You know what they say, “A King is no good without his Queen.” In direct mail, that statement is certainly true. Content is King, but without an effective mailing list, direct mail doesn’t work.

 

Purchasing a mailing list? How to choose a good one

 

First, consider your audience. Are they homeowners? What age range are they in? Are they female or male? These are all good questions to start with. If you own a boutique clothing store, your target audience might be females ages 18-35. If you own a home improvement store, your target audience is probably homeowners and/or contractors. Every business has a unique target audience. In order to create an effective mailing list, you must first articulate who your audience is – in as much detail as possible. 

 

Then, reach your audience where they are. Is your audience national, or local? In your area or out? Where do they list and/or work? What city, zip code, neighborhood? Knowing where your audience is at is key to creating an effective mailing list. 

 

Depending on who your audience is and where they are, Click2Mail offers a variety of mailing lists to suit your needs, including:

 

  • Occupant list, which includes virtually every household in America. For saturation mailing (mailing to everyone in an area) it is known to be the most accurate consumer mailing list available. It is updated monthly via the U.S. Postal Service and edited through a proprietary system.

 

  • Consumer list is a comprehensive national list that includes over 147 million households and more than 216 million individuals. The list is completely rebuilt every two months with interim monthly telephone refreshes and suppressions. Target your list by demographic, behavioral, purchase, health, travel, and real property data. 

 

 

In addition to the variety of lists that Click2Mail offers, the Lookalike/Cloning tool takes your current customer file and analyzes it to look for similar characteristics like attitudes, demographics, interests and buying habits. These traits can then be used to help you create a list of your best prospects, develop more precise marketing messages, and develop targeted mailing campaigns. 

 

In-house mailing list? How to keep it effective 

 

If you use an in-house mailing list (a list of existing customers and prospects that you created and own), make sure that it stays current. Starting with addresses. Ensure that when customers and prospects move, you update their information in your list. One way to do that is to tie your in-house list to your purchase management system through Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software that will help you keep track not only of names and addresses, but purchase history, birthdays and anniversaries, and other information that will help you have deeper, stronger relationships with your customers – and sell more as a result.

 

Always, measure and test 

 

Whether you use a purchased mailing list, and in-house mailing list, or both, measuring the results of your direct mail campaign is the only way you’ll know if it’s working. Do this as you build your list(s). Send the same mailer out to a few demographics or a few geographic areas and see which is most successful. You can also use Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) to mail to every address in a carrier route, allowing you to get an idea of who responds to your mailers – and then create a more customized mailing list. 

 

It’s important to make sure that your Queen is taken care of. Whether you purchase a mailing list or you use an in-house list, your mailing list will take your direct mail where you want it to go. For more information on Click2Mail’s mailing list services, visit https://click2mail.com/mailing-list-services. And for a limited time, take advantage of this great coupon to get a mailing list that works for you:  Starting June 3rd through June 30, 2014 use coupone code 2108607061 at checkout and you’ll save 15% of your mailing list order. (Minium 100 record order required, some restrictions may apply).