That will depend on the list, the offer and the timing. For example, a free offer will always be more compelling than a price offer. The response rate to your existing customer list will always be higher than to outside prospects. The logic should be obvious. Free gets more attention than a discount. Existing customers already know and trust you. But a business needs new customers in order to grow so be willing to have a lower response rate to have a chance at acquiring a new customer for life.

Based on national research, here is what Leslie’s likely experiences. Response rates for order generation campaigns (in which people are actually making a purchase) are usually less than 1% – maybe a half of 1% (.005). They could be lower or higher depending on things like the promotional offers, weather and product interest. But Leslie’s is so steady in their campaign frequency that the 1% and brand awareness add up to deliver quite good results over the long term. For reference, Xmente has created new store promotions that had a 20% response rate and designed new pool construction prospecting that only required one sale to have an acceptable financial payback for a high ticket item like a new pool.

When we talk about response rates, we often talk about them as being either good or bad.  But as you can see, good or bad can mean different things to different campaigns. A better approach is to refer to them as better or as worse than a previous campaign because all you really need to worry about is improving your own results.

To receive a free pdf file of our White Paper: "The Six Most Important Facts about Direct Mail Marketing in the Pool Retail Industry," or to inquire about our services, contact Steve Carlyle: stevecarlyle@frontier.com