Question

Topic: E-Marketing

Web Response From Print / Direct Mail Cta?

Posted by brian on 9/25/2009 at 12:12 PM ET 250 Points
I'm looking for a white paper or case study on whether people respond to Web callouts that appear in printed materials (direct mail, print ads, etc.).

For example, if you send a postcard or run a magazine ad that directs the recipient to go to your Web page. Do they actually carry the printed material to their computers and type in that URL?

Obviously, one would say that it depends on the offer—how enticing the call to action is—but I want to see if there are studies on the effectiveness of this practice.

I’ve seen very poor performance, which could mean that the offer needs to be improved, but I’m still skeptical. Personally, I’m not inclined to see if I’ve won $5,000 when the cap to my bottle of soda tells me to go online to find out. Sometimes I’ll set it aside and try to remember to do it, but never get around to it. Improving the offer would be a separate conversation, though. I’m interested in the behavior of how someone responds to printed communication that leads them to an online response.

I'm particularly interested in the B2B arena... physicians responding to hospital communication, to be more specific, but any ideas from outside of this area are welcome. Also, any benchmarks would be very helpful (e.g., 0.1% response rate is considered a good response, etc.).

Thanks!
To continue reading this question and the solution, sign up ... it's free!
SUBSCRIBE
Or, SIGN IN

RESPONSES

  • Posted by melissa.paulik on 9/25/2009 at 12:34 PM Accepted
    Brian,

    I’m as curious as you are for some real data that supports or discredits what you and I believe to be true. I can tell you, anecdotally, that physical direct mail where the call to action is a website has become very ineffective for me over the last few years. I always try to limit the steps my prospects need to take action e.g. fewer clicks, fewer fields on a form, etc. In the case of the direct mail, the steps required between opening the mailing (or bottle of pop) and sitting in front of the computer is just too many.

    Of course, my industry is business software and the target audience is usually very tech savvy. In a day when even reaching out on LinkedIn is becoming more acceptable, a physical mailer seems so antiquated.

    All the best!
    Melissa
  • Posted on 9/25/2009 at 1:07 PM Accepted
    I don't have any hard data on this, but I do have two pieces of anecdotal evidence:

    1) Google seems to think it works. I just got a postcard in the mail from them offering me $75 worth of free adwords

    2) A friend (who's a tech business consultant) sent out "lumpy mail" with a link to a website for an offer. I can't reveal numbers, but the response rate has been very good.

    I would recommend that you make the URL as simple as possible.

    Jodi
  • Posted by brian on 10/1/2009 at 3:48 PM Author
    Thanks much to Jodi and Melissa. I had hoped someone might have written a white paper on the subject or know what good response rates are, but I'm guessing it's still a gray area. Thanks!
  • Posted on 10/28/2009 at 12:31 PM Member
    I've seen statistics as to how many people respond to direct mail pieces on-line. It was quite impressive, just can't remember where it was.
    Try delivermagazine.com or google companies that create PURLs, they might have conducted case studies.
    Hope this helps!
BACK TO TOP

Post a Comment

Related Discussions

Community Info

Top 25 Experts
(E-Marketing)