Compiled Direct Mail Lists
Compiled mailing lists are a common source of name and address records that have been gathered, collected, and entered into a database. The names may have been acquired through public records such as vehicle owner registrations, court transcripts, or private sources such as warranty cards or purchasers at a store.
The bulk of compiled mailing lists are generated from categories in phone books across the U.S. Examples of a few of the compiled lists available from phone books would be a list of all the photography studios, or a listing of all the luggage dealers in the United States. Or a mailing list of all the plumbing supply dealers, or Chevy or Ford agencies.
Most industries have trade directories that are usually compiled industry data from various sources; most are verified by phone and make pretty good direct mail lists. A directory of pet product manufacturers, or of heating and cooling contractors would be good examples of a compiled industry direct mail lists.
Keep in mind that compiled information – like fish – gets old rather quickly and doesn’t age particularly well. Mailings lists fall into the top of that category – the fresher the names, the better. The older the names, the less accurate – and the greater your returns.
Response Direct Mail lists
Response direct mail lists are usually databases of consumers who have inquired or purchased from a direct response ad, direct mail catalog, from a direct mail offer, direct-selling TV ad, direct response newspaper ad, or other direct response offer. The most common response direct mail lists are from catalog merchants.
Before you consider purchasing any direct mail list, analyze the database of your own customers. Ask yourself precisely what commonalities they have, then look for these characteristics in a new list mailing database.
Start searching for a new mailing list based on your perfect target audience. Find a list that closely matches the definable characteristics of your own customers. If this exact mailing list isn’t available, see how close you can come to buying the most perfect business mail list – and test mail to it in smaller numbers. Measure and track response.
Today’s direct mail can be very precisely targeted due to the precision of the mailing list data available. If you can tightly specify a mailing list, you can probably find a list perfectly matched to your specifications. The more you qualify the names on your mail list, the tighter you specify your perfect mailing list segments, the more response, and the less wasted advertising expense you’ll have in your direct mail campaign. The higher your response, the better your chances of success and profit.
Your selection of a direct mail list has more to do with your success or failure than any other single element in your mailing. Before any mailing, calculate what percent response you need to have to break even, and see if it’s realistic. If it’s over 2%, better rethink about mailing.
The precise targeting of mailing makes direct mail one of the most effective, cost efficient ways to market as long as you define your audience up front and match your direct mail list to your audience.
Delivery of your direct mail depends on the accuracy and recency of your list. Better quality, more recent mailing lists have much better delivery rates. A poor list can mean up to 20% or 30% of your standard mail (bulk-rate) won’t be delivered. 10% more will be delivered, but you won’t know to whom. Of that 20% to 30%, some of your direct mail pieces will be returned to you, beat up beyond recognition by the postal service and certainly of no further value.
Some pieces get delivered, but to the wrong address. Other pieces of your mail just get lost, and no one really knows where they went. In contrast, when you purchase a recent, accurate direct mail list, delivery can be as high as a whopping 95% – 97%!
Some of the best delivery percentages of direct mail mailing lists can be found in magazine publisher’s list of their magazine subscribers.
Magazine mailing lists have some of the highest delivery rates available. For good reason: Subscriber lists are naturally very targeted to their annually-qualified magazine readers. Publishers pay for returns: so their mailing lists have high deliverability rates as publishers are extremely prompt with their name and address corrections.
Most magazine publishers will rent their mailing list for non-competing offers (such as anything other than similar magazines). If you see a magazine that looks like it will be a good target for your direct mail campaign, call the magazine publisher and ask if their subscriber mailing list is for rent. Most larger publications will offer their list through a mailing list broker, so you’ll be referred to that firm.
1. Magazine Publishers Mailing Lists
There are over 10,000 magazines published in the U.S.. Chances are good that you can get a magazine subscription subscriber mail list that goes straight to your perfectly targeted buyers. If you’re not sure what magazines would have the best mail list to reach your target market, there are some easy-to-use magazine directories found in the reference section of most libraries. (They’re online, too – but they’re subscription-only and pretty expensive!) You can read the magazine’s profile and see if their audience would make a good mail list for you to mail offers for your products.
The best directories of magazines are Bacon’s Directory of Magazines, and Oxbridge Communications Standard Periodical Directory. If you can’t find the exact targeted magazine filled with the eager-to-buy-your-product subscribers you are looking for in either of these directories, the publication doesn’t exist. You can find any industry and every single magazine that is sent to that industry – in under 10 minutes in these powerful directories. As a practicing marketer, I pretty much live in these directories.
2. Catalog Merchants Direct Marketing Mailing Lists
Catalog houses earn a good portion of their revenue from the sale of their list. Call the catalog house phone number and ask for their corporate business office, then ask who handles their mailing list sales. Almost all catalog houses sell their mail lists – it’s a big profit center than can account for as much as 20% of their revenues.
Catalogs can be found in The Directory of Mail Order Catalogs from Grey House Publishing.
This directory is an awesome publication and the best resource in the catalog industry. In each catalog description and write up, it gives the number of catalogs mailed, and name of the broker who handles list sales.
After you got your got your list, what's next?
Direct Mail Tips – 6 tips for gaining new customers
Here’s How To Use Successful Direct Mail Marketing Campaigns To Bring More Traffic in your Front Door.
Good News: If you’re a retailer, here are direct marketing tips to show you how to get people to show up at your door. If you’re in a service business, here are direct mail tips that show you how to get your phone to ring. If you’re a restaurateur, here’s my phone number: 610-642-1000 – I usually get hungry around 7PM. If the campaign works really well, I’ll be bringing a few friends.
1. Track Response of All Your Direct Mail.
Learn what’s working in your direct mail program, and just as important, what isn’t. Leave a memo pad by each phone and when you receive a call – in the very beginning of the conversation – say, “And how did you hear of our us?” Write down the response on the memo pad, and throw that slip of paper in a drawer and forget about it for now. At the end of the month tally slips up and you’ll have a pretty darn good idea which direct mail campaign brought in the most customers.
2. The Best Direct Mail Campaign Ever: Mail to your house list.
No matter what industry you’re in, what you’re selling, or what type of business you own, your direct mail strategies and your direct response email campaign should be to mail to your house mailing list. This is the lowest cost and most effective direct marketing strategy you can have. Hmmmm… Mailing to your house mailing list… Lowest cost? Most effective? Any questions?
Start by collecting current customer’s names and addresses. If you don’t have a customer house file – a mailing list of the names and addresses of all your customers – start one now. This will turn out to be your most valuable asset.
3. Sign people up! Sign as many people up as you can!
Keep a card by the cash register, or by the front door, or both to sign people up for your “FREE Preferred Customer Mailing List!”. Don’t be afraid to recommend they fill out the card so you can place them on your direct mail list — so they can receive special offers and awesome preferred customer pricing during private sales. just for your special preferred mailing list customers.
4. Tighly focus your Prospect Mailing List = Get a customer for $.44 through direct mail.
Depending on your type of business, prospecting through direct mail can be very precise with almost no wasted expense. Carefully aim your direct mail towards geographic targets (close to your store), demographic targets (people who like to/can afford to shop in stores like yours), and industry related personnel – in the specific markets you serve (such as lawncare, hearing aids, pet supplies, etc.).
Retail direct mail campaigns usually have a target geographic epicenter. Everybody likes to shop in their own backyard, and direct mail can take advantage of that. Limit your direct mail marketing to people who live or work within a comfortable drive.
That “geographic market segment” qualification of your prospects was just for starters. In addition you can select mailing lists by consumer age, household income, house cost, assets, number of children, number and type of pets; or by buying data: recent purchases, amout spent, and merchandise category.
If you don’t have a great direct mail prospect list, start one of those mailing lists now too.
5. Mail a Gift Certificate, get a direct response customer for under $5
A gift certificate is inexpensive to print and low cost to mail. The nice direct response letter you send with it? Same. The goodwill it generates, invaluable. It’s a double function direct marketing piece. Good for the customer and great for you, too. To make sure people open it, print the teaser copy of “Gift Certificate Enclosed!” on the envelope.
Best of all, the direct marketing strategy of sending a gift certificate through the mail has a cost only if the customer actually shows up and redeems it. No new customer, no cost.
6. Referral Marketing: Use the Jeff Dobkin “Gift Certificate Referral Method.” Clone your best customers with the most on-target direct mail campaign you can send.
Feel free to ask your better customers if they have friends they would like to send a gift certificate to with their compliments. Almost every customer will say yes. What a great direct marketing strategy that can turn into the most focused and effective direct mail campaign. Then mail the referral prospect a letter – and the gift certificate – compliments of your original customer (and from you, personally.)
As an added incentive to keep referring friends, mail an additional gift certificate to the customer making the referral. include a letter saying, “Thanks for the referral.”
The Jeff Dobkin “Gift Certificate Referral Method” is one of the most effective direct response campaigns on the planet — because there is absolutely no wasted direct mail expense. It’s the lowest cost, and the best way to acquire new customers who are similar to your current clients – they like your store, shop, restaurant or services, and immediately have trust in you, your firm, your service.
Customer acquisition cost: just $.44 in postage. Then that five bucks discount (gift certificate)? Well, that’s taken off the merchandise or food bill: so it didn’t really cost you five bucks, did it? It was the discounted cost of your goods. One of the best resources for low cost customer acquisition is direct marketing, and this one of the best direct marketing strategies ever.
And that’s the way you make your direct mail marketing campaign effective. Reaching people with your direct mail message can get expensive in a hurry, especially if you reach the wrong people or make an offer no one will respond to. Tighly specify your mailing list and mail a great offer and you’ll get busy.
