FAQ'S
The right ist can make or break your marketing plan.
Your strategy must target audiences most likely to respond to your offer. Should you use compiled lists or response lists? Both play an integral role in reaching your market but compiled lists and response lists offer unique qualities. Each type of list has specific characteristics that enable you to achieve specific sand distinct objectives. Often, when used in concert, compiled and response lists offer total and measurable market coverage. Here are some definitions that can help you understand the different characteristics of both lists.
Compiled
Lists
Names and addresses derived from directories, phone books,
newspapers, auto registrations, public records, retail sales slips, trade show
registrations, etc. They are used to identify groups of people with something in
common and are often overlayed with additional demographic
selections.
Use compiled lists to reach and evaluate an entire market - for example, every pharmacy in a particular state or every family living in a certain Chicago suburb. Your chances of reaching an entire market are best when using compiled lists.
Response
Lists
Proven buyers from consumer and business catalogs, card decks and
space ads, paid subscribes to periodicals and contributors to fundraising
efforts and charitable organizations.
Use response lists when you need proven mail responders to maximize sales of your products or services. These buyers have a proven track record from their past purchasing history. This information gives you insight into specific groups and knowing what their interest are will make your selling easier.
Which type will
bring you the best results?
Response files generally outperform compiled
lists when seeking the highest response rate possible. Many mailers looking for
this advantage achieve great success with response files. Other situations,
however, call for achieving special selectivity to target a well defined
population or market. Here are a few situations where a compiled list can yield
the results you're looking for:
*a pharmaceutical
company seeking all doctors specializing in internal medicine;
*a benefits company
targeting manufacturers with 20 or more employees;
*a jewelry store chain
identifying families with $50,000 household incomes (HHI) that live within 20
miles of one of their 550 jewelry stores.
Clearly, for these
situations, a compiled list using very specific criteria would help you target
your future clients or customers.
A special incentive
for compiled list users may be the cost. Compiled lists are generally much less
expensive than response lists, running at $60 per thousand vs. $70-$125 or more
per thousand for response files.
Keep your eye on
the responses, not returns...
Response files are generally more
deliverable. They are updated on a regular basis, often monthly, and contain
names of proven buyers of products and services. Compiled lists, on the other
hand, are able to target specific groups of potential buyers for your products
and services and are much less expensive. They are usually updated annually or
semi-annually, which does lower response rates. Census studies show that each
year more than 10%, 15%, even 20% of mail may be undeliverable.
Bottom Line:
Use the type of list best suited to your needs. Focus on the positive,
not the negative. Growing, successful, businesses need new customers. For more
information on compiled and response lists call 1-800-406-4361.
Points to
Consider:
As you prepare to choose a list for your marketing effort,
there are a few things you'll want to consider.
*To what
geography...state, county, SCF, Zip Code...should I mail?
*Should I select individuals
by specific titles at companies or should I title address?
*To what types of businesses
should I mail?
*What size company will best respond to my offer?
*Is the age or gender of my
prospect important?
*If mailing to a home address, should I consider income, home value,
length of residence or other demographic criteria?
*Are phone numbers
important?
*What is my budget for mailing lists?
*What is the best output
media (labels, sheet list, 3x5 cards, tape, diskette) for my list?
Our team of account executives can help you answer these questions and more. Call us at 1-800-406-4361. You can also fax us at 609-580-2862 or e-mail us at list@amlist.com. All orders will be confirmed.
