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3 Facts You Must Know About Mailing Lists Before Buying


Mailing-Lists---3-Things-You-MUST-Know-Before-Buying1Your mailing list is one of the critical elements that can make OR break your campaign. It is vitally important to your return on investment (ROI) that you have a deliverable and highly effective targeted mailing list. The mailing list makes sure you get the best ROI, so it’s incredibly important to find a good list!

This two part article will go over the three important pieces of information you need to know when purchasing your mailing list. In this first article, we will go over the first point—the different types of lists. We will cover who to target and how to choose a reputable list.

First, we need to look at what different kinds of lists are out there so you know which one is the best for your marketing campaign. You can always use more than one list if it makes sense for your business.

1. Types of Lists

In-House Lists (Customers or Prospects)

Consider this list to be your database. This is what you have built yourself through the marketing efforts you’ve already done. It can be comprised of current clients and potential ones that have contacted you previously. Anyone who has given you contact information through a form on your website or other venue should be included here.

Businesses List:

A business list contains B2B (business-to-business) companies, like accountants, corporate lawyers, management consultants, logistics companies, marketing companies, etc.

Business List Demographics:

  • Companies with a radius of your location
  • Number of employees
  • Industry
  • Gross Income
  • Job Title (CEO, CMO, VP of IT, etc.)

Example: An accounting firm looking for a list can find one that includes local businesses that generate high income, but don’t have many employees. These are more likely candidates to need outsourced accounting or bookkeeping services.

New Homeowner/New Mover Lists:

These lists are often used for similar campaigns but are compiled separately. New homeowner lists are compiled from mortgage data, whereas new mover lists are compiled from changes to the United States Postal Service’s National Change of Address database.

These lists allow you to target anyone who has moved residences recently. Industries that would benefit from this list include: landscaping, pool service, HVAC, plumbing, electricians, contractors, home improvement/furniture retailers, etc. You can combine a targeted mailing with a message that focuses on getting their new home checked out and keeping it well maintained.

New Homeowner/New Mover List Demographics:

  • Mortgage amount
  • Type of dwelling
  • How recent the house was purchased
  • Type of home purchased

Example: An HVAC company sends a postcard campaign out to a new homeowners list, which presents them with a special offer for getting their new home’s heating and air conditioning tuned up for their life there.

Direct Response Lists:

This is a list that is compiled from purchase history. Some list compilers partner up with credit card companies to receive information on recent transactions. These lists can often be pretty expensive, but you gain valuable insight into a prospects buying behavior.

Example: A landscaping company buys a list of prospects who had shown interest in Scotts gardening products. This means these prospects are doing their own landscaping and will likely be interested in a company to do it for them.

Subscription Lists

A subscription list is a list you rent of subscribers to a certain publication. These publications can be broad, like The New York Times or The Atlantic, or as narrow like Cranes Today Magazine or The Chimney Sweep News. (Yes, both those exist!) On the upside, subscription lists practically guarantee that your recipient has some interest in what you offer. On the downside, these lists can be expensive—plus, you will need to give the publication a sample of your mail piece for approval. (For example, Food Network Magazine wouldn’t want to rent their list to PETA for a mailer that advertised “Meat is Murder.”)

Opt-in Subscription Lists

An opt-in subscription list is closely related to a standard subscription list. Have you ever signed up for a newsletter or magazine and seen the box that asks if you would like to receive promotions for the following products/services? If you check “yes” then you have just been added to an opt-in list. These are normally pretty expensive, but they have great ROI due to the openness of the recipients. These customers WANT deals on your product or service…or at least they did at one point.

Example: An entrepreneur in the health, fitness, salon or spa industry could purchase a list that is compiled of Self magazine subscribers who opted in to receive promotional material on spa services. That list is a perfect fit for this entrepreneur.

Consumer Lists

Think of the consumer list as the top dog of mailing lists. If you have a good list provider, a consumer list can include an entire consumer history—a compilation of each and every newsletter, webinar, survey, etc. that you may have signed up for or filled out.

With the exception of business lists and your own database, a consumer list can pull all the data that you could find in the above lists we’ve gone over. It is by far the most comprehensive option available to you—but it doesn’t necessarily have to be.

Imagine a consumer list to be a Lego set, and each block is a certain demographic, interest, purchase behavior, etc. By using a consumer list, you can keep adding Legos until you build a very specific profile of who you want to target, or you can keep it extra simple.

Example: A salon/spa wants to target 25-30 year old females who earn $50k+ in a specific zip code who have an interest in hair, beauty, and have purchased NARS makeup (an expensive brand) within the last 90 days. The people who would fall into this profile are ripe to become a salon/spa regular. On the flip side, this same salon could run a more general campaign to women who fall within a certain age range and income level, and live close to the spa’s location, inviting them in for a free service.

To summarize: A consumer list is what you want it to be! Build it up or keep it simple. The power of choice is yours!

Consumer List Demographics:

  • Age                             
  • Race/Ethnicity
  • Gender
  • Zip code
  • Annual salary

Resident/Occupant Lists (Also Known as Carrier Route and Res/Occ):

For those on a budget, a resident/occupant list works well. The demographics depicted on this list are called “modeled data,” which means all the residents on a specific postal carrier’s route are averaged together to come up with a demographic of the entire route. It’s less specific than a consumer list, but it still provides a good example of who you are mailing to.

Since carrier route mailings are so easy for postal workers to deliver, they provide a postage discount because you hit every mailbox on the route. That discount is about 8-10 cents-per-piece! This really adds up on a carrier route mailing.

The postcard is addressed to “current resident,” and is sent to every house. This is idea when you want to blanket a particular location and is very effective for restaurants, gyms and retail stores, because of their location to prospects.

Example: Local retailers would select to use a carrier list in their local area so their special offers are sent to every household around them. Almost every resident in their location will be a qualified prospect for retail sales.

Whew! That’s pretty exhausting, huh? Try to find a list that best fits the target audience you want to reach and also fits within your budget. In the second part of this article we will go over both who you should focus on targeting and how to choose a reputable list.

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