Direct mail question: YLs vs. PCs

[Brett Synicky]

Hi BP,

Question for all you direct mailers out there. I have read through many of the different threads involving direct mail and whether postcards are better than yellow letters or not. I know there's a huge price difference and yl's only for probate and I know there's a difference in response rate but one question I haven't seen asked or answered yet is something that came up during a conversation my Dad was having with a current rehabber. The question was yl's or pc's. The rehabber said both. Pc's first because there's so many bad addresses in the list and they're a cheaper way to find out which ones are bad/good when certain pc's come back. Then once you find out which addresses are good follow it up with a nice yl. Seems to me this could get costly depending on how many yl's you send out.

I was wondering if anybody out there has tried this method and had success despite the added cost. Or is this just a function of getting a better list and starting with yl's?

Thanks!

[Rick H.]

How're you gonna know until you know for sure after testing it yourself?

What works for one marketer may not work for another. That's part of the fun and profit of being a direct marketer.

I had lunch with a friend yesterday who dropped (mailed) some 66,000 cards last month in his target market campaign. Think he just decided to mail a big quantity like that and hoped for the best? I've never known him to be much of a gambler type. Nope. He tested with smaller mailings, using one control mailer and testing other factors (card color, headlines, etc.) one factor at a time.

By the way, since when are yellow letter best for probate? According to who? The people that sell yellow letters?

If I was in the pink postcard business I can assure you that pink would be the best color, hands down. Until I bought a blue postcard company...