Direct Marketing Lists

Junk mail arrives as a result of direct marketing lists that seemingly permeate both snail mail and Web mail. How do companies get personal names and addresses with so much ease? People don't even look at most correspondence coming from an entity that doesn't know names but can spell "Do Not Return to Sender." And if an email has a sender name not recognized? Hit the delete button and move on! Yet millions of dollars are spent on advertising addressed to that famous citizen named "Current Resident."

There is a varied array of advertising methods available for business today. Straightforward marketing rosters and email list building are both important tools for many businesses to reach out and attempt to affect the buying habits of American consumers. The first tool has been around for decades while the latter tool is still being refined as an integrated part of ecommerce. Direct marketing lists are designed to touch a certain demographic segment by the traditional mail process. Receiving bulk discounts for mailings over a specified number of postal pieces makes this type of advertising attractive to marketers looking for a personal touch to would be consumers. There is some comfort for merchants that a postal delivery will at least be seen by one pair of eyes in a family household, unlike television commercials or email campaigns. These addresses with names and addresses lists can be bought from data companies that can provide any demographic desired, from age to location to income level.

Oddly enough, the convenience a computer brings to the job site is not always so convenient. Email list building can be a lot trickier because they are usually borne from good old fashioned leg work and networking. Many websites touting help build an email list begin with words such as, "Now that you have come back from that networking opportunity and have a pocket full of business cards, what's you next step?" There's a message in those words, and that is that email addresses come from getting out on the street and meeting people and exchanging information. A very thorny issues after you get an email address is getting the owner's permission to put the address on the roster being compiled. An unwanted email is almost like a pimple on prom night. Real resentment can come from some people who feel like a personal space has been violated. In fact, it can be illegal.

There are real incentives to using the old fashioned method of advertising. Direct marketing lists are extremely important to many businesses because the tool measures a straightforward response to a mailing. If a small business owner sends out 5000 pieces of advertising to households with an income of over $75,000 a year and gets only 11 responses which is only.0022%, the merchant might have to wonder if the goods or services offered are of little value to that income level. The next mail campaign might go to an age demographic or a lower income stratum. But the strategy does offer some valuable feedback. And of course, it should also be mentioned that telemarketing campaigns are a result of a company's compiled roster of names. "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort." (II Corinthians 1:3)

There are great ideas to use the web mail more effectively. For instance email list building can be enhanced in several ways. The first method is to offer a newsletter with current information that makes the creator sound like an expert in one's chosen field of commerce. A realdrawback to email list building is that recipients can opt out of the name roster with one click. And with more and more people protecting identities, lost names cannot be taken lightly. This reality should inform the newsletter creator that much time and thought should be placed in every communication that goes out, particularly a monthly newsletter. It must be worth the reader's time!

There are other options for building web mail lists, such as asking for email addresses on websites. In fact, capturing an email address on a home page should be priority number one for anyone wishing to do business through a website! A website, from many professionals' point of view is that it produces no long term business opportunity unless data is received from the visitor. In addition, list building can further be enhanced by placing email address list requests at the bottom of every email one sends. It is important to remember that when one is able to attend a networking event, time cannot be wasted in getting back to those contacts that were made as soon as possible. Letting more than a week at most go by without making contact will erase the memory of the meeting from a prospects mind.

There are many downsides to straightforward advertising. One may pick up a lot of hate mail from environmentalists who were on direct marketing lists. Why? Too cavalier a use of paper in catalogues or mailers. Telemarketing has gained an incredibly negative reputation. Yet non-profit fundraising uses that medium because it appears to be very effective for its purpose. In the same genre, political parties have used direct marketing lists for automatically dialing thousands of supporters with urgent or special messages. But even that has its downside. One company hired by a western politician to use an advertising list for automatic dialing purposes accidentally set the machine for 1 in the morning instead of 10 in the morning. Apparently that politician spent weeks making personal phone calls apologizing for the gaff.