Power Direct Marketing: The Book
A Closing Word About Response Rates
Almost without fail, a question about response rates and what to expect comes up. And how your offer will affect, change, improve your response.
What is often regarded as a "typical" or "average" response rate is around 2%. Don’t let yourself be misled by that number. It may, in fact, be typical for some subscription mailings, book offers, and catalog mailings—to outside lists. But response rates vary widely depending on the:
- Medium (direct mail or space vs. telephone or broadcast)
- Product (insurance vs. recipe cards vs. heavy duty construction equipment)
- Offer (inquiry vs. free trial vs. cash with order vs. booklet offer vs. ???)
- Price (39.95 vs. $195 vs. $2,000 vs. $40,000 or more)
- List (customer vs. prospects)
There are other factors, too, but these are the main ones. Suffice it to say that "normal" response can easily vary from 0.1% (that’s 1/10 of 1%—not unusual in insurance or offers in print media) to 50% or more (Yes, fifty percent, that’s what happens when good catalogs are mailed to long-established customers.)
Your offer is next in importance to your audience. For you to be successful with POWER DIRECT MARKETING, take the time it will take to think about your offer. It will pay.