When Will Response Rates Recover?

How can you tell if response rates have stopped falling? Start by examining the following:

• Look at your most recent response rates by campaign and list to see how they compare to your historical response rates for that list segment. The most powerful piece of data you have is your most recent response rates for an individual list.
• How are your monthly, weekly and daily sales holding up compared to last year? Your monthly sales vs. last year's monthly sales are a good indicator of how your overall catalog sales are trending.
• Talk to your list broker, list manager and merge/purge service bureau to get their takes on response rates. Network with industry peers, and ask how their response rates are holding up for their housefiles and prospecting. Does anyone see signs of improving response rates?
• Review your competitors' offers. Are your competitors making strong offers via email, ink-jet messages or on the covers of their catalogs? How hard are your competitors pushing the promotion button?

In part two of this multipart series coming out in a couple of weeks, I'll discuss some of the circ trends that have emerged from multichannel marketers as they attempt to weather the economic storm. In addition, I'll provide some more tips to help you optimize your circ for increased sales during the holiday season.