How You Can Avoid 11 Common Pitfalls of Mailing List Selection and Use The selection of the proper mailing list is one of the most critical elements of any direct marketing program. Unfortunately, too many people involved in promotional programs for their products and services do not give proper time and consideration to the selection of the mailing list. The quality of your product or service is immaterial if your message does not reach those people who are most interested in it. Likewise, your mailing package, no matter what its quality, will be ineffective if not placed in the hands of real prospects. To plan a successful direct mail program, you, as the marketing manager, must plan carefully the selection and use of mailing lists. To help you make such an important decision, I have prepared a list of common pitfalls for you to avoid. PITFALL NO. 1—FAILURE TO SEEK ADVICE FROM A PROFESSIONAL. Too often marketers assume that they can select the best mailing lists simply by thumbing through the SRDS book, or mailing list catalog. Not necessarily so. And, since professional advice is available at no cost (list brokers earn their fees through the rental of lists), it just makes smart business sense to tap their expertise and experience before you make your list decision. PITFALL NO. 2—FAILURE TO CHECK OUT THE LIST BROKER OR CONSULTANT. It is important that you select a professional list broker or consultant, and not a list peddler. You want to make sure the recommendations you receive are based on knowledge and experience of similar promotions…not “guesstimations.” You should know who some of the consultant’s clients have been. Whether his list recommendations have been productive. Whether he owns or manages the lists, etc. PITFALLL NO. 3—FAILURE TO ADEQUATELY TEST. Too often, those going into direct marketing do not make provisions for adequate testing of lists. Testing is the key to successful direct marketing programs. Minimum tests of 5,000 to 10,000 names per list should be made in order to determine the extent of your market and feasibility of rollouts. Explore peripheral areas by testing list segments, and you will then have the highest potential of return. Rolling out to the most successful names will provide you with the highest returns. PITFALL NO. 4—FAILURE TO TEST SEGMENTS WITHIN A LIST. Testing a list and analyzing the results is important, but it shouldn’t stop there. Too often mail marketers fail to take a hard look at the list to find the different ways it can work for them. What are the different segments available on the list? Are the most recent names available? Is it possible to select those names representing multiple purchases…minimum dollar purchase amount…full term subscribers…credit card orders, and other factors. These are a few of the questions you should ask, especially on those marginal lists where a rollout of the entire list would be risky. PITFALL NO. 5—FAILURE TO ALLOW SUFFICIENT LIST DELIVERY TIME. Mailers are notorious for not allowing list companies sufficient time to process their orders. Most list brokers advise their clients to order 3-4 weeks in advance. Sometimes turnaround is faster, but not often. By properly planning your mailing 5-6 weeks in advance, you can assure yourself of on-time delivery…with no last-minute headaches. PITFALL NO. 6—FAILURE TO EXAMINE THE MAILING LIST. Someone within your organization should be responsible for examining all mailing lists for correctness. Many times mailers have been disappointed with the results of a list, only to discover later that they received the wrong list. This can easily be prevented by making sure, when the list arrives, that it is examined and double-checked for correctness. PITFALL NO. 7—FAILURE TO OMIT TEST NAMES ON ROLLOUTS. When you return for the balance of the list, make sure the computer house has not failed to omit the original test names. If the names are not omitted, your response rate will probably drop. Your original test order must indicate that you wish the test names to be saved in the computer’s memory in order to ensure that an omission for a rollout, if warranted, will be possible. PITFALL NO. 8—FAILURE TO USE CAUTION ON THE ROLLOUT. When an initial test seems to work, don’t assume that the entire list will necessarily work (even after careful mathematical computations). Dishonesty sometimes occurs. It has actually happened that a 5,000 name test turned out to be the most recent names of active subscribers to a publication. When the mailer went back for the balance of more than 100,000 names, the owner of the list included his inquirers and expires, which caused the response to drop dramatically…resulting in a tremendous loss for the mailer. PITFALL NO. 9—FAILURE TO SHARE THE RESULTS WITH YOUR LIST BROKER. By not sharing the results with your list broker, you’ll cheat yourself of his expertise and experience. He will be at a loss to adequately consult with you on your future programs. If you can’t trust him to keep the results confidential, hire another consultant you can trust. If he is sharp and you tell him lists X, Y and Z worked, but lists A, B and C did not, he will know what lists to avoid in the future, and what lists should work. Give your broker all the information on your results and take the time to ensure that they are completely accurate. PITFALL NO. 10—FAILURE TO MAIL TO A RESPONSIVE LIST OFTEN ENOUGH. There is no set formula for how many times and how often you should mail to a proven list. Consider the percentage of response it yielded, then determine on that basis when you should mail again. Continue using the list until response falls below your profit point. One large mailer I work with mails successfully to several repeat lists once a month. You can feel comfortable repeating to the same list within 3–4 months if your original response was adequate. However, be prepared for drop-off from the original response. PITFALL NO. 11—FAILURE TO UNDERSTAND THAT THE BEST LISTS OFTEN COST MORE. Mailing lists, like all goods and services, are rising in price. What used to be a common price of $35–$50 per thousand names is now ranging anywhere from $55–$125 per thousand. The question you should be concerned with is not how expensive the mailing list is, but how well it will pull. Those who shop around to find the least expensive lists, often find that in the end they lost money due to poor response. There you have 11 of the most common pitfalls involved in the selection and use of mailing lists in direct marketing. There are more, of course, but if proper consideration is given to what list you choose…if the proper questions are asked…if adequate time is allowed for delivery…you will find that you won’t be running into what could turn out to be a disastrous promotion. Mailing lists can be highly profitable. They can also create tremendous losses. It all depends upon making sure that the lists you choose are the right lists—and exactly what you ordered. Feel free to call me for your next list mix. There are hundreds of exciting, new lists and I’ve been tracking the best ones. Remember, at InfoMat, we have access to over 50,000 lists, representing millions of qualified prospects. Our phone number is
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Dear Broker:
We always strive to give you the best list recommendations. If you should ever have any questions about the quality and integrity of our lists, please call me personally. Sincerely, Craig Huey |
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