WAYNE, N.J. — The Ballantine Corporation, a full service direct mail production company, announces the release of their 2008 direct mail control report that analyzes what’s working and what’s not for direct mail formats. In January of this year, Ballantine (www.ballantine.com) surveyed their clients and marketing contacts and compiled a list of direct mail formats that would be tested during the year. Since January, the economy has walked a rocky path. As a result, Ballantine decided to share, mid-year, what direct mail formats have been most effective so companies can benefit and increase their bottom line.
The main questions asked were: What is your best performing mailer and has the recent postage hike and weakened economy forced you to readjust your direct mail strategy?
The answers varied as did the types of companies surveyed. For senior care, healthcare, retail, software and marketing, the postcard was most effective.
“Historically, we have had our best success with 8×5 four-color postcards,” one senior care company representative revealed. “We have revisited our mail list qualifiers and made a few modifications to help reduce costs – tweaked age and income levels, but mostly geography. We want to be more precise with our target audience. In some instances, we have divided mailings into regions or to specific zips, instead of sending to the entire list each time.”
For publishing and entertainment, the 9×12 package, despite the significant postage hike on flats, was indicated by some companies as their best performing mailer.
One magazine publishing company reported, “The 9×12 continually performs above four percent for us. Obviously, ever increasing postage is a major concern on this flat mailer, and on flats in general, and so we are testing a 6×9 mid-size portfolio mailer against it this year.”
Overall, the report reveals that direct mail continues to drive business.
“We are really happy with the responses we received,” Ryan Cote, Director of Marketing for The Ballantine Corporation, said. “Our intention with these reports is to give direct marketing professionals access to information they may not normally have.”
Founded in 1966, The Ballantine Corporation has evolved from offering print production services to also providing mailing, creative and one-to-one marketing solutions.
To download the full report (no registration required), visit: http://www.ballantine.com/controlreport2008.html .
