Direct Marketing List
Perhaps you have heard about the high rate of return for sending out emails or postal mailers to a direct marketing list and want to give it a try. Whether you regularly engage in email marketing for business only or have used postal “snail mail” in the past, you might be able to learn a new trick or two to improve the return on your investment.
Before you engage the graphic design team or finalize project plans with the advertising department, you need to understand the importance of the right direct marketing list and how to get it. No email or postal mailer, no matter how eye-catching or alluring, will ever make you a great profit if it does not get in front of the right people at the right companies.
Email or Postal Mail? – How Do You Want to Initiate Contact?
Various reports from different marketing companies, publications, and organizations quote different percentages and profits realized when testing the difference between email offers and postal direct mail in the business to business world. Surprisingly to some, postal mail edges out email overall. However, postal mail is also quite a bit more expensive than sending a huge email blast to hundreds or thousands of people.
Cost is one of the largest factors in deciding if you want to use email marketing for business or go with postal direct mail. Besides postage itself, direct mailers also incur printing, material, and design costs not associated with its electronic counterpart. Weighing the cost vs. benefit ratio can help you make this decision.
On the other hand, email can find its way easily into the Junk folder, get deleted with the click of a button, and you may never know if it was really delivered or not unless you get a response. Direct mail has to be dealt with in a more personal way. It has a greater opportunity to capture attention.
List Broker Reputation, Quality, and Trust
After figuring out if you want to try email marketing for business or stick with postal options, find a quality list broker. These companies find, compile, and sell or rent business to business mailing list options from many industries and firmographics. You only want to work with a list broker who has a good track record for delivering quality information. All lists should be targeted, current, and contain correct information. Ask how often the data is checked and what methods they use.
Choosing a Highly Targeted Direct Marketing List
Now that you know you will get a quality list from the broker, it is time to identify the ideal audience for your email blast or postcard, package, or letter. The easiest way to find the best direct marketing list is to engage the services of the professional list broker you chose. They know the lists they offer and which will work well for your business to business marketing campaigns.
After discussing the process with your advertising people or marketing design team, you should feel pretty confident in your ability to choose one on your own if you prefer. The obvious question is, “Who wants my product or service?” A better question might be, “Who is most likely to respond to my marketing message?” That would include people interested in what you have to offer but takes other factors into consideration. Is the business contact you send a mailer to able to influence or make purchasing decisions? Does the company have the proper spending power for your offers? Can you do business easily with their part of the country or the world?
5 Business to Business Mailing List Tips to Choose the Best
1 – Know precisely who is on the list you get. Research what companies are represented on the list from which industries and niches. Try to identify what positions people hold in the companies as well. Different direct marketing methods are required for CEOs and administrative assistants who weed through the inbox every day.
2 – Check for current and correct information. Only purchase or rent mailing lists from a company that compiles them using ethical methods, checks them regularly against NOCA, the National Change of Address registries, and through other means, and removes outdated or incorrect data on a regular basis. Nothing kills your ROI faster than undeliverable mail.
3 – Focus on expanding your reach and brand recognition at the start. If your company is relatively unknown in an industry, identifying the perfect future B2B customer or client may be difficult. Consider casting a wider net and exploring audience possibilities that may not seem obvious at first. Test small batches of various business to business mailing lists to see what works best.
4 – Design a marketing plan that incorporates future contact and every part of the marketing funnel. As you get responses for your direct mail campaigns, your in-house list will grow. Do not focus all your attention on these companies. Continue to build additional professional relationships by expanding direct mail or email marketing methods using new contact lists.
5 – Let a qualified, professional, and experienced list broker help you identify and build the perfect business to business mailing list for you. You know how to run your business. You have extensive knowledge about your products and the service you offer. If you work for or own a large company, you may even have a dedicated marketing team who specializes in creating effective advertisements. You probably do not have a dedicated mailing list expert on your payroll, however.
Best Mailing List Brokers
This highly specialized expertise can luckily be found with quality list brokerage firms like Bethesda List Center. When deciding on which mailing list or lists to use for your direct mail or email marketing efforts, asking experienced professionals seems like the smartest option. List brokers know their products and services as well as you know yours. They understand the importance of delivering quality to help you succeed. Just as you hope your offer will benefit the companies you market to, all the perks of using a professional direct mailing list company can help you as well.
