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Archive for December, 2008

Stages of Life Marketing

December 10th, 2008

Life Changing Events that create marketing opportunities for direct mail

* Graduating from high school and leaving the nest

What a wonderful experience to be graduating from high school and entering the workforce, or furthering your education.  This is a time in a young persons life that’s very anticipated.  It’s a very large first step into adulthood and responsibility.  With so much to look forward to, so much is needed.  The challenge here is that the direct mail marketer is really marketing to the parents of this child, and not really the child him/herself.

There are several very good sources of mailing list data that identify homes where high school students reside.  The mailing lists are segmented by graduation year.  Some mailing lists are also coded with students considering college and even the interest in what type of college they desire to attend.  This life event is perfect for continuing education, military recruitment, class rings, and automotive offers.  Bear in mind the spending ability to the student and parent when mailing to this life event audience.

* Buying a new house or just plain moving

Buying a house is a terrific audience for all types of offers from remodeling to new furniture to supplemental disability insurance.  New cars usually find their way into a new garage if there’s money left after moving in.  Renters also pick out new furniture, new paint colors, and internet connectivity.

There are the New Homeowners mailing list and New Movers mailing designed to identify both these life event prospects.  The mailing lists have little in the way of selects but identify the recency of the move in the way of Weekly and Monthly New Homeowners, or Weekly and Monthly New Movers.

* Selling your home

Getting ready to move is an excellent direct mail audience for movers who make a living relocating people.  It’s also good for small home repair services that will do whatever needs to be done to the house before the new owner takes over.  From home inspectors, to Home Depot, selling your home is a life event filled with focus on getting the home sold for the highest dollar and relocating to your new residence.

The type of mailing list available for this life event is called Pre-Mover mailing list.  These homeowners who have listed their home for sale and, hopefully will land a buyer for their new home in the not too distant future.

* Starting a business

New business owners are in need of many things, but for the most part, they aren’t splurging on vacations away from home for weeks on end.  They are focused on investing most of their savings and time into their new venture.  The time it takes to start a new business right is usually…..all you’ve got to give.  If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.  Starting a new business demands money, and usually more money than the new business owner has.  So financial aid in the form of loans is a popular direct mail offer.  Also popular are anything related to starting a new business such as telephone and computer systems, office furniture and office space for sale or rent, merchant services and accounting software, employment assistance and business seminars, as well as advertising and direct mail services.

The type of mailing list data available are found at the county court house of those individuals who’s recently applied for a business license.  They are the bold and the brave and the ones who usually will be making immediate buying decisions on an assortment of business related products and services.

* Getting married

Those brides to be or newly weds are great mailing lists that signify a very big and important life event.  The types of offers range from products and services that serve the marriage ceremony and reception itself, to starting a new life with their partner, to relocating, consolidating, and updating their new life with new furniture.  No marriage is complete without a honeymoon.

Typically, in most new households, the buyer is the woman.  She drops her name everywhere she can, leaving a trail of evidence that she’s getting married.  She subscribes to Bridal magazines, visit websites that capture her name and mailing address and wedding date.  This mailing list of brides continues to grow making it a valuable direct mail marketing tool for the direct mail marketer. The husband on the other hand continues life as usual…..as best he can, clinging to the remaining fabric of his bachelor blanket of comfort and security.  He leaves little evidence and therefore, not added to the database of “soon to be married”.  As you can imaging, most all of the direct mail to this life event is geared to the woman and versioned for the bride to be.

* Getting divorced

Divorce changes lives in many ways for many people.  For some, the divorce offers pain and suffering along with a sense of relief.  It shatters homes with child present, and creates chaos where consistence wasn’t lived.  Through this experience, most people find strength within the renewal process as they close one door and open a new one.

The types of offers appropriate for this direct mail audience vary from legal help to relocation to vacation travel to spa treatments to psychology assistance.

* Having a child

There’s few life experiences that are more joyous that adding a new family member to your home.  New babies need space, attention, clothing, food, physician care, transportation, a place to sleep, supervision, and the list goes on and on.  This life event causes quite a bit of change to the spending habits of the home.  Not only are there all new products to purchase, but these new products will require space and other household items will be stowed.  Storage rental space is a great way to allow those remaining bachelor items to properly age before getting rid of them completely.

The types of mailing lists available for this segment of the life events are both the Pre-natal mailing list and the Post-natal mailing list.  The Pre-natal mailing list consists of people’s names and addresses that are about to have a child.  The Post-natal mailing list contains people’s names and addresses that have just had a child.

* Retiring

For those people lucky enough to retire, life changes quickly.  40 plus hours a week are open now open to something other than work.  For most, retirement means a fixed income requiring a budget.  With so much new time on your hands and limited money to spend, direct mail marketers mailing to this audience focus on necessity and leisure.  Though it’s difficult to identify the exact day in which one retires from the work force, generally speaking, 65 seems to be the accepted age for most.

The most common type of mailing list data is the compiled consumer mailing list selectable by both month and year of birth such that you can identify those who’s Medicare will soon kick-in.  The compiled consumer mailing list is also selectable by a host of other selects that make creating a criteria set to fit the direct mail marketers audience easy.  Typically ones wealth determines who the retired will life their remaining golden years.  The more their networth, the more they will travel.  The small their pension, the greater likelihood they will find a part-time job to occupy their time.

* Getting sick

We all suffer from illness, some more than others.  Depending on the illness, life changes over time.  All things being equal, the direct mail marketers who focus on this segment typically represent drug therapy, ailment related products, and physical therapy.  Though it is difficult to identify when one begins to suffer most from his/her ailment, the life of an ailment suffer usually suffers greater as he/she gets older.

From ailments to over-the-counter drugs to prescription drugs, there are many types of mailing lists available.  Most all are captured from self-reported survey type data and typically represent only a sample of the total population.  Direct mail is a very popular tool to reach this audience for several reasons, but mainly that the privacy laws make it very difficult to identify these people.  If they report their illness to the mailing list compilers, they will receive many relevant offers that provide help and assistance to their life.

* Odds and ends

If your prospect isn’t in the midst of one of the above changes, they know someone who is facing a Life Changing Event.  When mailing to your existing mailing list of customers, consider asking for referrals of people who are possibly experiencing a change in life.  Newly weds and new babies get lots of gifts, as does graduates, and new homeowners.  Your existing customer mailing list may have already purchased from you and is not in need, but if they’re satisfied with your product or service, they may consider purchasing your product or service for another as a gift.

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Life Event Mailing Lists

December 10th, 2008

Below are some of the mailing lists available to the life event marketer:

High School Students and College Bound Students Mailing list – This mailing list contains students at various grade levels with some bound for college.  These students are still live with their parents.

This mailing list is ideal for:
• Class rings and photography offers
• Higher education opportunities
• Military recruitment
• Automobile offers
• Financial aid for college

Pre-Mover Mailing list – This mailing list contains previous weeks house-for-sale listings throughout the U.S..  This weekly hotline mailing list provides a steady source of qualified sales leads for many direct mail marketing programs.
Some of the attributes are:
• Updated weekly
• New construction, bank owned properties, investor owned properties, and prior movers suppressed.
• National / Regional coverage

New Movers Mailing List
The new movers mailing list allows you to reach the right audience every time.

Some of the mailing lists selects available are:
• Dwelling type
• Gender
• Phone
• Census Median Income

New Homeowner Mailing List
The new homeowner mailing list gives you access to millions of Americans each year who have recently purchased a home.
Some of the selects available on the New Homeowner mailing list are:
• Age
• Income
• Ethnicity
• Loan Amount
• Loan Type
• Purchase Price
• Purchase Date

Brides to Be Mailing List
This mailing list consists of women engaged to be married.
This database is great for:
• Wedding planning and preparation
• Honeymoon travel destination
• Relocation services
• New home sales
• Insurance offers
• Furniture and decorating
• Credit card offers

Newly Weds Mailing List
The Newly Weds mailing list consists of couples recently married.
This mailing list is ideal for:
• Relocation services
• New family preparation
• New home sales
• Insurance offers
• Furniture and decorating
• Travel and leisure
• Debt consolidation offers

Newly Divorced Mailing List
The Newly Divorced mailing list is a very unique database of people managing a sometimes painful life transition while also experiencing newfound freedom at the same time.
This mailing list is ideal for the following offers:
• Entertainment
• Religious and spiritual offers
• Home redecorating
• Household goods
• Home electronics
• Furniture
• Internet services
• Apparel
• Credit cards
• Insurance
• Financial services
• Dating services

Prenatal / Postnatal Mailing List
The Pre and Post Natal file consists of pregnant woman and those who just gave birth.  At this special time of life, many priorities in life become unimportant and are replaced with a whole new set of priorities centered around the child and family.
This mailing list is ideal for:
• Baby and nursery needs
• Child furnishings and décor
• Life insurance
• Home remodeling

Ailment, OTC and Prescription Drug Mailing List
The Ailment mailing list includes ailment suffers who’ve self-reported that they are suffering from various ailments.  This mailing list is typically only a subset of the total number of suffers.
This mailing list is ideal for:
• Ailment related products and services
• Food products related to the health and well being of the sufferer
• Vacation destinations geared toward those with physical handicap

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Business to Business Direct Mail 101

December 10th, 2008

Decision makers at businesses evaluate a multitude of offers from direct mail, internet, cold calls, and print space within their respective industry journals and magazines.  They are bombarded by messages on relevant subject matter pertaining to everything a business could need and more.  Over time, business decision makers become aware of the brands that circulate within their peripheral.  The same monthly magazine containing relevant articles are filled with print advertising that continually reinforces their branded logos they saw 7 to 30 days prior.  The messages start to become repetitive and the advertisement is given less and less attention.  The direct mail they receive is also repetitive.  A direct mail piece that’s gimmicky stands to be noticed quicker and tossed in the trash just as fast, where as a direct mail piece that contains informative helpful information is more apt to be considered.  With so little time spent on viewing a post card or flyer, the direct mail marketer can only say so much before the direct mail recipient becomes uninterested, and tosses the mail piece.

So with those 4 to 6 seconds of attention, what does the direct mail marketer say?  Traditionally, the direct mail piece contains the basic necessary information each time….who, what, where, and why.  But before long, getting these points out is the burden of the direct mail marketer.  Before long, you’ve not offered much more than contact info and unless the direct mail recipient is looking for your phone number at that moment, they may just toss it in the trash.

The key to making direct mail work for this business decision maker audience is to focus on the “why”.  Why would a direct mail recipient consider your mail piece over and over again as they receive it?  What would you offer that would continually grad their attention and cause them to call?  The “why” is the offer that the direct mail marketer makes that stands out from the rest.  Staples and Office Max do a good job keeping their offers relevant by including a discount card of $15 Off on your next $50 or $100 purchase.  This works because inevitably, the business decision maker will be needing office supplies at some point.  The offer is strong, contains an expiration date that calls for action, and is in the shape of a credit card that tucks neatly into your wallet.

When it comes to business to business direct mail marketing, it’s important to consider mailing again and again over time to the same audience but with a different “why” each time.  The goal of the direct mail marketer is to both reinforce the brand, as well as generate response.  The direct mail marketer does this by including consistent layout and logo art, consistent creative work and paper quality, and consistent offer location.  The offer must be absolutely relevant to the direct mail recipient.  A weak offer says only one thing to the direct mail recipient and that is that this business making you this offer doesn’t really understand your needs.  Perhaps they’ll miss out on the product or service quality also???

Business decision makers are much more logical than emotional.  They buy office furniture because they need it, not because they want it.  They purchase toner for the printer because if they don’t, the printer will not perform its function.  They spend only what they have to because the job of this business decision maker is to spend only what they need and invest the rest.  If it’s a business related product or service you’re selling, be sure you understand your clients trigger point on what they “need” to run their business.

When evaluating your direct mail piece message, consider what’s in it for them first.  Imagine yourself in their shoes and ask yourself, what could you possibility offer them that would certainly keep their attention and what would be relevant to your business.  Keep in mind that the more relevant your offer is, the more qualified your sales leads will become.

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Medical Mailing Lists

December 10th, 2008

To better understand the types of medical mailing lists available on the market today, you must first understand how the mailing list is compiled.  Medical Mailing Lists can be categorized in two ways; consumer’s mailing lists of people suffering from an ailment, or a licensed professional’s mailing list of people employed in a medical profession.

Ailment, OTC Drug, and Rx Mailing List Compilation
This mailing list includes self-reported information on a variety ailments, OTC (Over the counter) drugs used for the treatment of ailments, and prescription drugs used for these ailments.  All mailing list information on the mainstream market is HIPPA compliant as the only information that can be captured and resold for direct mail marketing purposes are those that are self-reported by the sufferer themselves.  So you can imagine that for every ailment sufferer that willingly self-reports their illness or prescription usage, there are a much larger database of sufferers that never make it onto a mailing list that’s found within the direct marketing industry.

Licensed Professionals Mailing List Compilation
This mailing list includes those licensed professionals who register themselves with the state in order to hold a license and practice their profession.  Therefore, the licensed professionals mailing list is only as good as the state reports.  Should someone change professions, this change in profession doesn’t register with the state until time of renewal.  The assumption is made that the vast majority of doctors, nurses, and medical professionals who get into the practice, usually stay in this profession until retirement.  Each year, most states require most professionals to renew their license making it easy to identify and omit those professionals getting who are no longer practicing.

Additionally, it’s worth noting that when someone on the mailing list relocates to a new address, so long as this person fills out a National Change Of Address and the mailing list owner passes their mailing list against the NCOA database, the new address field would be corrected and accurate.

Dentist Mailing List
One of the more popular mailing lists is Dentists from the ADA.  This mailing list includes who are members and non-members of the ADA.  The selects on this mailing list include the type of practice, demographic information such as age and income, and some education information such as the dental school and graduation year.  The mailing list also includes the preferred mailing address of the dentist.  The ADA requires a sample mail piece before using the list.

DO’s from the AOA is a good source for hospitals targeting specific professionals within the hospital, HMO and PPO decision makers, nursing home management decision makers, group medical practice by group size, and pharmacies and pharmacists.  This is certainly not all but gives you an ideal of the mailing list data available from the AOA.

Other popular health professionals are audiologists, acupuncturists, chiropractors, counselors, dental assistants, dental hygienists, dental radiographers, dieticians, massage therapists, midwives, nursing assistants, nursing home administrators, nurse practitioners, occupational therapists and assistants, opticians/optometrists, paramedics, pharmacists, physician assistants, physical therapists and assistants, practical nurses, RN’s and LPN’s, social workers, speech/language therapists, and veterinarians.

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Ailment Target Marketing

December 9th, 2008

Great improvements have been made to not only identifying a better direct mail ailment audience but also how this mailing list data is now utilized. This site contains information about ailment direct marketing is designed for the direct mail marketer. It’s written to help build a baseline education on the various types of mailing lists available on the market and how they are compiled. It also offers some insight as to how the savvy direct mail marketers utilize ailment data to better communicate to their desired target audience. The goal is to not only build a better mailing list, but to also make the mailing list data work better for the direct mail campaign and business in general. Mailing list data can be used to not only get the direct mail message to the right people but also to help in measuring response from various campaigns done in the past. The more today’s direct mail marketer can test and measure their direct marketing campaigns, the more able they will be to achieving a higher return on their investment.

The medical marketing industry encompasses more than just the pharmaceutical industry. This industry also includes rehabilitation, diet and lifestyle products. Direct mail is becoming more and more successful at pinpointing a better direct mail marketing audience by using enhanced mailing list techniques. Direct mail is also becoming more advanced in qualifying the most ideal audience for a particular product or service. This is due to both the advances in mailing list compilation, but also improvements to medical related products and services. The better these ailment sufferers are understood and cared for, the more effective the result is to delivering treatment and enhanced lifestyle. A proper direct mail campaign is more than just a good mailing list. A proper direct mail campaign includes measuring direct mail piece versioning against various mailing lists. The more advanced today’s direct mail marketer can accomplish this measurement, the more successful they will become.

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Better Ailment Targeting, Better Response

December 9th, 2008

Ailment target marketing is on the rise with advances in technology that helps to create a more targeted mailing list.  Because direct mail marketers are becoming more and more sophisticated with their ability to identify and utilize the available mailing list data available to them, both response rates are increasing and more quality responders are on the rise.  And also because as more and more drug therapy solutions are developed, more and more opportunities to target the ailment suffer audience also increase.

So how are mailing lists getting better in this category of direct marketing?
Well, to answer this question we much review the ways this kind of mailing list data is captured, and then enhanced.  Ailment mailing lists are created by collecting self-reported information from a variety of survey based means.  Be it the internet, direct mail surveys, questionnaires related to other products or services, self-reported drug prescriptions, auxiliary products related to a disease, seminar attendee’s, or information requested about a product or service that would directly identify the sufferer, large databases of ailment sufferers are very available for specific direct mail campaign uses.

These mailing list databases are continually added to as more self-reported data is captured.  Traditionally, this has been the extent of the compilation. You want diabetics, you got diabetics, you want obesity, and you got obesity.  As of late, these mailing lists are improved, such as making the distinction of Type I or Type II Diabetics.  Further, the ailment database is bumped up against more mainstream consumer mailing list that already includes data elements such as age, income, and interest elements.  Where there is a name and address match between the to mailing lists, specific demographic and psychographic elements are transferred to the ailment mailing list to create an enhanced database of ailment sufferers selectable by more than just the ailment and geography.

With this new, more robust targeting capability, marketers are now able to draw conclusions on what these ailment sufferers actually look like.  From running counts on variety of elements now available, the direct mail marketer can now pinpoint “clusters” of people that look alike.  As an example, if we found that male diabetics are more apt to follow a more regimented diet than female diabetics, the direct mail marketer could version the mail piece to speak more appealing to each gender.  Lifestyle and diet information can tell us more about various ailment sufferers, hence creating better direct mail piece versioning.

In addition to the direct mail piece versioning, direct mail campaign measurement is also enhanced.  The direct mail marketer might test various offers and versions to various test audiences, measure the direct mail response, and conclude to mail more or less to a specific audience thus increasing return on investment.

Internal Database Enhancement
Most savvy marketers will develop and maintain their own prospect or customer mailing list or database.  This database of prospects and customers is a great resource to better understanding what their customers, prospects, and responders “look like”.  For those marketers who utilize print, radio, television, web, event, as well as direct mail, their internal database of prospects become large over time.  By using nothing more than the mailing list information (name and address), the marketer can enhance their internal database with demographic and psychographic information and measure the effectiveness of their mediums ability to target the right audience.  The direct mail marketer can also measure difference in responses between other mediums to again evaluate the most profitable ROI.  This information is extremely helpful in continuing with this effort to design more responsive campaign planning to target more qualified prospects.

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Dentistry for the Diabetic served best with Direct Mail Marketing

December 9th, 2008

The most common oral manifestation of diabetes is periodontal disease.  A disease treatable by the well prepared dental practitioner.  As the business of dentistry evolves, its focus more on niches within the practice proves to be more profitable.  This trend is evidenced by the growth in the areas of cosmetic and implant dentistry.  With progress made in the medical and pharmaceutical areas, the ability to better serve diabetics continues to grow.  Add to this growing industry the ability to target diabetics using direct mail and you’ve got prescription for dental business success.

Direct mail is a powerful tool when the audience or recipient group is clearly identified.  In the past, creating such a mailing list of diabetics would be cumbersome and costly but could be done by perhaps contacting the local chapter of a diabetes society and requesting this information, or building a mailing list over time by compiling a database of previous patients who disclosed they’re a diabetic.  And doing so would not always yield only a portion of the diabetic population.

However, with today’s technology and data capture techniques, identifying consumers with diabetes is easily accomplished.  A diabetic mailing list would fall under the category of ailment mailing list data.  The ailment mailing list category includes various types of self-reported ailments compiled and sold specifically for the purpose of bringing new products and services to this special needs cluster of the population.  One of the more effective mediums to reaching these ailment sufferers is by using direct mail.  The primary reason it’s so effective is because the ailment marketer is able to both deliver a concise message to the target audience with precision targeting.

Direct mail is a powerful tool when the audience or recipient group is clearly identified.  Using direct mail enables the marketer the ability to send a clear message to its target audience regarding a special promotional offer or specific call to action.  Within dentistry, a bundle of services can be offered that cater specifically to the diabetic.  It is recommended that you develop a series of mailings to build brand with your direct mail audience.

The initial direct mail piece should include a compassionate and persuasive letter or brochure that clearly explains the importance of oral care for patients with diabetes.  This first mail piece should also include why they should choose this dental office, i.e, location proximity, available hours, and a staff that understands the unique needs of the diabetic patient.  The main purpose of this initial direct mail piece is to communicate the message that the services of this office are specifically designed for them, the diabetic.  The message should also include a call to action of some sort, i.e., free consultation in the month of xxx, discounts available for diabetics, or free informative packet of information about proper oral hygiene.

Effective direct mail campaigns involve multiple exposures to the message which is why a series direct mail campaign is so effective.  Consider your direct mail as more than marketing, but also a type of public relations tool.  It is one that positions one dentist office over others within the area.  It’s also one that caters to the diabetic.  Bear in mind that direct mail works over time and requires multiple exposures to reinforce the message that the dentist office is here and here to stay.

Another potential target direct mail audience is physician groups, diabetic centers, diabetic support groups and related organizations, and hospital departments focused on patients with diabetes.  These business organizations are best reached with ongoing direct mail and phone call follow up or representative visitations.  By contacting these groups regularly and including information about the dental practices and its services, the dentist increases recognition thus increases referrals.

Developing a dental practice niche for patients with diabetes can be viewed as a tremendous benefit to the diabetic community. Dentists who develop proper systems to accommodate these patients and create awareness in the medical and local community that these services exist will significantly increase the potential of their practice to expand services to patients with diabetes.

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Compiled vs. Response Business Mailing Lists

December 9th, 2008

There are a number of high quality business databases available that contain all businesses.  But at any given time, a percentage of these businesses on these databases are no longer in business.  The SBA claims that 4 out of 5 small businesses go out of business within the first 2 years.  Regardless of the reason, it takes a while for compilers to see that they’ve closed their doors.  During this time, they will continue to be on the database, continue to be mailed and called, and direct mail marketers will continue to spend marketing money on print and postage to reach them.  For this reason, it’s important to consider your source, where their data comes from, and make allowances for a percentage of inaccuracy.

Compiled Business Database
The compiled type business databases attempt to capture and maintain the largest number of businesses in the U.S.  These types of databases are typically selectable by sales volume, employee size, head quarter or branch location, SIC code, Contact title, etc.  If you want to reach out to the maximum number of businesses within a given market, this is the database for you.

Response Business Files
The response business file database is those businesses who’ve responded of a certain appeal.  These types of files are considered more responsive because they’ve proven to respond before.

Subscriber Business Files
The subscriber type business file is one in which they’ve the records on the list are those which have been collected from a magazine, or online newsletter.  The records typically include the business name and address, as well as the individual who has registered for the subscription.

Both the response and subscriber type databases are usually only a fraction in size compared to the compiled databases as they are only those individuals within those businesses that have either responded or have subscribed to a publication.

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Newsletter Marketing

December 9th, 2008

With B2B Newsletter Marketing, the goal is to continue to increase your readership.  And with B2B Newsletters, the competition for a finite number of potential readers is limited.  Therefore, it’s increasingly more important to delivering the right offer to your audience cannot be stressed enough.  There are so many business industry specific newsletters that deliver so many messages, if you don’t offer a right message that’s relevant to your audience, you will lose them.

Consider the many newsletter invitations you receive on a weekly basis.  And of those, consider how many you read regularly.  If you don’t have a relevant subject and the articles are simply not helpful or not written well, what value does your newsletter bring?  For those individuals who DO read newsletters regularly, they do so because they want to learn something more.  They want to improve what you currently know.  They want to better understand their customer and their competition.  If you’re not offering this in your newsletter, you should reconsider the content of your newsletter.  There should always be some sort of subscriber feedback with a business to business newsletter.  Ask your readers what they want to see more of and what questions they have for the writer.  Create a dialog with your readers so that you can you can make strategic improvements to the content of your newsletter.

Business professionals live a busy life with many distractions.  The successful ones are careful with where they spend their time.  They are conscience of how long they spend reading unimportant documents, and they rarely read from uninteresting sources more than once.  Some industry specific newsletters have more competition than others.  The better you understand your competition, the better you’re able to distinguish yourself from the other newsletters within your industry.  Become acquainted with these other newsletter writers if for nothing else to potentially swap your subscriber mailing lists.

There are two very important strategies to improving your Business to Business newsletter readership.  The first of course is to make sure you are writing relevant subject matter.  This cannot be stressed enough.  The second is to invite others to read your newsletter.  Those you invite to read must come from the ideal mailing list source.  Ideally, conference attendees and readers of other newsletters is a good mailing list to consider.  You may want to incorporate banner ad placement at locations throughout the web that capture the attention of “your” ideal reader prospect.

If you’re Business to Business Newsletter is mailed through the postal mail, odds are, the best mailing list for your newsletter would be from another newsletter than was mailed through the post as well.  Many times a competitive mailing list is difficult to attain.  You may want to consider some sort of advertisement space placement within a competitor’s newsletter.  In this case, look at ways to decrease the threat you pose on competition.  You may consider a swap of your newsletter subscriber names for your competitions newsletter subscriber names.
The more you become away of the marketing efforts of these other business to business newsletter competitors, the better you’ll be able to position yourself in the mix of choices your industry prospects have.

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Specialty Mailing Lists

December 9th, 2008

Most mailing list brokers label mailing list databases that are not compiled as “special”.  The database tends to increase in value when begin labeled as such.  But the fact is, most mailing list brokers do not fully appreciate the source of one database source or another.  They tend to focus on the selects and pricing and maybe how the coverage is in their prospective direct mail marketer’s mail territory.  Ultimately, many a mail budget is spent testing a mailing list based on misinformation.

The importance working with an experienced mailing list broker cannot be overly emphasized.  You can never ask too many questions on how a potential mailing list has been compiled, when it was created, and when you are told of the update schedule, what exactly do they mean by update.  Specialty mailing lists are those more or less static databases of mailing addresses that more used by one vertical mail market.  Because of their specialized nature, they are limited to the types of businesses that would possibility test the file on their direct mail campaign.  Therefore, there is a finite number of mailers, and a limited revenue potential for this “special” database.  And the more “specialized” the database, the less total records available in any given market further making reducing the total potential value of such a list.  So for the above reasons, you’ll typically find a hefty price tag for such a list, and perhaps a larger error rate for inaccurate data.  Specialty mailing list data is “special” because for all its short comings, the cost to continually produce such a product is still justified.

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