The beginning of a new year offers an opportunity for companies to take a fresh look at what’s working and what’s not working. Did you send anything different or new out this past year? If you have a control mailer, did that stay the same all year?

It’s easy for marketers to grow attached to what they see as “working.” Whatever is bringing in a consistent and predictable response rate often seems like the best option, especially when marketing budgets are tight. However, believing that your marketing is inviolable is what leads to stale campaigns and undoubtedly, declining response rates.

In a previous life, I was a marketing manager for a magazine publisher. We used to send out three or four different mailings per month, each with roughly 100,000 prospects. Every mailing we did included a standard letter, a buck slip, BRC and usually a plain envelope. Thought we did a lot of testing, there was this perpetual belief that our audience liked plain envelopes and long two-page letters. That belief was totally unfounded since we never actually tested packages without the letter, or in a different style envelope. As a result, during my brief tenure with the magazine, we never saw response rates climb by a difference of more than one percent.

If you haven’t already made (and perhaps broken) your new year’s resolution, try this one out. Do something different with your marketing in 2012. Challenge traditional thinking and old control packages. Challenge the notion that single-digit response rates are acceptable. Next January, when you’re reviewing what worked and what didn’t in 2012, you’ll know that you stepped outside what was familiar and comfortable, and probably got noticed.

To see something different, check these out. To hold something different in your hands, request samples. Or, to invite us in to show your whole team something new, please request an open house! I hear the cookies at those events are pretty good.