Choosing the Right Mailing List for your Campaign

January 23rd, 2013

Questions to ask yourself before purchasing a list?

1. Who is the target audience I am trying to reach?
Don’t waste time, money and postage mailing to the wrong prospects. Choosing the right demographics, geography, etc. will give you optimum results. If you need help, ask your list broker to make recommendations.

2. Will I send a one-time mailing or mail multiple times?
List are typically rented on a one-time or multiple times usage. There is a cost difference and the lists are “seeded” so the list broker will know if you use it more than once. There can be significant penalties if you pay for a one-time list and use it multiple times.

3. Will I need phone numbers to follow-up with a telemarketing campaign?
If you’re planning to do a follow-up phone call, make sure to ask for phone numbers when ordering the list. If you decide to do this at a later date, you may have to re-purchase the entire list.

4. If mailing to businesses, what contact person do I need to reach?
Don’t send your mail piece to the President or CEO when you’re trying to reach the Human Resources Department. Determine who your primary contact should be. If there aren’t enough contacts with that specific title, you might want to “title slug” (i.e. Attn: HR Manager) rather than take a significantly smaller list.

Quality versus Quantity
Purchasing a targeted list with the appropriate contact will bring you optimum results – even if the list is smaller than you originally wanted to purchase. In addition, it doesn’t do you any good to purchase a large list and mail over a long period of time – the list will lose its “freshness” and you’ll waste time, money and postage.

Frequency of Updates/NCOA
Before purchasing the list ask how often the list is updated. It’s critical that the data is “fresh”. The NCOA (National Change of Address) is required by the U.S. Postal Service. Their database updates addresses on the list that have moved and submitted a change of address form through the Post Office. If the list isn’t certified, you run the risk of having undeliverable addresses.