Category — Mailing Lists

Sometimes, the old and unexpected can be new and fresh. Snail mail may seem out of date and old-fashioned, but being able to hold something (and look at it any time) can be very powerful.

In fact, Smashing Magazine had a feature the other day about creating snail mail campaigns.

But, if you’re going to do a mailing, you’re going to need a list of people to send it to. The obvious first place to start is with the people you already know: your clients, your prospects, and your contacts. You’ll get a better response from people who already know and like you.

If you don’t have clients yet, or your list isn’t big enough, you’ll need to get more names.  What are your options?

Buying a list

Purchasing a list is a bad idea. Purchased lists are generally compiled – meaning that they were put together without any action or purchase from the people on the list. They haven’t asked for anything, or expressed any interest in what you’re selling. Worse, the information is usually out-of-date.

Renting a list

You’re better off renting a list. This means paying for a single use of a list owned by someone else. It might be a list of conference attendees, subscribers to a trade publication, or members of an association in your target market.

Borrowing a list

By borrow I mean bartering (or trading) with someone who already has a list of people you want to reach. Share resources with them. You could provide the design in return for a mention, or do a co-op mailing (where several companies share costs – think ValPak coupons – but more creative).

Have you tried snail mail?  What happened?  Were you pleased with the results?  Need help?  Ask me.

Image thanks to:  fdecomite

People have been arguing since the invention of advertising and direct mail over which is the most important: list, creative (design and copy), or offer (what the people who respond get).

It sometimes gets to be a bit like the proverb about the blind men and the elephant: if you’re a direct marketer you say it’s the list, copywriters insist it’s the words, sales people say it’s the offer, and designers are adamant that it’s the color and graphics that count.

At the risk of being denounced by designers and my fellow copywriters, the answer is the list. Without the right list the entire campaign collapses.

Here’s why:

A bad list will sink everything else.

A great list can boost an unappealing offer and poor creative, but award-winning copy and design won’t help you sell vodka to teetotalers.

The mailing will fail if the list is wrong (sending hamburger coupons to vegetarians), the offer is unappealing (free sewage!), or the creative is poor (it talks about you and what you want, rather than the customer: buy from me so I can go on vacation).”

Target the right audience (the list), make an appealing offer (the price, quality, and value), and use compelling words and design (the message, the testimonials, and the referrals, plus the colors, the format, and the images).

Photo: brenda starr

Plenty of commentators and social media boosters seem to think direct mail is dead. “It’s dead tree marketing”; it’s kaput. But not everyone is convinced; even in the online world.

The proof? I got a mailing the other day offering me $50 worth of free AdWords (and waiving the $5 activation fee). Who sent it?

My web host (Hostgator) and Google. Think about that. Two companies whose revenue is strictly online. They didn’t send an email, they didn’t “tweet”, they put a self-mailer piece of dead tree paper in the mail.

Dell got a lot of attention recently when they announced they’d made $2,000,000 using Twitter. It’s true, they did. But what strategy did they use? They tweeted special deals, which were redeemable on their site with coupon codes (one of the oldest direct marketing techniques in the book).

It’s not the new technology, or the latest bright shiny toys that make your campaign successful. The technology is just a tool. What makes it work is just old-fashioned direct marketing: target the right people, talk to them the right way, make an appealing offer.

Photo: Alex Goody

As promised on Friday, you don’t need buckets of money to run a successful marketing campaign. The photo on the right represents my entire budget for a marketing campaign several years ago: $100.

Here’s how I ran a successful campaign and only spent $75 (without social networking tools).

The Goal: 15 Attendees; The Budget: $100

My assignment was to promote a small breakfast seminar, with the goal of 15 paid attendees. With very little money, I had to think creatively.

Since the seminar was about selling financial services to Hispanics, I turned to my house list first, sending text emails to people who had attended prior events concerning either Hispanic marketing or financial services marketing. But, that wouldn’t be enough. I also sent a fax marketing sheet (you could do that then); still not enough.

Reach More People Without Spending Money

So, I found a way to reach out to more people (without spending money I didn’t have). I contacted someone who ran a multi-cultural marketing newsletter which went out to thousands of people. She sold advertising in her newsletter, but at $250 for an ad, or $900 for a solo email it was way over my budget. So, I negotiated a deal. She included the ad, in return for two seats at the table at the seminar.

I sent my emails and my faxes, and she sent her email to her subscribers.

Stop the Promotion:  We’re Out of Space!

The original goal was 15 people. We got 45. We had to start a waiting list. I had to cancel the last wave of promotions and stop marketing! There was no more space in the room, it was becoming a fire hazard.

I can’t share exact results, but attendees paid between $25-$45 to attend, so at 45 people, the ROI on my $75 investment was tremendous.

Partnering can give you greater reach, bring in new business, and save money. More ways to do this tomorrow.

Photo: kugelfish

I just did a quick search on Google for marketing lists and got back 147,000,000 links!
There are lists for everything: poultry farmers, IT managers, even caulking system buyers. With all those possibilities, how do you find the right one? Look at the price? The size of the list? And does it matter?

Why is the List Important?

It accounts for 40% of your return. The wrong list will wreck your response rate, and the right one will start the money rolling in. A list of poultry farmers would be a great target for a new kind of incubator, but IT managers would toss it right in the trash.

Plan Ahead

• Check your budget (how much do you have to spend on lists, printing, mailing)
• How many people do you need to reach to get the results you want (based on past mailings if you have them)
• What do you want to accomplish? Are you looking for leads or do you want sales?
• What will you offer?
• Who is your target audience?

First, check your ideal customer profile. This will considerably narrow down the selection of lists. If you want IT managers of Fortune 500 companies, you can ignore lists of yoga practitioners, racetrack operators, or new homeowners.

Types of Lists

Physical lists/email lists

There are several different kinds of lists (compiled, subscriber, email, and mail order buyers). Each mailing list has a data card (like a biography), that gives you all the vital statistics about the list: how big it is, titles of the people on it, average order size, etc.). Match up the information against your current customers.

Online “lists”

A list doesn’t have to be a physical file or spreadsheet. It can be Facebook users, Fox News web site visitors, or people who click on your AdWords ad. Each has its own demographics, interests, and problems. The people visiting Fox News are likely to have different opinions, for instance, than those heading to MSNBC.

Whether it’s made out of paper or pixels, the most productive list will be one with people who fit your ideal customer profile and who have already responded to offers similar to yours. If you’re promoting an IT meeting, you’ll want people who have attended related events.

List Pricing

If someone promises 1,000,000 names or visitors for $10, run (don’t walk) as fast as you can. The information will be useless. List prices are calculated in $ per thousand names offline and CPM (cost per thousand views) online. Ask for click-through rates, and find out what other kinds of businesses and ads have been successful.

Choose, not by absolute price, but by the best fit with your target market. If you’re looking for new businesses, a list of recent architecture grads won’t help you, but a list from your local city of newly registered business names will.

Got questions about choosing a list? Ask them here.