Response Survey
August 2010
1
Foreword
‘This superb DMA Response Survey should serve as a
reminder to any marketer of the fundamentals of direct
response and how easily poor performing companies
could improve. Response times, personalisation and
follow up are the three major factors affecting response
and conversion of a customer. The Survey’s thorough
mystery shopper targeted companies from the top 100
DM spenders. Nearly 20% failed to send requested
literature, and some of those that did respond took
over a month. However those companies that have
thought through their customer lifecycle are
responding quicker and with more personalised
mailings. Very interesting reading.’
Angus Morrison, Mail Media Centre Director
2
Statement
“The only purpose of direct
marketing is to generate
response…There can be no
other justification for it.”
3
Background
Three major factors affecting
response and conversion are:
Speed of response
Personalisation
Follow up marketing (emails & direct mail)
4
Aims of survey
1. To test response times
2. To measure use of personalisation
Subsidiary Aims
1. To measure the ease of use of company web forms
(i.e. did they use an address finder on the web form)
2. To discover percentage of companies sending an
email acknowledgement of the sales enquiry
3. To discover how many of these companies used this
acknowledgement to up sell and/or cross sell
4. To discover how many companies used customer
details for ongoing marketing by email and/or direct
mail
5
Target sectors
20 companies chosen from 10 market sectors (i.e. 200
companies)
1. Cars
2. Other Transport (e.g. Boats, Caravans, Motorcycles)
3. Holidays & Travel
4. UK Tourism
5. Health, Leisure, Fitness
6. Hobbies, Sports, Pets
7. Home Products & Services
8. Gardening
9. Clothing
10.Business to Business
6
Target profile
- Companies were chosen from top 100 DM spenders (data
from Marketing Week), last year’s survey targets and other
organisations featuring printed brochures and catalogues on
their web sites
- All companies were pre-qualified to have a printed catalogue
- Some companies products overlap in sectors
- Mainly large, well-known brands but some smaller
organisations are included
7
Methodology
1. The mystery shopper was a female living at a residential
address in Birmingham
2. All requests for catalogues/brochures were placed on the
websites during the weekend 31 July/1 August 2010. This
was to provide level playing field, so all sales enquiries would
be received by the companies at the start of the next working
week
3. For this project, a new, separate email account was set up
with a fictitious name
4. Web forms used on the sites were evaluated for ease of use
i.e. whether they used an address finder or not.
8
Methodology (continued)
5. At the time of making the enquiry, the sender’s in box was
checked for bounce-backs, rejects etc. to verify enquiry had
been received
6. Email acknowledgements were monitored and recorded daily
7. Postal deliveries were monitored and recorded daily
8. Follow up emails and direct mail were monitored and
recorded daily over a six week period to cut off
9
Cars
Audi
BMW
Citroen
Daihatsu
Fiat
Ford
Hyundai
Jeep
Kia
Lexus
Mazda
Mercedes Benz
Mitsubishi
Peugeot
Renault
Saab
Seat
Skoda
Subaru
Suzuki
10
Other transport/vehicles
Activity Wales BP Carting
Bailey Caravans
Bryant Boats
Dethleffs
Elddis
Eurocopter UK
Harley Davidson
Kawasaki jet skis
Kettler Bicycles
Knaus Motorhomes
LDV
Lunar Caravans
Piper Aircraft
Sealine
Searay
Swift Caravans
Toyota Commercial
Triumph Motocycles
Vauxall Commercial
Winnebago Motorhomes
11
Holidays & travel
African Safari Club
Anatolian Sky Holidays
Bales Worldwide
Cottages4you
Fred Olsen Cruises
Gap Adventures
Great Rail Journeys
Hoseasons
Hurtigruten
James Villas
Leger Holidays
Ramblers Worldwide
Saga Holidays
Siblu
Stena Line
Travelsphere
Virgin Holidays
Voyages of Discovery
Warner Leisure Hotels
Wendy Wu Tours
12
UK tourism
Belfast
Birmingham
Blackpool
Cardiff
Chester
Eastbourne
Edinburgh
Guernsey
Isle of Wight
Lake District
Medway
Newcastle upon Tyne
Norfolk Broads
North Devon (Woolacombe)
North Wales
Scarborough
Shetland
Southend on Sea
Visit Cornwall (Harrys Guide)
Yorkshire Moors & Coast
13
Health, leisure & fitness
Allergy Best Buys
Apex Swimming Pools
Center Parcs
Champneys
Coachwise
Coop Funeralcare
Glasses Direct
Golden Coast Swimming Pools
Healthspan
Holland & Barrett
Less Bounce
Magna Health
Natural Collection
Natures Best
NHS Smokefree
Pinelog Swimming Pools
Proactive Health
Vitalia Health
Wildmoor Spa
Woods Supplements
14
Hobbies/sports (inc. sports clothing)/pets
Chaucer Collectables
Crystal Ski
Damart Thermal
Direct Golf
Ellisbrigham Mountain Sport
Golfing Holidays
Groomers
KM Elite Products
Motorcaddy Golf
Nonstop Snowboard
Orvis Fly Fishing
Pro Direct Rugby
Rohan
Sportfish
Sweaty Betty
The Thimble Guild
Thomann Music (Hot Deals)
TLC Sport Travel
Paraphernalia
Waggers
15
Home
Aquability
Armitage Shanks
Canopies UK
Daryl Showers
Dolphin Bathrooms
Ecos Organic Paints
Everest
Falcon Appliances (AGA)
Hammonds Furniture
Heuga Flooring
Hillarys Blinds
Hotpoint
Laura Ashley
Lyco
Miele Appliances
Saniflo
Schmidt Kitchens
Serious Readers
Whirlpool Appliances
Willowbrook
16
Gardening & gardens
Agri Frames
Amdega
Aquaplancton
Breckenridge Conservatories
Compton Buildings
David Austin Roses
Dobies Seeds
Everest Conservatories
Harrod Horticultural
Honda Lawn & Garden
LBS Garden Warehouse
Mantis Tillers
Marshalls
Spalding Bulb Co
The English Glasshouse
Thompson & Morgan
Unwins Seeds
Vine House Farm Bird Food
Westwood Tractors
Wiggly Wigglers
17
Clothing
Big Mans Shop
Bravissimo
Brora Cashmere
Charles Tyrwhitt
Clifford James
Cosyfeet
Cotton Traders*
Daxon*
Fashion Union
Fifty Plus*
Hotter Shoes
JD Williams*
Joe Browns
M&M Direct
Marisota*
Peter Hahn
Pure Collection
Rowlands Clothing
The Cashmere Centre
Witt International
18
Business to business
Action Handling
Big Dug
BT Redcare
Business Gifts UK
Cedar Promotions
Handling Equipment Sales
Horton & Newberry
Misco
Pure Safety
Rajapack
Rapid Racking
Seton
Slingsby
Staples
Syspal
Toolstation
Total Merchandise
Unique Venues of London
Viking Direct aka Tech Depot
Wickes
19
Results
Companies failing to respond: 26 = 13%
Daihatsu, Apex Swimming Pools, BP Carting
Coachwise, Golfing Holidays, LDV Vans, Orvis Fly
Fishing, Piper Aircraft, Pro Direct Rugby, Triumph
Motorcycles, Saniflo, Cottages4U, Compton
Buildings, Siblu, Everest, Norfolk Broads, Joe
Browns, Shetland, Slingsby, Bryant Boats,
Wildmoor Spa, Dethleffs, Crystal Ski, Eurocopter,
Ellis Brigham Mountain Sport, Knaus
20
Companies failing to send literature as requested, but sending follow up
emails
12 = 6%
Lunar Caravans, Sealine, Searay,
Stena Line, Healthspan, Rohan, The
English Glasshouse, Big Mans Shop,
Cotton Traders, Daxon, Witt, Horton &
Newberry
21
So, companies failing to send literature as requested
38 = 19%
(2009 survey 26%)
22
Failures to fulfil request by sector:
Sector No of failures
Cars 1 Best
Home 1 Best
Business to Business 2
UK Tourism 2
Holidays & Travel 3
Gardening 3
Health, Leisure & 4
Fitness
Clothing 5
Hobbies, Sports, Pets 6
Other Vehicles 8 Worst
23
Average response time
Average (mean) response time for
companies who responded:
4.7 days
(2009 survey 3.6 days)
Still too many companies using 2nd class post!
24
Response times by category
Sector Average response Number of non-
time in days respondents
B2B 2.8 2
UK Tourism 2.9 2
Holidays & Travel 3.1 3
Home Products 3.1 1
Cars 3.6 1
Gardening 4.6 3
Health, Leisure, Fitness 5.4 4
Hobbies & Pets 5.6 6
Other Vehicles 7.1 11
Clothing 9.0 5
25
Worst time responders
Natural Collection 41 days
Pure Collection 41 days
Cashmere Centre 37 days
Wiggly Wigglers 33 days
Vauxhall Commercial 30 days
26
Personalisation
Companies producing a personalised mail
pack = 86
of the 162 respondents = 53.1%
(2009 survey = 34%)
27
Email acknowledgements
Companies using email to
acknowledge and up-sell
77 = 38.5%*
(2009 survey 27%)
*excludes bounce-back acknowledgements
28
Best and worst users of email acknowledgements
Sector Number sent % using
B2B 12 60%
Clothing 10 50%
Cars 9 45%
Other vehicles 8 40%
Hobbies, Sports, Pets 7 35%
Holidays & Travel 6 30%
Home 5 25%
Gardening 4 20%
Health & Leisure 4 20%
UK Tourism 2 10%
29
Website enquiry forms
Number of companies in survey using
website enquiry forms: 196 (98%)
Number of these companies using
address finder 92 (46%)
30
Organisations using address finder by sector
Sector Number using % using
Cars 18 90%
Home 15 75%
Clothing 15 75%
Holidays & Travel 11 55%
Gardening 10 50%
Hobbies, Sports, Pets 7 35%
UK Tourism 5 25%
Health & Leisure 4 20%
B2B 4 20%
Other Vehicles 3 15%
31
Companies using enquiry details for ongoing marketing by email*
Number of companies: 45 (22.5%)
*received over 6 week period
32
Companies using enquiry details for ongoing marketing by direct mail*
Number of companies: 25 (12.5%)
* Measured over a 6 week period
33
Overkill or what…
Misco sent 44 emails in the 6 weeks
following the enquiry – or an average of 1.4
every working day
Viking sent 21 emails despite their website
assurance:
‘At Viking Direct we strongly believe in not
sending out unsolicited emails’
34
Common sins
Response packs duplicated
Scruffy brown envelopes
Handwritten envelopes
Envelopes too big
Crooked labelling
Brochures upside down
Matched in letters with wrong fonts
Wrong salutations
Incorrect address details
35
The stars
Company Email Response Personali- Excellent Excellent Ongoing
acnowled- Time sed poly- presentat- marketing
gement and letter wrapping/ ion/ from data
up sell enveloping catalogue
Mercedes Yes 1 day Yes Yes Yes No
Benz
Mitsubishi
Yes 1 day Yes Yes Yes No
Seat Yes 1 day Yes Yes Yes No
Skoda Yes 1 day Yes Yes Yes No
Suzuki Yes 1 day Yes Yes Yes No
Virgin Yes 1 day Yes Yes Yes No
Holidays
36
The superstars
Company Email Response Personali- Excellent Excellent Ongoing
acnowled- Time sed poly- presentat- marketing
gement and letter wrapping/ ion/ from data
up sell enveloping catalogue
Honda Yes 1 day Yes Yes Yes Yes
Lawn &
(email)
Garden
Voyages Yes 1 day Yes Yes Yes Yes
of
(direct mail)
Discovery
37
Big name disappointments
Company Email Response Personali- Excellent Excellent Ongoing
acnowled- Time sed poly- presentat- marketing
gement and letter wrapping/ ion/ from data
up sell enveloping catalogue
Vauxhall No 30 days Yes No No No
Laura No 12 days No Yes No No
Ashley
Daihatsu FAILED TO RESPOND
LDV Vans FAILED TO RESPOND
Triumph FAILED TO RESPOND
Motor-
cycles
Everest FAILED TO RESPOND
38
Previous surveys – comparative results
Year 2005 2009 2010
Average 3.9 3.6 4.7
(mean)
response time
(days)
Companies 20% 34% 53.1%
using
personalised
mail packs
Failed to 14% 14% 13%
respond
39
Conclusion 1
19% (38) of all businesses contacted failed
to respond
40
Conclusion 2
Response times are getting worse –
4.7 days compared with 3.6 days last
year
41
Conclusion 3
Encouragingly, more and more
companies are using personalisation
(53.1%) c.f. last year (34%)… and this
is more than double the use 5 years
ago (20%).
42
Conclusion 4
Many companies treat sales enquiries with
contempt or are simply not bothering to monitor
their web site enquiries properly
46.9% failed to use a personal approach in their
mailed communications
A staggering 87.5% of organisations failed to use
the sales data for ongoing marketing
43
Conclusion 5
The fastest responding companies are nearly
always the ones with excellent personalisation,
great presentation and easy-to-use websites
Mercedes-Benz UK
44