Basic List Types

There are two basic categories of lists: “consumer” and “business.” Put simply, consumer files are lists of people at home addresses and business files are lists of companies. There are exceptions and hybrids. For example, one can order a consumer list based on the occupation or professional background of the individual. Also, some files, such as real estate professionals, include both business and residential information. A third file type – known as an occupant, resident or saturation list – is used when the mailer wants to send to every address on a given postal route.

Lists are also categorized by the source of data. The two most common sources are “compiled” and “response.” Compiled lists consist of records taken from a broad variety of sources, including public records, and often identify people or companies based on common characteristics. Response lists contain people or businesses that have responded to a direct mail offer or have made a purchase or donation of some kind – for example, magazine subscribers or donors to certain charitable causes. Specialty files such as student lists, real property owners, sweepstakes responders, new movers and others can also be acquired.

Fine-Tuning The List

Are your best customers married men between the ages of 35 and 44 who have an income over $50,000, rent their home, have a child under age 12 and donate to charity? The types of list criteria, known in the industry as “selects,” are seemingly limitless. Geographic selects like ZIP, city or radius from an address are the most common. Broad consumer databases may include demographic selects such as age, gender, income, marital status, children, occupation and homeowner/renter. Consumer files can also contain lifestyle, hobby or behavior selects. A few examples are: donor to charity, real estate investor or gardening interest. There are even sophisticated data models that can provide things like a list of people likely to have or want a particular type of car or recreational vehicle.

Business files have fewer available selects, but still allow quite specific targeting of potential customers. Besides geography, one can often select based on criteria such as business type, employee count, estimated gross revenues, woman / minority ownership and executive title.

Some industries already use targeted mailing lists on a regular basis for their direct marketing campaigns. Real estate, mortgage and insurance firms use the detailed information in real property files to target home size, value, loan information, likelihood of credit approval and more. Financial advisors and investment bankers can send high-quality mailpieces to potential clients with certain net asset levels. Charitable organizations and political campaigns have long used lists of known donors who share particular interests or values with the organization.

According to Lynn Hughes, the owner of Olympic Presort, a mailing services firm near Silverdale, “The number of businesses using targeted lists for their mailings has been steadily increasing.”

List Quality and List Brokerage

The data quality of mailing lists varies greatly. Some files are updated frequently, while others go untouched for years. Most estimates put the number of people moving each year between 10 and 15 percent. While no mailing list is perfect and even the best files may have a certain percentage of undeliverable records, a file that is poorly compiled or managed will suffer far worse response.

There are list owners will work directly with the public, but because list brokers are often paid on commission from the list owners, using an independent list broker improves list quality at little to no additional cost. Not only do list brokers know which lists are better for which market, but they also “speak the language” of the industry and can make sure to address every detail of the order from file format to usage permissions. Some list brokers can also help with campaign response analysis and advise on list selection for the current or future mailings.

“Targeted mail is part of a really effective media mix,” says Kitsap marketing expert Bill Hoke, “and the mailing should be put in the hands of a professional.”

Cost and Financial Benefits

The cost of a mailing list varies significantly based on the aforementioned selects, but for many businesses that cost is outweighed by the printing and postage savings from not mailing to prospects that are unlikely to be interested in the offer.

Mailing lists are almost always rented or licensed for a specific usage term. Of course, if a prospect becomes a customer, that information can be used in perpetuity by the list renter without additional charge. A basic, compiled consumer list starts around four cents per record for one-time usage and business records start around seven cents. Response, subscriber or more sophisticated files typically start around 10 cents. The more precise or specialized the select criteria, the higher the cost per record will be. Many files can even be licensed for unlimited usage for a full year at a rate usually between 1.5 and 2.5 times the one-time usage rate. The minimum order – either by record count or dollar value – also varies by list type. A simple list might have a $100 order minimum, while a specialized file may require a 5,000-record minimum rental.

Summary

Precise mailing lists exist for almost any marketing or fundraising campaign imaginable. Basic mailing lists can be licensed for as little as $100 and a list broker can add strategic value without increasing project costs. With these things in mind, targeted mailing lists are an excellent way for companies of all sizes to maximize the impact of every marketing dollar.

(Editors Note: Andrejs M. Zommers is a marketing consultant and list broker on Bainbridge Island. He can be reached at (206) 842-5252 or info@amz.net.).