nedma mailing list presentation

McCarthyandKing.com 508-473-8643

A Beginner’s Guide to

Direct Mail and Email List Research

Bob McCarthy

McCarthy & King Marketing


Can you find me a good mailing list?

But what is a good mailing list?


Mailing list reality


Two Types of Lists

1. Your House List 2. Everything Else Lists you can buy, rent or build yourself


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?


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


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


Compiled lists


How lists are created

Response Lists (Behavioral data)

Business• Subscribers (paid vs. unpaid publications)• Members• Attendees• Buyers

Consumer• Subscribers• Members• Buyers• Donors


Response lists


The list business


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


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)


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


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.


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.


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


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


Mailing List Datacard


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


Evaluating lists


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


Evaluating lists

Direct Response Metrics

• Response Rate• Qualified Response Rate• Order Rate• Cost per Response/Qualified Response/Order

• Rollout Quantity – you need more names


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


Thank you

Bob McCarthy

McCarthy & King Marketing