I’m trying something new.

I have a splash page up at DobermanDan.com.

It’s offering my new opt-in bribe… a free digital issue of The Doberman Dan Letter.

I’m doing a little split test against offering a free issue of my newsletter in hard copy.

I’m curious to see which offer converts into more knights in the Marketing Camelot.

My gut and experience tells me the hard copy offer will convert a lot more.

Why?

Well, for one deliverability.

Compared to email, USPS ROCKS for deliverability.

If 900 out of 1,000 pieces of mail arrive, (and USPS delivery is a LOT better than that these days)… less 31% discarded unopened… that’s 621 little salesmen with a shot at making a sale.

But if 200 out of 1,000 e-mails get delivered (and that’s really high for email… and VERY unlikely for most lists)…

…less 53% deleted, that’s only 94 with a shot at making a sale.

Which would YOU bet on?

Another reason:

Most of my competitors are too dumb, lazy, cheap and undisciplined to send their promotions in the mail.

You see, any idiot can send out e-mails and, pretty much, every idiot does.

Direct mail… especially micro-targeted direct mail like I do it… requires intelligence, a certain level sophistication, planning,

organization and discipline.

So that eliminates about 97% of MY competitors.

Another reason:

Distraction.

Websites and email are viewed on a computer or smartphone.

Both are portals to endless distractions.

Just before your prospect gets your e-mail (number 208 in his inbox), number 207 presents him with a link to an irresistible place with hot women and streaming video.

Or about a million other BSO’s. (Bright shiny objects.)

By the time he’s done there, he’s forgotten all about your message.

And/or will probably just delete it unread.

One more reason I think the hard copy stuff is gonna convert best:

Forbes magazine featured an article about the use of Neuroscience to understand the role of direct mail marketing on the human brain.

Millward Brown in cooperation with the Centre for Experimental Consumer Psychology in the UK, used MRI scans to look at brain activity and brain reaction to print advertising.

The subjects in the study were shown both digital advertising materials and advertising materials on printed cards that were held in their hot little hands.

The MRI scans were used to evaluate how the brain responded to the marketing messages displayed by the two different mediums.

“Physical materials produced more brain response connected with internal feelings, suggesting greater ‘internalization’ of the ads”, said the smart dudes in white lab coats.

But HERE’S the part that really made me sit up, spit out my Bubble Yum and pay attention…

Because the physical direct mail stimulated sight and touch, the ads presented on postcards generated more brain activity connected with memory and spatial networks.

The MRI showed that the sector of the brain involved in processing emotional stimuli and memory lit up like a frickin’ christmas tree when the subjects were handling the advertising card.

The digital ad?

Nuttin’ honey. (Or very little.)

The study suggested that the physical card presentation generated more emotionally vivid memories that could be recalled at the time a purchasing decisions would be made.

So that’s why I think the free hard copy newsletter promo will kick booty over the free digital one.

And when it comes to direct mail, I’ve rarely been wrong.

But we shall soon see.

I’m planning to report all the results of this test in an upcoming issue of The Doberman Dan Letter. So if you’re one of my knights, stay tuned for all the details.

P.S. Twenty years of doing tests like this and it still hasn’t lost its magic on me.

Gosh, this stuff is fun.

And better than a sharp stick in the eye, huh?

Pax vobiscum.