The Puzzling, Frustrating 1 Percent Response Rate

“Average selection of response lists.” All bets are off if you don’t do a reasonable job of list selection. You can easily get a 0 percent response if you select lists unwisely. Additionally, the 1 percent rule is based on response lists, meaning the buyer files of other catalogers. If you’re mailing compiled lists (names collected from surveys, census data, warranty cards, etc.), then your response rates in general will be lower (up to 50 percent lower). If you’re mailing publication subscriber lists, your response rates may be even lower still.