off sending three issues. Some questions you'll
want to ask yourself: How long does it take to make reading my publication a
habit? How long can I go between issues before the subscriber forgets about the
trial?
2. What lists should I use? Getting the right lists, at the right prices,
is critical to the success of a forced free trial effort. Obviously, you want to
use lists that are performing well in direct mail--but you also need to think
about the cost.
A test scenario is to use free names; subscribers from other publications your
company owns or sister company publications are key sources.
We have also had some success with lists we've paid for. But price negotiation
is the key. In our trials, we mail a total of six times. But we only mail three
invoices (the other mailings are not promotions). So we negotiate for three time
use pricing. If we can't get this, we don't use the list.
3. Legal Regulations
If you mail your publication at periodical rates,
find out what your 'maximum allowable copies' figure is. This has to do with
postal regulations and is based on your paid subscription base; it tells you
how many free copies you can give away. Talk to your fulfillment department
about this and/or similar regulations.
Give the recipient an 'out' if they don't want to
receive the trial. We do this in our welcome letter, giving them contact
information (phone, fax and snail mail) to stop the trial.
Comply with laws regarding 'invoicing.' We put a
disclaimer on our invoices, saying 'This is not a bill. It is a solicitation.
You are under no obligation to pay the amount stated unless you accept this
offer."
Upcoming
Speaking _Engagements_
Jeanne does corporate workshops as well as industry presentations
uuu What's Working NOW in
Email Marketing
Fall Conference New England Mail Order Association
Burlington, VT
September 17 to 19, 2008
uuu What's Working NOW in
Email Marketing The Capital Cabal
Event Network
Washington, DC
September 26, 2008
uuu Really Simple
Segmentation Strategies Lifecycle
Messaging Email Conference Blue Hornet
San Diego, CA
September 30 to October 2, 2008
uuu Insider Tips for Marking
Your Marketing Efforts More Effective -- and Profitable National Center for Database Marketing
Conference Direct Marketing Association Orlando, FL
December 7 to 10, 2008
uuu
Looking for an expert to speak on email
marketing? Contact Jeanne
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