Date post: | 25-Jan-2015 |
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McCarthyandKing.com 508-473-8643
A Beginner’s Guide to
Direct Mail and Email List Research
Bob McCarthy
McCarthy & King Marketing
McCarthyandKing.com 508-473-8643
Can you find me a good mailing list?
But what is a good mailing list?
McCarthyandKing.com 508-473-8643
Mailing list reality
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Two Types of Lists
1. Your House List 2. Everything Else Lists you can buy, rent or build yourself
McCarthyandKing.com 508-473-8643
To buy, rent or build
Buying Lists• Not always available• Appealing from a cost standpoint• Hygiene is expensive
Renting Lists• Perfect for testing• Seems expensive with repeat mailings• No need to worry about hygiene
Building Lists• More control• How much time do you have?• What about hygiene?
McCarthyandKing.com 508-473-8643
What we’ll cover …
• How lists are created• The list business• A 5-step process
1. The customer profile
2. Researching lists
3. Reviewing individual lists
4. Ordering lists
5. Evaluating lists
McCarthyandKing.com 508-473-8643
How lists are created
Compiled Lists (Demographic data)• Business - • Yellow pages• DBAs• Corporate filings• Business directories
• Consumer – • White pages• Census data• Licensing data• Voting data• Surveys
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Compiled lists
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How lists are created
Response Lists (Behavioral data)
Business• Subscribers (paid vs. unpaid publications)• Members• Attendees• Buyers
Consumer• Subscribers• Members• Buyers• Donors
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Response lists
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The list business
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Creating a customer profile
• Snapshot of your potential customer• Demographics• Psychographics (behavior)
• Business vs. Consumer customer profile• You may need multiple profiles• Write it down
McCarthyandKing.com 508-473-8643
Business Customer Profile
Demographics• Industry SIC• Company size – employees, sales volume• Contact person – C-suite, owner, manager, VP, lower titles• Location – zip, region, state, national
Behavior• Subscribers to industry trade journals• Members of industry trade group• Attendees to industry trade shows and conferences• Buyers of similar products (by mail, online)
McCarthyandKing.com 508-473-8643
Consumer Customer Profile
Demographics• Gender, age, income• Home ownership • Family size, ages• Profession • Pets• Political party affiliation
Behavior• Subscriptions• Hobbies• Clubs• Charities• Mail order/online purchases
McCarthyandKing.com 508-473-8643
Customer Profile Challenge
How would you create a Customer Profile for these situations?
• Example 1 – you are selling point-of-sale (POS) systems to restaurants.
• Example 2 – you are selling financial planning services to consumers.
• Example 3 – you are selling assisted living housing to potential residents.
McCarthyandKing.com 508-473-8643
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
Does this sound familiar?• You’ve created your Customer Profile• You’ve contacted a list company• You’ve received an estimated list quantity• It’s too high for your budget• You adjust your Customer Profile to bring your numbers
down.
Having too many names is a good thing.
McCarthyandKing.com 508-473-8643
Researching lists
Start a list of list candidates• SRDS Mailing List Directory• Directory of Mailing Lists• NextMark• Contact a list broker and/or list compiler• Be inventive• Directory of Associations• Ask trade publishers
McCarthyandKing.com 508-473-8643
Reviewing individual lists
Study each list for potential match to Customer Profile
• View list data cards• Use selects to drill down• Determine total universe size
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Mailing List Datacard
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Ordering lists
Pricing• Compiled Lists – 5-15 cents each• Response Lists – 10 – 25 cents each• Crowdsourcing Lists – 50 cents - $1 each• Minimum Quantities - varies
Other factors• Seeded Names• List Owner Review• List Formats
McCarthyandKing.com 508-473-8643
Evaluating lists
McCarthyandKing.com 508-473-8643
Evaluating lists
Testing your mailing lists
• Why list testing is the most affordable option• List testing does not mean pre-mail telephone calls• Testing is not a hygiene question• Beware of hotline names• Use tracking codes or dedicated landing pages
McCarthyandKing.com 508-473-8643
Evaluating lists
Direct Response Metrics
• Response Rate• Qualified Response Rate• Order Rate• Cost per Response/Qualified Response/Order
• Rollout Quantity – you need more names
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List deliverability
• All lists are dirty – expect undeliverables• Most lists guarantee about 92% deliverability• which leaves you with 8% undeliverable• several times higher than your response rate• (which is difficult to explain to clients)
But …• Deliverability doesn’t mean response• Dirty lists can produce high response
McCarthyandKing.com 508-473-8643
Thank you
Bob McCarthy
McCarthy & King Marketing