It can also be linked in to other areas of activity so, for example, the names of those who respond to a sales promotion can be captured and mailed to recruit as members. Direct mail campaigns, unlike third party promotions, allow us to maintain complete control over an area of activity. In 1996 we carried out a direct mail recruitment campaign, through which 100,000 households were mailed with a letter, leaflet, and application form. The mailing lists are sourced from list swaps with other organisations or from 'lifestyle' lists bought in. From the results we will be able to test which is the most effective method of membership recruitment.
Direct mail is likely to continue as an important element in our marketing activity.
A major survey was conducted at our historic properties in 1994 and 1995, in which visitors were asked to give sites a score out of 10 for levels of satisfaction against a range of criteria. This followed up the 1993 Visitor Monitor and Conservation Grant Application Survey, in which the overall rating of our sites was 8.5. The results of this exercise are felt to be very favourable and will be hard to improve upon overall. Our attention is focussed on those properties which gained lower than average ratings with the aim of improving on these perceived shortcomings in the future.