Why?  Simply because there is no way to predict the response you will get from any campaign unless you have previously tested it.  This is because there are far too many variables involved – timing, design of the material, target audience, delivery method, etc, etc.  No reputable distribution or direct mailing company will advise you or give any indication of what sort of response rate to expect.

If you want to be able to estimate response rates to your direct marketing campaigns, test them.  For further information, read our article on measuring the results of your direct marketing campaign.

The great advantage of direct response marketing is that it is statistically predictable.  By this I mean that so long as you get about 10 responses you can predict the number of responses you will get for the same campaign delivered to the same target audience in the same time frame (in other words keeping the variable the same).  For example, if you send out 5,000 flyers and get 100 responses the you can expect to get approximately200 respnses if you send the same flyer to 10,000 to the same target group (depographic types).

My advice is to test your direct marketing campaigns on a relatively small scale until you find one that works best then pust it for all that it is worth until your response rates start to fall and then look for the next best campaign.

The moral of this story is that the next time somebody tells you what sort of response rate you will get from a direct marketing campaign thank them for their time and RUN!!