The success rate for fully customized direct mailings is nearly three times higher than standard mailings, suggests a study conducted by the International School of Management in Dortmund, Germany and
sponsored by NexPress Solutions LLC.
Under the direction of the Institute of Information Economics at the school, the study compared two direct-marketing approaches to support a program offered by
a municipal utility in Dusseldorf. The utility offered customers price advantages on gas and electricity in exchange for signing a one-year contract to purchase from the utility.
More than 1,400
customers were identified as prospects for the program. About half of the target group received a fully personalized brochure that incorporated the power-usage statistics of the prospect, and the
specific savings they could expect to achieve. The other half of the test group received a conventional color brochure describing the program, with a cover letter that was personalized with the
recipient's name and address.
The two campaigns were compared with regards to success rate, cost efficiency and job completion time. The personalized printing approach was more effective in every
measure.
More than 15% of the prospects who received a personalized brochure signed a contract within seven weeks -- a success rate 2.9 times higher than the 5.4% who received the standard brochure
and signed contracts.
The response rate for telephone inquiries produced similar results: more than 6% who received the personalized brochure picked up the phone to call for more information, a
response 2.6 times higher than the 2.4% standard brochure response. Of those who called, 71% of those receiving the personalized mailing agreed to sign a contract, which was 2.5 times higher than
those who received the standard brochure.