By Thom Reece
Market research specialists have discovered a new tool whichenables them to quickly identify target market cells, measurebuyer acceptance, test new product or service concepts quicklyand inexpensively and survey market characteristics...the DirectResponse Card Deck.
For two to four cents per contact, the researcher can now gathermarket intelligence from both specialized vertical markets(lawyers, doctors, etc.) or broad based horizontal markets (allmarketing executives across industry lines). In addition, thesesame markets can now be tested in such confined geographicalareas as business executives in Hawaii or professionals inMinneapolis.
Not only does the marketer overcome one of the traditionalproblems in research...test sizes...he or she also reaps thehuge advantage of accurate measurability and accountability.Since all responses can be directed right back to the researchorganization, market feedback is both quick and accurate.
Many firms have difficulty in obtaining statisticallysignificant samplings through traditional channels because ofbudget restrictions.
It's not uncommon for important strategy decisions to be made onthe basis of sampling as few as 2,000 names out of a universe ofseveral million potential buyers. This is risky at best. Itcould lead to marketing disaster based on serious samplingerror, or wrong conclusions drawn from insufficient data.
With direct response card packs, it is now possible to test orsurvey as many as 100,000 potential buyers for as little as$2,000 or less. For the research or direct marketing consultantthis results in meaningful figures which are both statisticallysignificant and forecastable.
Proper analysis of this larger sampling should result instrategy decisions which are more accurate, more meaningful,more valid and more profitable for the direct marketer.
The ability to order and conduct true A/B (or more) split runtests of offers, prices, etc. has important implications for thecreative team.
The marketing intelligence gathered through card packs can be avaluable road map to success. Critically important data,discovered through card deck advertising, can determine theanswers to such questions as: Have we targeted to the correctaudience?
Is the audience responsive to the degree necessary to maximizepotential profitability?
Do we have the right combination of offer, price, copy,graphics, headlines, terms, etc.?
Are the response/profit characteristics such that they justifytesting such other direct response media as direct mail, spaceor broadcast advertising?
Is there potential for a variation of this product/service to bemarketed to a closely related audience?
What is the potential for back-end profits from related itemsales?
Are we barking up the wrong tree? Should we cut our losses nowand thank our luck stars that we were able to discover,inexpensively, that we were wrong?
While the advantage of card decks as a market research tooloutweigh the disadvantages, there are some restrictions you needto be aware of:
1. The card itself is small (about 3"x5") and as such restrictsyour ability to test such things as long copy and multipleoption offers. Some decks provide larger format sizes with theability to do fold-over inserts which provide more space, butthese options are at a substantial premium in price. The smallspace can work to your advantage because it forces you to limityour testing to those factors that have the most profound affecton response and profitability...i.e. offer and price, forexample.
2. Color reproduction, if it is important to your product, isnot always the best. The conventional .007 Hi Bulk paper stocknormally used in card decks is not the best choice for colorprinting. Most deck publishers, however, offer a coated stockoption and you may find it useful.
3. Response rates are,on the average, lower in card decks (1/4thof one percent to 1 percent) than they might be in a freestanding direct mail package. On the surface this may appear tobe a disadvantage. In fact it is not. Your goal in marketresearch/testing is to obtain statistically significant dataacross the broadest sampling possible...consistent withbudgetary limits.
Card decks allow you to achieve this goal, precisely. It's muchbetter to have a 1/4th of 1% response from a 100,000 nameuniverse (250 responses) than to have a 12.5% (250 responses)from a small 2,000 name test cell. Although the total numbersare the same, the former example gives you a truer picture ofmarket conditions and possible product/service acceptance.
In summation, we have found that direct response card decks, ifused properly, can be ideal market research tools. Card decksare inexpensive to use. They give quick accurate and projectableresults. They reduce the risk of sampling error, and theresulting data is both statistically significant and inherentlymore valid.
There's only one way to know for sure...test it!
Article Source: www.ArticlesBase.com
