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Unique names. Fresh lists. Prospect lists are a basic need in direct marketing. We need them to maintain our customer base and to fuel expansion, whether into new markets or more deeply into a current market.
Because of our niche markets, WorldVu, a publisher of business reference material in international addressing and country information, always has built in-house lists to supplement its list-rental efforts. Approximately 25 percent of our customers reside outside the United States, so we mail to both domestic and international lists. However, we’re having a difficult time finding rental lists that meet our profile for a variety of reasons: some lists are no longer available to rent; newer lists often are not marketed; certain publications have curtailed their international subscription marketing; and many marketers have moved toward co-op databases. The end result is that the international list universe seems to be diminishing. It’s an issue I regularly hear about from other marketers, too.
To continue growing our customer base, we need to mail to more names than often are available through list rental. Building our own lists in-house has worked to do just that. In fact, some of the international lists we’ve built in-house have generated double-digit response rates of up to 28 percent.
Our list-building efforts begin with our customer profiles—both domestic and international. These profiles define the research criteria for potential lists. Preliminary research can be done on the Web by researching potential groups that match the profiles; for us, that might be circulation directors of magazines with international audiences. We also look for potential names in international markets that match our domestic profile and vice versa.
In Worldvu’s experience, lists of the best, largest or top companies in a particular field or industry are useful for B-to-B searches. Depending on your needs, chambers of commerce, professional associations or a listing of companies in particular industries or countries may be useful. For consumer lists, you might look for clubs, school- or college-affiliated groups or community associations. Internationally, women’s clubs can pull very well for some offers.
List building can be expensive, so we keep track of time spent and other associated costs—such as fees to access databases and the cost to purchase directories or subscriptions to update services—to make sure the list doesn’t become too expensive to build. Close attention also needs to be paid to the date of the information found, as some sources are very dated.
Overall, the major advantages and disadvantages of building your own lists are:
Pros
• Names are unique to you and aren’t available on rental lists. These names aren’t mailed as frequently and, in theory, are more likely to open the envelope.
• Names may meet criteria not currently found in a published rental list, such as the international subscribers to a publication.
• You may be able to test smaller lists that otherwise would be too costly to rent.
Cons
• Searches largely are limited to public sources. Private sources are available for a fee, but add to the cost of the list build.
• You can miss some groups or segments through too narrow a focus or a lack of information on a particular segment.
• Lists are expensive to build, particularly at the outset before staff become proficient at finding lists and searching for individual information.
Merry Law is president of WorldVu, a publisher of business reference material in international addressing and country information. She can be reached at mlaw@worldvu.com.
Because of our niche markets, WorldVu, a publisher of business reference material in international addressing and country information, always has built in-house lists to supplement its list-rental efforts. Approximately 25 percent of our customers reside outside the United States, so we mail to both domestic and international lists. However, we’re having a difficult time finding rental lists that meet our profile for a variety of reasons: some lists are no longer available to rent; newer lists often are not marketed; certain publications have curtailed their international subscription marketing; and many marketers have moved toward co-op databases. The end result is that the international list universe seems to be diminishing. It’s an issue I regularly hear about from other marketers, too.
To continue growing our customer base, we need to mail to more names than often are available through list rental. Building our own lists in-house has worked to do just that. In fact, some of the international lists we’ve built in-house have generated double-digit response rates of up to 28 percent.
Our list-building efforts begin with our customer profiles—both domestic and international. These profiles define the research criteria for potential lists. Preliminary research can be done on the Web by researching potential groups that match the profiles; for us, that might be circulation directors of magazines with international audiences. We also look for potential names in international markets that match our domestic profile and vice versa.
In Worldvu’s experience, lists of the best, largest or top companies in a particular field or industry are useful for B-to-B searches. Depending on your needs, chambers of commerce, professional associations or a listing of companies in particular industries or countries may be useful. For consumer lists, you might look for clubs, school- or college-affiliated groups or community associations. Internationally, women’s clubs can pull very well for some offers.
List building can be expensive, so we keep track of time spent and other associated costs—such as fees to access databases and the cost to purchase directories or subscriptions to update services—to make sure the list doesn’t become too expensive to build. Close attention also needs to be paid to the date of the information found, as some sources are very dated.
Overall, the major advantages and disadvantages of building your own lists are:
Pros
• Names are unique to you and aren’t available on rental lists. These names aren’t mailed as frequently and, in theory, are more likely to open the envelope.
• Names may meet criteria not currently found in a published rental list, such as the international subscribers to a publication.
• You may be able to test smaller lists that otherwise would be too costly to rent.
Cons
• Searches largely are limited to public sources. Private sources are available for a fee, but add to the cost of the list build.
• You can miss some groups or segments through too narrow a focus or a lack of information on a particular segment.
• Lists are expensive to build, particularly at the outset before staff become proficient at finding lists and searching for individual information.
Merry Law is president of WorldVu, a publisher of business reference material in international addressing and country information. She can be reached at mlaw@worldvu.com.
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