Mailing Lists - Part 1 of 5 - What is the target audience for my business?

Mailing Lists - Part 1 of 5 - What is the target audience for my business?

An important element for a successful Direct Mailing campaign is choosing the correct mailing list. Your list will affect the cost of your mailing with the cost of the list itself plus it will be the major determining factor on how much you pay per piece for postage (the other factor being the type of mail piece you send out). Your list will also have a direct correlation to the response you get on your mailing – don’t choose the correct list and your response will leave you underwhelmed.

Your type of business determines who you want to reach. Here is a list of common factors when determining who you are trying to reach:

Geographic Area
Age
Home Value
Gender
Children
Income
Religion
Net Worth
Education
Vehicle type
Residence Type
Length of Residence

If your mailing is a B2B mailing, then you need to choose from a different set of parameters:

Geographic Area
Type of Business (SIC Code)
Number of Employees
Credit Rating
Contact Person(s)
Business Revenue

When using these parameters you need to remember that for every criteria you add to your list, the fewer number of addresses you will get and the more expensive your list will become. If you own a Pizza Restaurant you might want to send a mailer out to everyone in a geographic area and receive a BIG postage discount. If you own a high-end jewelry store you would want to expand your list criteria to only include those in your geographic area with the income to afford your merchandise. Your postage will be higher per piece, but you will be mailing to a far smaller audience.

Usually the biggest cost in any direct mailing is the postage. Even if you are receiving Saturation postage (mailing to all addresses in a carrier route) with an entry discount (the USPS gives discounts for entering your mailing at strategic USPS facilities) you will still spend a lot of money on postage, so make sure your list takes advantage of these discounts. Don’t play hopscotch with your geographic locations, mail to entire routes or even zip codes when possible.

If your business is seeking a certain type of industry, hobby enthusiast, vocation or avocation then a mailing list company is a great place to start. Magazine subscriptions are a major source for finding a target group and a list company will have access to these lists. Always ask where the list company is getting their data, they should be able to tell you without reservation where they got the list.

And remember, no mailing list is 100% perfect. Routes are constantly changing, people move and don't leave forwarding address, there was an error in the data entry for the address. Bad things can and will happen, but it should affect less than 1% of your list. If you are using a reputable list company, they should have no problem guaranteeing the accuracy of their list.
When choosing what list to use, clearly note what you are trying to achieve and then determine what group of recipients will get you to that goal. And by all means, ask your list professional (in fact, ask more than one since pricing and counts will vary) what is the best list to accomplish your goals.

If you have any questions, please contact me at www.gagepress.com.