“In Praise of the Split Run” By Jim Estill

Split run marketing is a very old concept, which is made even easier with the advent of electronic marketing.

The concept is extremely simple.  All you do is have two or more different offers, or looks and present those offers to groups of prospects.  For example, send an email to one group saying save money.  Send another email to another group saying best value.  Send another email to another group saying save time.  If you were to send 100 emails to each group, track which group gets which email and then figure out which marketing message garners the most response.

Then when you go to send 5,000 emails (and I’m not suggesting spam, rather I’m suggesting this with a permission list of people who have signed up to receive your information).  Use the message that resonates most with people.

Split run marketing can also be done easily in telemarketing (again, not irritating, unwanted, unwelcome telemarketing, rather telemarketing existing accounts that expect and want to hear from you).  Test different scripts to determine which one sells the most.

Split run marketing can also be done on the web with landing pages, colors, positions of buttons.  Experiment with minor changes to see what sells best.

Split run marketing can be promoted in social media as an experiment.  For instance there can be a blog entry on best value and see how many people click through versus how many people want lowest price.  Or write an article and see how many people are interested in what it is that’s being promoted.

Although the concept is old, it still applies.  It is easy.  It is inexpensive.  And it works.

By Jim Estill

www.jimestill.com