The B-to-B Mailer’s Rules of the Road

Know Your Arithmetic

Before marketing anything, it is imperative to know in advance what you can afford to spend. In the seven years I have been associated with Target Marketing, I believe the most important story we ever published (August, 1995) was Bob Hacker’s “Direct Mail Arithmetic the Easy Way: Six Powerful Direct Marketing Calculations You Can Do on a Cocktail Napkin.” Included were the Raw Cost Per Response; Loaded Cost Per Response; Cost Per Sale; Response Rate Cost Per Sale; Required to Hit Breakeven; and Figuring Package Cost at Any Quantity Without Going Back for a New Bid.