Boost Direct Mail Response Rates by Mailing Half a Premium Says Dimensional Mailer Company

by | May 18, 2016 | Business to Business, Direct Mail, Lead Generation

What boosts direct mail response rates better than a premium? Half a premium.

That’s what Canadian catalog printer Transcontinental has learned during the past two years. Transcontinental wanted to generate sales leads among catalog companies across North America. So, in 2005, the company mailed one walkie-talkie to vice presidents of marketing at business-to-business and business-to-consumer catalog companies. Prospects were invited to receive the other walkie-talkie free of charge in exchange for taking an online survey. The campaign generated a 50 percent response rate.

This year, Transcontinental did even better. They generated a whopping 74 percent response rate by mailing a high-end metallic lockbox to prospects in the same target audience. The lockbox had a combination lock, which was locked. A luggage tag invited prospects to answer a brief online survey so that they could get the combination.

Those who completed the survey and received the lock combination discovered that the lockbox contained a USB pen drive (the bottom half is an ink pen while the top half contains a USB data storage drive).

How much more successful is half a premium than a full premium (or no premium at all)? Well, Transcontinental tried mailing just a survey in an envelope but drew a paltry one percent response.

Transcontinental’s two premiums generated spectacular response rates for a number of reasons:

1. They are attractive and have high perceived value
2. They are different from most premiums (mouse pad, anyone?)
3. They arouse curiosity because they are incomplete
4. They motivate prospects to respond

Other companies have enjoyed similar results. One mailed a remote-control dinosaur without the remote. Prospects would receive the remote in exchange for a sales meeting. Another business discovered the shoe size of its prospects and mailed one shoe in that size. Prospects were invited to receive the other shoe during a face-to-face meeting with a salesperson.

Will this tactic work for your business? Maybe. Remember, mailing half a premium makes sense only when your list is small and the price of your product or service isn’t.