Direct marketing is the workhorse of small businesses everywhere. So chances are, you will already be sending some form of direct mail to existing and potential customers. But how much do you really know about the technical side of buying direct-mail lists? A well-qualified mailing list is critical to the success of your direct mail campaign and can easily add to increasing your profits.
To make sure your next direct-mailing campaign gets maximum results, here are answers to four of the questions most frequently asked about mailing lists.
1. What Kinds Of Mailing Lists Are Available?
Many companies rent out their own mailing lists. The mailing lists offered generally offer only names and addresses – but sometimes emails as well. However, you can obtain mailing lists with much more detail – for example whether they drive a car or not. These lists will be more expensive to rent because more effort has gone into building up the accurate data.
Compiled mailing lists are constructed from directories, such as business or telephone directories. These are the least accurate, because they may have a large number of inaccuracies, resulting in undeliverable pieces of mail. The only benefit it to rent a compiled mailing list is relatively cheap.
Associations and other membership groups often rent their mailing lists, which offers an easy way to reach people with common interests.
2. Where Can I Find The Right Mailing Lists?
You can type the word “mailing list” into any major search engine such as Google or Yahoo and you will find a wide selection of companies offering you mailing lists for rent. If hunting out the right mailing list for your needs sounds like a lot of legwork, you can hire a list broker to do the research and negotiation for you. List brokers are paid commissions by the list vendors, though they may also charge you a minimal fee. You can find the names of major list brokers by going online. Also you can contact the postal service, who can recommend mailing lists brokers to contact.
3. How Do I Evaluate Mailing List Costs?
There’s a base cost for list rental, which is expressed in cost per thousands (CPM). That’s the cost to rent 1,000 names, though you’ll generally have to purchase at least 5,000 names or pay a minimum fee. To test a list, 5,000 names is considered the minimum. But if the list you want to rent only has 1,500 names, you may be able to arrange to use it multiple times in order to satisfy the minimum quantity.
Above and beyond the base cost for list rental, add in charges for any special qualifying criteria you require, called “selections.” Typical selections for business-to-business mailing lists include geography, industry and a company’s size or sales.
For consumer lists, additional selections like household income and the number of children in the household will add incrementally to the cost of using the mailing list.
Your price will include a set of labels. If your plans include using more than one list to reach the same target audience, you should request the lists in an electronic format. Then you can have your mailing vendor perform a merge/purge operation to eliminate duplicate names and addresses, which not only annoy potential customers, but also is a waste of money.
4. How Are Mailing Lists Sold?
Any mailing list you buy will be accompanied by an agreement that may include the list owner’s right to check over your creative material and to send your mailing out to the list themselves instead of you doing it. The reason for this is to prevent unauthorized copying of the mailing list. Sometimes you must agree to use the mailing list within a particular time frame, so that the list owner can maintain control over how often people on the list are being solicited.
When making your purchase, find out how often the list is cleaned and updated. This will help ensure the highest number of deliverables and the least amount of waste.
Once you’ve made your purchase agreement, mailing lists are normally delivered within 10 business days. And here’s a tip: If you plan to mail again to the same list within three months, buy a duplicate set of labels. It’s less expensive than making two individual purchases.
