At some point in a company or an organisations lifetime there comes a time when it’s a good idea to test a market by printing leaflets. This maybe to test a product, service or event. Though some are known to be extremely successful, others turn out to be complete failure. So the common headache among companies is how they can make their leaflet promotion not only a success but an ongoing improvement so they increase the return each time. The best way to achieve this is to perform your test print marketing multiple times until you are satisfied with the results.

Suppose leaflet ‘A’ gets a response rate of five percent, and leaflet ‘B’ gets a response rate which is five percent more than leaflet ‘A’, then we can conclude that the latter will continue to outdo the former on an even bigger scale.

Having said that, in testing the outcome of a leaflet printing campaign it is important to begin with some verified tested theories rather than starting from nowhere. This is due to the fact that testing takes a lot a time and money. For instance, suppose previous tests show that ‘targeted leaflets’ notably excel more than untargeted leaflets, then we can begin with that hypothesis and work from there.

For example – lets suggest you are selling nuts and bolts. You could send out 20,000 leaflets to the Engineering industry and get a small response. But by targeting a smaller section of the Engineering market the percentage of replies maybe higher. For example you decide to target nuts and bolts which are blue in colour and these are used by a specific section of the market, when this type of leaflet is received in the hands of a buyer who is interested only in ‘blue nuts and bolts; then you have got directly through to the correct person. So targeting your market you can get a more realistic response from the exact type of customer you are after.

Crafting copy for a specific market will reduce your overall outlay of marketing spend. The ‘Blue nuts and bolts’ market is smaller and specialized than the general market, so you don’t need as many leaflets to send. Suppose we know that, in general, specialized marketing material will do better than general (true), then this is a marketing phenomenon worth more research. Suppose we also know, in terms of test outcomes, crafting copy that targets a specific person performs better than one which targets a large group of people (true), then it is common sense to begin testing with the hypothesis that is does not.

So it stands to urge that having some ideas on how to create a good advertising copy is in place. Test outcomes always show the way forward, but it is better to have a point to start your test than not having one. So this starting point is the purpose of this article series. The points discussed are time-tested and have been verified to be productive. However, I urge you that when using this method, you should constantly test them. If you are creating few hundred leaflets only, then it is quite impossible to have a test promotion. However, for a bigger project, testing can not only save you a lot of cash but also increase your response rate incredibly.

The best method, as stated earlier, is to produce two unique leaflets.  Ensure they all get equal shares and check which one gets more responses.  When performing this test again, base it on the leaflet with more responses but create two unique versions. Which version is more successful? Keep repeating this method until you are convinced that the results got are the best you can have.

Remember, a small pinch is enough to push you until you significantly increase your leaflet’s response rates. To study the performance of your multiple testing you will need to construct a performance tracking system. However, this should not worry you since it a bit simple to make one than it appears. Just give each leaflet its response code and just record from the start to the end.

Give it a try, try producing a general marketing leaflet and then a specialized version, see the outcome. It all really depends on the mailing list you use – which is vital to reaching a targeted market.

Dean Williams

Dean Williams is a design and marketing blogger working for Print-Print Limited, promoting business and building brands through quality print marketing. If you’re interested in small business promotion then please get in touch hello@print-print.co.uk