Some people say they are pleased with their 2% conversion rate. After all, aren’t our websites just the electronic extension of direct mail? And aren’t direct mailers pleased with a 2% response rate?

No one should be making the comparison between direct mail response rates and conversion rates. If you are satisfied with your 2% (or your 3% or 4%), you should think again.

We spent many years in the direct mail business before getting into electronic direct response. They are similar disciplines, but they are not the same, and rates cannot be compared. There’s a reason why the direct mail industry uses the phrase “response rate” and not the electronically accepted “conversion rate.”

Direct mailers go out and pay cold hard cash to purchase lists of names that might (or might not) be interested in their offering. Then, they spend much more time, effort and money figuring out how to get mail recipients just to open their envelopes. They test whether recipients are more likely to open the mail if it has a real stamp on it or in a brown envelope; if it has a “Limited Time Offer!” on it or not. Once the envelope is opened, they begin to deal with the same issues that websites have long copy or short copy? How can I make the response process as easy as possible?

However, the thorny problem of opening the envelope is what differentiates direct mail response rates from electronic conversion rates.

When we measure conversion rates, we are usually measuring conversions divided by visitors for a specific period or a specific campaign. However, visitors are individuals who have already “opened your envelope.” They have already made the decision to visit your site.

If we could crawl into the homes or offices of thousands of direct mail recipients, we might find that only 20% of those who receive a particular mailing actually open it. If 100 people get a mail piece, 20 open it, and two respond, that might be a 2% response rate, but it’s a 10% conversion rate (2/20). After all, 20 people made the decision to actually “visit” the mail piece.

Let’s stop comparing our conversion rates and response rates, and while we are at it, let’s stop being satisfied with any conversion rate. Even if you are getting 10% -- what about the other 90% of visitors who made the decision to visit you and walked away empty-handed?