The Mailing Lists Site

Mailing lists come in a variety of formats, but one of the most popular is direct mail mailing lists. Direct mail is a form of direct marketing that uses the postal services to deliver its messages. As such, it tends to be paper/magazine based although it’s not uncommon for CDs or other promotional material to be included. In recent years, credit card applications have been one of the most prolific type of direct mail, due in part to their high conversion rate.

In recent years due to its proliferation, direct mail has got a bad reputation and is sometimes referred to as ‘junk mail’. Recipients can find it intrusive as they can receive numerous mailings each day. This in turn leads to ‘blindness’ to the marketing messages being delivered, affecting the marketers ROI.

The other main issue that the general public have with direct mail is its environmental impact. It is estimated that around 44% of junk mail is destroyed without even being opened, which of course is a massive waste of natural resources. There is also a significant amount of ink used as well as the energy used by postal services around the world to process and deliver direct mail. In 2003, it’s estimated that 43% of all postal mail is direct mail, an increase from 29% in 1980.

Direct Mail Mailing Lists contain address of people who may be contacted via post, although the level of detail they go into will very much vary on the direct mail list broker they are purchased from. A good list should contain information such as the age, gender, income, religion, job, marital status but will ultimately be dependent on your needs as a marketer.

The more information that can be acquired in your direct mail list, the better you will be able to alter the promotional material so that it is well targeted at your audience. This is a process of trial and error that can take years to perfect, so don’t worry if you don’t get it right the first time! Make sure you monitor certain performance indicators for each mail shot you send as this will ensure you have hard evidence to back up any changes you make to future mailing lists.

Hopefully this gives you a rough idea about direct mail mailing lists and how they can be used. If there are any points you feel I have missed, please contact me using the form below.

Direct Mail List Brokers is a phrase that is increasing in popularity in recent years, yet the more people I speak to, the more apparent it becomes that few people really know what it means. The purpose of this page is to give a detailed understanding of what direct mail list brokers do, what they can do to help you, and importantly, where they can be found.

To begin with, we’ll start with direct mail itself. What is it? Direct mail is a method of delivering advertising and promotional material through the post to recipients. It forms a large proportion of companies direct marketing activities, and has done for many years. The most popular types of direct mail used today are CD’s, ‘pre-approved’ credit card applications, catalogues, advertising circulars to name but a few.

In recent years, due to its proliferation, consumers are becoming ‘blind’ to certain types of direct mail. Some experts believe this has been caused by over-exposure to this marketing median, whilst others believe that direct mail is often poorly targeted and as such does not appeal to the recipient.  This is where direct mail list brokers can get involved.

Direct mail list brokers store large amounts of consumer data that has been harvested and built up over a number of years. This data can be dissected in a number of different ways to provide access to a targeted segment of people. The better the direct mail list broker, the more data they hold, and the better their systems are at analysing that data and providing some real insight to consumer behaviour. A list of direct mail address is the output from this system.

Direct mail can be a cost effective route to large markets, and due to its ability to target consumers in a wide area, it’s often only larger companies that use direct mail brokers. Smaller companies with a localised target client base would probably be better of employing someone to do a door-to-door drop, as they will already have identified who they plan to target based on geography.

When selecting a direct mail list broker, it’s advisable to approach a number of companies and ask how they differ. It can also be useful if they’ve worked in your sector or at very least a similar sector. ‘Opt out’ policies are now increasingly common, so it’s important that all brokers keep their lists up to date to avoid sending a mail to someone who as recently opted out. This can cause damage to a brand and in severe cases can lead to heavy fines.

As with almost every aspect of life, environmental issues are becoming increasingly important in the world of direct mail. A respectable mailing list broker should be able to advise you on how to execute a campaign and reducing its affect on the environment.

Finding direct mail list brokers is relatively easy through Google or the Yellow pages. If possible, speak to colleagues and business acquaintances to see if they can recommend someone, as this is often the only way to be sure of a quality service.

Residential mailing lists are seen by some businesses as the most important part of their marketing activity. Residential mailing lists contain the names and addresses of people that reside in housing areas, as opposed to industrial or commercial areas. Due to the nature of the inhabitants of these areas, residential mailing lists should predominantly be used by businesses/people who are wishing to engage with end consumers. This type of activity is commonly known as b2c (business to consumers) as opposed to b2b (business to business).

A major advantage of residential mailing lists is the detail in which they can be broken down. For example, it is possible to target your mailings at female pet owners between the ages of 30-40. Other popular criteria for filtering lists are income, geography, age, children’s age, education, credit card holder and there are plenty more.

When choosing a company to purchase your mailing lists through, it’s vitally important that you can choose data specific to your target audience. Good residential mailing lists can be a great source of business leads but care has to be taken otherwise costs can spiral. If they mailings are targeted at an incorrect group, then it may cause great offence. For example, it would be a waste of resource to promote Christian products in a Jewish area.

Mailings lists that are poorly targeted at the wrong demographic for example, are likely to result in a lower than average conversion rate that therefore increases the cost per lead of the campaign. Poor management will often blame such failure on the quality of the list itself, but more often than not the poor performance is caused by purchasing a list that was not fit for purpose.  For this reason it’s important to work with a good direct mail list brokers who should be able to advise on such issues.

The design of a mailing lists intended for residential recipients should be different to a mailing list being sent to business. As recipients of residential mail are in their homes, they normally have more time to read promotional material, so the sender is able to go into more detail about their products/services. Care should be taken to ensure the mail is eye catching, and also contains a ‘call to action’ prompting a desired action of the recipient.

This covers all you’ll need to know about residential mailing lists for now. Please feel free to get in touch if you have any further questions or anything requires clarification.

Medical mailing lists are often assumed to be the same as healthcare mailing lists but this isn’t quite the case. Medical mailing lists are more refined, so tend to be smaller than healthcare related  lists and often more targeted.

The business need for medical mailing lists stems from the fact that according the latest research, hospitals and similar institutions in the US spent over $1.7 billion in 2003, which equates to almost 15% of the US GDP. Unfortunately these are the latest stats we have, but as economies contract in these difficult times, the percentage of GDP spent by the medical industry is going to substantially increase.

So that businesses can gain immediate information on where the hospitals and practices that are spending this money can be found, it is always useful to have access to medical mailing lists. A medical mailing list contains complied information of the various contacts of hospitals and private practices where medical products and services are needed.

It would wrong to assume that it’s only hospital workers that are included in medical mailing lists. Scientists and lab technicians are also included, as are alternative therapy practitioners. It’s this broad base of people at different organisational levels that attracts marketers to these lists, and if used correctly they can yield a great return on investment.

The medical profession is highly regulated which means that most of the people who work within it have to belong to associations in order to practise. The data held by these organisations is highly detailed and often forms the basis of the medical mailing lists that are available to purchase on the open market. Information that is commonly available on such mailing lists but not in other lists such as residential lists are:

• Speciality of the physician
• Level of certification
• Type of practice
• Demographic
• Level of education

Because of their targeted nature and the spending power of those that they target, medical mailing lists to tend to be more expensive than standard mailing lists. When dealing with a direct mail broker, make sure they have a good track record in this field and ask them to provide references to back up any claims made. All good brokers should be happy to do this, and if they aren’t, walk away immediately.

As with most things in life, if something appears too good to be true it probably is, so if a broker offers you a great deal far cheaper than anything else you’ve been offered, be very sceptical. In these hard economic times, it’s important that every marketing dollar works hard for and brings a decent return. Don’t be hoodwinked by rogues; make sure you get a high quality mailing list even if it costs slightly more for it as it will pay for itself many times over.

Healthcare mailing lists are lists that contain the details of professionals that work in healthcare and related industries. They cover a fairly broad range of organisations from acupuncture specialists, to health centre mangers to doctors. If care is taken and lists are purchased from a reliable direct mail list broker, these lists can target the industry’s top professionals; the real decision makers within their organisations.

Due to the breadth of this industry, healthcare mailing lists are often narrowed into the following fields:

• Specialty (gynaecologist, general practitioner, dentist, etc.)
• Area of professional interest
• Size of practice
• Prescription volume
• Secondary specialty (if appropriate)
• Geographic location
• Affiliations
• Type of medication prescribed

The income of the people within the healthcare sector is often what makes it appeal most to marketers. The average income of professionals in this niche averages over $140,000 dollars per year. Due to the regulated nature of the healthcare industry, the majority healthcare professionals tend to affiliate themselves to at least one organisation. This means that healthcare mailing lists are often of high quality and frequently updated. As contacts will often be included in several organisations, ensure any mailing lists purchased are frequently checked for duplicate records, as this could unintentionally reduce the number of unique records purchased.

Because of the perceived quality of healthcare mailing lists, they do tend to cost more than other types of mailing lists such as residential mailing lists but this should not put people off them. If the product marketed is suitable to the target audience then the return on investment (ROI) from these mailing lists can be significant.

The smarter marketers will look to not only market products to those in the higher echelons of the healthcare industry, but they will look to influence and impress them. Dentists for instance are highly respected, and will often recommend toothpastes and toothbrushes to their clients. Marketers will often provide incentives for dentists to promote their products, and healthcare mailing lists are a great way of identifying these influencers.

The healthcare industry tends to be very career driven, with people often remaining in the industry for 30 years plus. It’s therefore possible to attract customers that will go on spend with you for the duration their career, and this should be factored into any ROI calculations.

This article is designed to give a brief overview of healthcare mailing lists. There are many other factors to consider when purchasing mailing lists, and reading some of the other articles on this website will help you through that process. If anything requires further clarification please use the form below and I will do my best to help.