Testing Basic Postcard Elements: From Design to Frequency

Small modifications to the design, copy and mailing frequency of your direct mail postcards can have a big impact. While a different headline might not seem like a significant change, it can have a huge effect on your campaign’s response rate.

Because minor differences between postcards can produce a huge impact in terms of response rate and profitability, it’s important to test different variations of your postcards to make sure your direct mail campaign is as profitable as possible.

By testing your postcards, you’ll discover the most effective headlines and design elements to use when marketing to your target audience. You’ll also learn which mailing frequency keeps your audience optimally engaged and responsive.

There are many elements of your postcards that can be tested, some of which can have a minor impact on your response rate and profitability, and others of which have a larger effect. Read on to discover four postcard elements you should test.

Design and images

The design of your postcard has a huge impact on its response rate. Postcards with a clean yet eye-catching design will catch the attention of recipients and make reading the postcard’s copy straightforward and simple.

Postcards with cluttered and busy designs, on the other hand, are difficult for many recipients to read. A cluttered design can often lead to recipients not knowing where to begin reading, reducing the flow from your heading to copy and call to action.

Test several different business postcard designs by splitting your mailing into two categories and assessing each variation’s response rate. You might discover that one design has a significantly higher response rate than the other.

Headlines and subheadings

Headlines and subheadings are hugely important. Without an effective headline and subheading, most of your target audience won’t read your postcard’s copy or call to action, massively lowering your response rate.

When you first start testing headlines, use several highly different headlines – for example, a question headline and statement headline. This way, you’ll discover the type of headline that’s best suited to your campaign.

Once you’ve discovered the type of headline that’s most effective for your campaign, you can start making subtle changes to your headline. Small changes to a headline’s style or word usage can have a significant impact on your return on investment.

Call to action

No postcard is complete without a great call to action. Your call to action encourages your target audience to respond to your campaign after reading your copy, making it one of the most important aspects of your postcard.

When testing your call to action, try using different primary contact methods – for example, a telephone number or website URL – to find out which platform people are most responsive to.

You can also test the wording of your call to action. Small changes to the way your call to action is worded can have a significant impact on your response rate and the total return on investment your direct mail campaign produces.

Mailing frequency

Does your direct mail campaign involve targeting the same audience frequently? If you market to a local audience – for example, you’re a home services provider – the frequency at which you mail has a huge impact on your response rate.

Mail too frequently and people will become bored of your marketing message and tune out your postcards, reducing your response rate. Mail too infrequently and it’s possible that you’re leading potential leads and sales on the table.

Like headlines, calls to action and the design of your postcard, mailing frequency can be tested through A/B testing. Try delivering your postcards to two audiences using a different mailing frequency to discover which offers the best return on investment.

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