Q: we are contemplating combining the Fall Brochure and the Winter Brochure. We typically send the Fall Brochure out in mid-August for the week after Labor Day Registration Fair and the Winter Brochure out mid-December before Winter Break for the first week of January Registration Fair. We would continue to send the first brochure mailing out at the same time. When would you suggest the second brochure mailing go out? Would the second mailing be to a targeted market?
A: One of the most important rules in marketing is that when you are contemplating a change, you should test it before you move forward. This is definitely the case with changes in the mailing schedule of your brochure and the number of terms you offer per year. Ideally your brochure should be received 5-6 weeks before your classes start, and not less than 4 weeks out. The courses in the brochure should not begin more than 8 weeks after classes start. Classes that begin later have a much higher cancellation rate than those that begin within the first 8 weeks.
If I understand your thinking, you are considering combining everything into one brochure to go out in mid-August with a second mailing to go out for classes beginning in January. I see very little value in creating a larger brochure. I believe your enrollments would be maximized if you kept two brochures, one going out in mid-August, and one being in people's hands right after Christmas. This has been shown to be the best time for the winter brochure. You would achieve some cost savings by combining all content and doing a larger print run with brochures that are held back to mail in December. However, you might also lose some registrations since you would be mailing a catalog in August with courses that begin in January. Even if you mail a second time in January, you might have problems because some of your courses would be "old." And, you would be paying more for postage if you mail a larger piece.
I would suggest you carefully analyze the cost savings of doing a combined brochure and weigh it against the strong likelihood that you would lose enrollments in a combined catalog spanning more than 8 weeks. Ideally, you should mail your fall brochure twice--once at the normal time and once to a targeted audience of best customers two weeks later. This increases enrollments in most cases. The same should be done for your winter brochure,