Just as you deep clean your home, organize your junk drawers, and look over your budget, the beginning of the year is the perfect time for mailing list maintenance. That’s what Sharon was thinking when she came to us a few weeks ago, very concerned that she kept getting mail returned to her. It was costing her a lot of time and money having to resend the mail pieces and she was rightfully frustrated. We told her that the best thing she could do was ensure that her in house mailing list was current and accurate. Having an accurate and up-to-date mailing list is an important, but often over looked, aspect of direct mail marketing.
Here are some things that you can do to keep your mailing lists accurate and up-to-date:
Update your in-house mailing list regularly – Your in-house list is your list of customers (and maybe prospects too). It can be as sophisticated as including in-depth demographic information about each person, or as simple as name and address. Whatever the case, ensuring that the list is up-to-date is key to ensuring that you get the most out of your direct mail investment.
John, for example, was having a lot of mailers returned, which meant he wasn’t getting his message to his customers, and they might have forgotten about him. It had been about a year since he last updated his mailing list, so he took a few days to go through and update his list in his Click2Mail account. The following month he had only two mailers returned and has set up a plan to update his list on a monthly basis. That also ensures that John can add his new customers to his list, too.
Update your purchased lists criteria – No matter how compelling your mailer is, the response is guaranteed to be disappointing if it is delivered to the wrong audience. Click2Mail’s Mailing List Service provides you with the tools you need to pinpoint your targets and purchase high quality, reliable lists. Measuring and testing your mail campaigns can help you realize what kind of mailing list works best. You may need to purchase a new list with different demographics or you may need to purchase a list that is more or less targeted.
For example, Shana originally purchased a mailing list of married couples in her area that make between $50,000 and $74,999 a year. After she measured and tested her mailers, she learned that in addition to being married, earning between $50,000 and $74,999 and living in her area, most of her customers had children between the ages of 5 and 15, and owned their homes. With that new information, Shana tweaked her mailing list query to add these demographics so her next mailer was even more targeted – and more effective.
Make sure that all of your information is current – In addition to ensuring that you’re making the most of your direct mail investment by mailing to the right addresses, it’s also important to ensure that your information is accurate and up-to-date, too. If you move, change your phone number, or if your default return address has changed, make sure you update your Click2Mail profile to reflect those changes.
For example, Joanna recently relocated her office. She got a new address and new phone number so she went on to her Click2Mail profile and updated her return address information. She also sent out a postcard to inform her customers of the change in case they needed to get a hold of her. If your information is not up to date, if your customers can’t get a hold of you – or find it more difficult to get a hold of you – you could lose the business you’ve worked so hard to build.
Fortunately, Click2Mail makes it easy to keep all your mailing lists, and your own information, accurate and up-to-date.
Many people see direct mail marketing through Click2Mail as a simple, don’t-have-to-think-about-it process, which is our goal. However, in order to get optimal results, you need to remember to manage your mailing lists and your Click2Mail profile. For more tips on mailing list management contact us 24/7 at Click2Mail.com or Mon-Fri, 9am-8pm EST at 866-665-2787.
