Using Direct Mail to Attract New Customers

According to the American List Counsel, a mailing list manager and broker, your in-house list will typically draw double the response rate of an outside list.

What is the most important feature of successful direct mail efforts? While copy and artwork are of great importance, neither is at the very top. Format, or whether you send a postcard, newsletter, or brochure, is also very important, but it’s not number one, either. The most important feature is the mailing list.

In the 1980s, it was very difficult to find a good direct mail list outside of the company. Direct mail lists had a bad reputation, as addresses were often wrong and the data was questionable. No cost-effective method was available for comparing names on multiple lists; as a consequence, consumers often received duplicate mailings, which not only skewed the results and wasted company budgets, but annoyed consumers. Today's technology has infinitely improved the availability of quality direct mail lists.

Data can be obtained, processed, and updated at lightening speeds. Information is linked with other sources of information and can be refined until you know more about a person than his best friend. That may make consumers uneasy, but it makes marketers sing with joy.

Although the process is not yet perfect, the use of today’s technology and software application tools for marketing means that consumers are likely to receive direct mail that is of interest to them. It also means that even the smallest business can create a market and compete successfully.

With all this said, experts still recommend that the best mailing list you can use is your own in-house list of customers and prospects. According to the American List Counsel, a mailing list manager and broker, your in-house list will typically draw double the response rate of an outside list. Yet of marketers surveyed, only 50 percent use in-house names for mailing purposes. This is a mistake you don’t have to make. You should begin with your own internal database before considering buying a list. If you do decide to buy a list, be sure to select the best one for your business. In direct mail, a mailing list is not simply a way to reach your market, it IS your market.