Nine Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Housefile

2. Test the Right Amount

According to Hochberg, a good rule-of-thumb is not to involve more than 35 percent of your circulation in tests. While this may be a good number for a catalog of Lillian Vernon’s size, it could be financially impractical for smaller catalog companies, says Trollinger.

Klapprodt says that while, in theory, you never can test too much, understand the economic impact of what you’re doing. He says a catalog’s size tends to correlate with how much testing it can do successfully. So small mailers tend to test the big stuff, and big mailers test for a slight tweak that could move their profit margins a sliver of a percentage point.