List Prospecting Trends

Everyone is trying to save money when it comes to list prospecting. As with any purchase, you want to do your research. Consider the base list price, the type of list and typical response rate, and watch out for hidden costs.While price often is a defining factor for many buyers, quality should play into your decision. And here is where your research pays off. Just like with car shopping, you can buy the least expensive list, but you will probably get the least desired results. Don’t buy on price alone, says Steve Tamke, senior vice president at marketing firm Mokrynskidirect in Hackensack, N.J. You need to consider the type of list, the features included in the price and the response, he cautions.The type of list matters just as much as from where the list comes. “I know that complied lists were the last selected. They are cheaper, but the response is usually lower,” says Michael Keller, director of marketing for MarketingWorks, a full-service educational strategy, marketing, sales and research firm in Yardley, Pa. Tamke adds that while compiled lists have not been high responders, the segmentation technology is improving, and using custom models may make these lists more cost efficient.Another trend to consider: list exchanges. While you may not incur the cost of renting names in an exchange, keep in mind that these arrangements often are made with mailers that have a close affinity with your offer or customer demographics, so you may be trading for names that might eventually have come your way. Also, if you are exchanging names with a company that might otherwise have rented your names, “you may well have foregone list rental income,” says Tamke.When it comes to price, haggle. There is more negotiating than before, and nearly everything is up for grabs. Some areas to negotiate:* Net name arrangements: Never pay for more than you actually mail. You’ll have to prove you already had those names in your database, but it’s worth the effort. In that same arena, many list owners are offering an off-the-top discount for duplicates. Buyers take a guess at how many names they already have and negotiate a lower price. Also, if your list or the list you are purchasing are part of a co-op database, don’t add co-op names into the merge/purge, and ask to have your names suppressed as well.* Selections: Many owners are capping prices. A preset number of selections are decided on for a set price. For example, a six-month name with a $50-plus spending level, female, and apparel purchases that used to add 30 percent to 40 percent to your costs now comes at a lower rate, Tamke says.* Custom modeling: When using co-op databases, transactional modeling is included. But consider using custom models, such as ZIP code models, for a quick boost, suggests Tamke. “Analyze the best ZIPs and send only to those for a little lift,” he says.When it comes to trends, none is more attractive than the Internet. But high responding e-mail and Web lists have been hard to get. To improve online list prospecting, Keller says get creative. He offers as an example a postcard mailing that drove consumers to a catalog Web site to register for a free poster. The 15,000 mailing pulled just over an 8 percent response rate, from which more than 5 percent were converted into sales. Keller says sending a postcard is a great way to cut printing costs and increase the number of e-mail and Web shoppers.Two emerging trends in e-mail prospecting are co-registration and e-mail exchange. Co-registration is when a company agrees to let you offer a sign-up for your list on its Web site. Tamke says this prospecting method currently is working for “very highly branded, mass-oriented companies—large insurance companies or IBM—those with a very high recognition brand because the clickthrough is higher if you have a broad appeal.”E-mail exchanges work slightly differently than an exchange of postal lists. For example, J.Jill, a women’s apparel cataloger, recently sent an e-mail offer of two free issues of Real Simple magazine to its e-mail subscribers. In this exchange, J.Jill endorses the publication and sends an offer to its e-mail subscribers on Real Simple’s behalf, instead of letting the publisher contact subscribers directly. E-mail exchange has been slow to take off because catalogers have been trying to make offers through other cataloger’s e-mails. Both the owner and the prospector hate the process because it requires a synergy of language, tone, offer and product, according to Tamke. “It is usually very tough to get the deal together. There are different file formats, segmentation issues and, because you are endorsing [someone else’s product), you need to be more careful,” says Tamke. However, “I am convinced the issues are going to be worked out.”Melissa Sepos is a freelance writer based in Wyncote, Pa.

Performance Marketing

List Prospecting Trends

Melissa Sepos

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Melissa Sepos