Test Lists Outside of Your Comfort Zone
The other day the family decided to go out to a new restaurant.
My younger son, Brad, a very stubborn 14 year old, ordered pizza, as always.
My wife and I grumbled and asked him, “Why do you always order the same thing everywhere we go?”
“I don’t know, I guess I know what works for me. I always get pizza because I’m used to it and I like it,” he replied.
We shrugged our shoulders, let him order his pizza and waited for our meals. When the food arrived, my older son, Zack, tried to get Bradley to try his food, and the younger one shrugged it off.I looked at him and said, “Come on, why you can’t you just test this?” My wife laughed until I figured out that I said test instead of taste.Then it got me thinking…maybe mailers can take a lesson from my kids!
Just as there are a lot of different restaurants out there, there are a lot of lists as well. Some are general files, some are specialty files, and there are your bargain (low cost) files and your upscale files.Maybe a compiled list is like a diner.It has a lot of choices and variety to choose from, with enhanced data components and more… and there is surely something for everyone to try.The specialty restaurants are like specialty lists. Just as there is ethnic cuisine, there are ethnic selects—kiddy-oriented restaurants = kids catalog files, health food restaurants = healthy causes donors, kosher food = religious subscribers…well, you get the idea. You never know if you like a type of food until you taste it, just like you’ll never know if the lists “work for you” as Brad put it, “until you taste them.”
Many times, when I am recommending a list or a segment of a list, I am told,” that’s the kind of file my mailer always uses and they don’t test outside their market too often. I respond that they are missing out on a smorgasbord of good names.
We share common likes, values and behavioral patterns.Just as the elderly enjoy early bird specials from a variety of restaurants, the same mature consumer might be on a whole array of different lists that show they are responsive.Yes they have their favorites, yes they are loyal, yes they can be victims of habit, but let them get used to something new (cell phones, anyone?) and they may come to embrace it.You don’t know until you test.
If AARP can get a Catholic file to work, then why shouldn’t insurance, vacation, health product or catalog marketers try it? Go the extra mile and try something new that may be psychographically similar or demographically dominant. I’ve said it before: “test, test, test” or, if you prefer, “taste, taste, taste.
So what can we learn from Bradley? Sample from the data buffet.You might uncover a new gem that very few other mailers have tried.Catholics do donate to other nonprofits besides religious causes.The elderly subscribe to more than just large print health related magazines.Veterans have pets too and might like to see your animal rights appeals. You many not always be right, but imagine the new names you will be able to mail to when you are.
You never know until you try. And for the record, Bradley did eventually try Zachary’s meal and found out that he does like Chicken Marsala. If it were liver and onions, the outcome may have been different, but hey, you never know.
Bob Stein is vice president of list management at Trinity Direct.
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