You are here: DIME Home > Marketing > Important points to consider while buying mail lists

Important points to consider while buying mail lists

There are little qualifications to becoming a mailing list broker. And therefore, there is a big disparity between the service and price from one mailing list broker and another. It is always recommended that the mailer ask for a list of referrals.

Author: Jason john
Date: Aug 25, 2011 - 2:27:27 AM

Printer friendly page

There are little qualifications to becoming a mailing list broker.  And therefore, there is a big disparity between the service and price from one mailing list broker and another.  It is always recommended that the mailer ask for a list of referrals.  Or better yet, ask your fellow mailers who they use for their mailing list data.  You’re likely find a strong opinion on who to use for a mailing list broker and why. 

You may also want to ask how long the mailing list broker has been in business and if they specialize in one industry vertical or another.  Asking the right questions will help you separate those beginner data providers from those who are experienced and dependable mailing list brokers.  With trial and error you can finally refine your decisions.

A direct mailer will typically buy mailing lists just before the direct marketing campaign is to be launched.  But the planning that must happen when you buy mailing lists takes more than just calling a list broker.  Ideally, your best approach is to consider who your best customers are and then try to find prospects that most closely resemble them. 

A good mailing list provider can offer both accuracy as well as the ideal target.  Ideally, you would provide your list broker with a statistically valid sample of your existing “best” customers in a digital format.  The minimum that’s needed are the name, address, city, state, and zip code to allow you to buy mailing lists.  From there, your data provider should be able to profile your customer list to “clone” more prospects from which to buy mailing lists.

When searching for a quality consumer mail list, be sure to consider the frequency in which the consumer mail list database has been updated.  Consider the number of people, who relocate on an annual basis, it’s imperative that the consumer mail list database is updated frequently. 

For standard rate postal discounts, your list should be scrubbed against the NCOA (National Change of Address) at least every 95 days.  It is an industry standard that a quality consumer mail list database is NCOA as often as every 30 days.  Doing so ensures that you’re getting the most accurate consumer mail list database available.

What exactly makes a mail list “the best”?  Is it a mail list that is updated more than others?  Is it a mail list that proves to contain the most amounts of deliverable addresses?  Most accurate?  Or most responsive?  The best mail list is different for everyone. 

One mailer may have a very difficult list request in which the target audience is next to impossible.  If this is the case, the more diluted or modeled profile may be the “best” option for the mailer.  Another mailer may have hard and fast criteria for their offer and require a very specific set of conditions.  Before you respond to someone say they’ve got the “best” mail list available, make sure they understand your needs.

Looking for a Direct marketing mailing list ? Get Direct mail marketing lists from BBDirect.Com.

View all articles by Jason john

Link to this article:

Code to copy:

<a href="http://www.dime-co.com/marketing/Important-points-to-consider-while-buying-mail-lists.shtml">Important points to consider while buying mail lists</a>

---

Search for articles: Advanced Search

Recommended Associates

Latest Articles in All Categories

Putting Up a Small Commercial Printing Business

So You Might Be Unemployed And Desire To Become A San Francisco Real Estate Investor Now

Meditation and Mindfulness: Dealing With Emotion

CPA Websites: Five Essential Ideas for Composing Convincing Articles

Set Goals In Order to Come Up With Your Action Plan

Is the Air in Your Home Safe to Breathe?

Coarse Fishing Tackle Review: The JW Young 13ft Trotter Rod

Section 1031 Exchanges For San Diego Real Estate Investors

Phoenix Real Estate Investing For Highest Possible Earnings

Legendary are the Volk Racing TE37 Wheels

Developing the Next Generation Wall Station (ChaseDesk™) for Healthcare - A Case Study

What are step down transformers?

Introducing Sharehype, the Revolutionary Tool for Online Marketers

Rewards To Shopping For Austin Real Estate On The Web

Hydroponics for Beginners

Do you write?

Would you like submit your articles and have them approved on a priority status? Find out more about how you can become a Priority author for pennies a day! Click here.

News Feed

Dime-co.com Home

Business (9328)

Computers & The Internet (5740)

Entertainment (1348)

Family (958)

Finance (1963)

Health (4246)

Home and Living (6670)

Marketing (6113)

Shopping & Product Reviews (2624)

Sports (694)

Travel and Vacations (1689)

Video Articles (1)

Editors Pick (1)