Direct mail is a great way to reach targeted prospects to turn them into customers, but how do you select the right prospects? There are so many mailing list options, it can feel overwhelming.
Prospect data is marketing data that has been collected and compiled for the purpose of new customer acquisition. This data is compiled from a variety of public record sources, including deed recordings, surveys, telephone directories, self-reported and more.
5 Prospect List Types
- Residential/Occupant: This list is compiled from USPS intelligence carrier route-level demographics, and you can segment businesses. The purpose of this type of list is to saturate an area and have names associated with it, along with census demographics, unlike EDDM. The advantage of this list is deep postal discounts. The disadvantages are the ability to only target to the ZIP-carrier route level, there are fewer options for personalization, and it uses only postal data.
- Consumer: This list can be selected by demographics, psychographics, life stage, lifestyles, behavioral, new mover, new homeowner, new borrower, new connect, pre-mover, mortgage/loan, and property data. The purpose of this type of list is to target consumers at their home addresses. The advantages of this list are: controlling who receives your offer; rich demographics selects for enhanced targeting, so you can use variable data for creative optimization; you can use look-alike targeting through the use of demographic profiles; and there are multi-channel opportunities.
- Business: This list can be selected by contact names, job titles, company size, ownership status, square footage, own vs. rent, years in business, business expenses, credit rating, SIC, and NAICS. The purpose of this list is finding businesses and/or business professionals. The advantage of this list is you can target specific types of businesses and key contacts within them.
- Specialty: This list can be selected by many things. Here are some of them: automotive, hospitals, doctors and nurses, education, government, voters, clubs/nonprofits, insurance agents, pilots, realtors, churches, or pool owners. The purpose of this list is to be able to target consumers or businesses based on specific niche attributes most commonly related to occupation/profession. The advantage of this list is a highly targeted audience.
- Managed: This list can be selected by niche marketing, RFM, subscriber files, specific purchases, past purchases, hotline buyers, multi-buyers, responders, or donors. The purpose of this type of list is the ability to identify consumers and businesses by their actions and affinities; to benefit from RFM (recency, frequency, and monetary value). The advantage of this type of list is significant targeting.
Keep in mind that the cost of prospecting lists goes up, the more targeted you get. However, by targeting correctly, you can send fewer mail pieces to more people who are most likely to buy from you. You can save money, send to the right segment of people, and increase your ROI when you mail to the right people.
Source: Target Marketing - S. Gould
Edited by: B. Prohaska
