| ||
| ||
|
Marketing Information | |
| Domain Names | E Books | Email Marketing | Ezine Marketing | |||
| Internet Marketing | Marketing | PPC Advertising | SEO | |||
| Traffic Building | Web Design | Web Development | Web Hosting | |||
| ||||||
|
| ||||
|
Keeping Your Mailing List Clean and Efficient
Your mailing list retains its value best if it is kept clean and efficient. This report will first talk about why you should maintain your list in this manner. Then, the procedures you can follow to update both the mailing and database information associated with the names on you list will be discussed. THE IMPORTANCE OF MAINTAINING A CLEAN AND EFFICIENT LIST What makes a list clean and efficient? Lists are clean and efficient when they are: * accurate. * current (up-to-date). * as free of duplicate names as possible. * maintained with complete data. Keeping lists clean and efficient requires a constant effort. The average mailing list begins to go out of date as soon as it is compiled. Industry studies have shown that the average consumer list changes approximately 20 percent a year. Business lists change a bit more slowly: about 18 percent a year. But individual names within a business can change much more frequently. The source of the list will often determine how frequently it is updated. At best, lists compiled from Yellow or White Pages will only be as up-to-date as three to six months prior to the publication schedule of the directory. This is usually on an annual basis but may be once every two or even three years. Mail order buyer lists could have a higher degree of accuracy because part of normal business is maintaining correct information about customers. Don't assume that a list is clean just because you bought it from a fellow business owner. Most of the best kept lists are made up of mail order buyers, those buyer lists which are poorly maintained represent some of the worst lists. Always try to see and test a portion of the list before you mail it in total. Because mailing lists change so quickly, it is important to commit the necessary resources to keep your own lists current and correct. Lists that aren't properly maintained can be harmful and costly to your business or organization in several ways. For example: 1. You're wasting postage and printing dollars if the mailings are incorrectly addressed or if there are duplicate names on your file or if they have moved. 2. The database information is not kept current, you may not be mailing as efficiently as you could be. 3. You may be losing out on potential business if you cannot reliably get the mailing pieces to target audiences due to out-of-date or otherwise incorrect addresses. 4. You are damaging your image with your customers. Misspellings and out-of-date information reflect poorly on the organization - if the mailing reaches its destination. 5. Duplicate names can lead you to understate the response rate. The response you actually get may be much better than the numbers show. This can have an effect on future mailing plans since you believe that the response you are getting is much lower than it actually is. The key to keeping a list clean and efficient is to establish procedures for making daily changes to your list. Develop a carefully planned, closely followed, regular updating program. In the next sections, we will discuss ideas for setting up a daily updating system, then give steps that should be included in any regular monitoring program. KEEPING YOUR HOUSE LIST ACCURATE AND UP-TO-DATE ON A CONTINUING BASIS Establishing an ongoing updating system is the most effective way to stay on top of changes to the customer mailing list. Customers are your easiest, most reliable source for keeping a customer list continuously current. Enlist their cooperation by including a request for updated information with each mailing sent. Here are some possible ways to make the request: 1. If you use an order form with a label affixed, request that customers change any incorrect information. 2. If you provide a return envelope which includes space for the recipient to write in a return address, below these lines provide a "key" that indicates that address information should be updated. The key could look like this: [ ] Check here if this is a new address. Record and maintain each transaction with a customer so that you can keep the important recency, frequency, and monetary value data current for each customer. There are other database fields that may change frequently or with each transaction. These fields should be incorporated into any system you developed for continuous updating of the mailing list/database. If the audience is made up of individuals of businesses, here are some fields you will want to monitor and update on a regular basis: *Credit Status Code: This code is based on the customer's payment history. Each time a customer orders, information about how long he takes to pay, and how he pays is generated. This data should be used to update his account. Credit status codes should also be evaluated and updated on a monthly basis. * Items Ordered: Keeping this information current will help uncover opportunities where you may be able to sell related products or supplies to that customer. This information can be updated on a monthly basis. *Date of Last Order: This information is used for recency and monetary value calculations. It can be updated on a monthly or quarterly basis. *Name and Address: This information should be verified and updated at the time a customer orders. *Title or Name of Contact: This information should be verified and updated at the time of order. *Date of Last Contact: This field should be updated at the time of contact - either the last date this name was mailed or the last date a sales call was made. If you are maintaining this information on a microcomputer, much of this information could be automatically updated. PERIODIC REVIEWS OF YOUR HOUSE LIST In addition to making ongoing changes as necessary to individual records on your list, you should periodically review the entire list or portions of it and make all changes necessary to update and correct your list. Below is a variety of methods to consider including in your regular "list-cleaning" program: 1. Again, your customers are your best source for verifying changes to your list or database. For example: * You may want to send a mailing which has the sole purpose of updating and correcting the list. The mailing could consist of a business reply card with an address label affixed to it. Below the label, insert such check boxes as: [ ] Please update my account as noted on the label. [ ] Addressee no longer here. Please remove name from the list. *You may also want to conduct a mail or phone survey (depending on the size of the list), to update the demographic information about the audience. 2.The U.S. Postal Service provides several programs that your organization can use to periodically clean the list. Contact your local postmaster for full details. ELIMINATING DUPLICATES In addition to keeping the mailing list correct and up-to-date, make sure that it is as free of duplicate names as possible. This involved two steps: 1. Removing duplicate names from your customer list. 2. Eliminating duplicate names between and among the customer, prospect, or suspect lists you use. The techniques used to remove duplicate names from your house list depend largely on the size of the list and how it is maintained: *If the list is small enough, you can catch many duplicates by sorting the list in zip code or alphabetical order and "eyeballing" it *If the list is stored on a microcomputer, you can sort it by one variable and then use the eyeball approach to spot the duplicates. Possible variables for ordering the list include last name, company name, address or telephone number. *For large lists of more than 10,000 names, you may want to consider hiring a computer service bureau to "de-dupe" (eliminate duplicate from) the list using one of their specifically designed software programs. If you are renting lists, and your own list is automated, ask that the service bureau perform an "own customer" elimination as part of their service. Names of service bureaus in your area can be obtained from the Direct Marketing Association. In addition to removing duplicate names within your house list, match this list against any outside lists you use. The popular term for this is "merge/purge" which means matching two or more mailing lists (usually by electronic means) to remove duplication and make sure that each name receives only one mailing. Basically, merge/purge is accomplished through use of a match code. Match codes can take the form of many different combinations. Some match codes eliminate all the vowels in the name and address, while others pick up certain characters from certain fields. The match code is made up of the same characters for each name on the lists, and fully and uniquely identifies that name. When lists are matched against each other, duplicate match codes indicate that the same name exists on more than one list. When you hire a firm to run a merge/purge, try to find out how they identify duplicates, and if you can, set up a test with more than one service bureau to find out whose program best fits your needs. Another concept to consider when trying to identify duplicates is "overkill" vs. "underkill." If the match code includes too many characters, possible duplicates will not be caught. This is called underkill. On the other hand, if the match code is too loose, names which are not duplicates will be recognized as duplicates (overkill). Finding duplicates is really an art. How do you catch a match of an individual where one list says he lives at 505 7th St., and another has him living at 505 Seventh St.? Even worse, is Jean Smith, who lives at 510 Main St. the same person as the Jane Smith living at 501 Main St.? How you answer depends on whether you prefer overkill or underkill. It's a bigger problem when running a merge/purge for businesses. Not only do you have to worry about name and address fields, but now you may need to find matches with business names and individual titles. The key here is to determine up front how many names per firm you want to mail to. The key to successful merge/purge is close monitoring. Watch the process from beginning to end. Have thorough written instructions, and make sure they are carried out. Copyright 2004 by DeAnna Spencer Note to editors: This article may be redistributed freely on the Internet as long as the resource box remains intact.
MORE RESOURCES:
Marketing - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Why Cutting Prices Is Like Cutting Your Own Throat Why cutting your prices is like cutting your own throat. It's the oldest sales tactic in the world? And one of the worst? Price cutting. Ten Deadly Proposal Preparation Pitfalls Let's face it, the name "proposal" is a great misnomer, but since many businesspeople take it literally, they often paint themselves into a corner of chasing buyers, many of whom requested the proposal to collect idea for in-house implementation. Yes, it is a scumbag approach to drag honest folks arounf by their noses, but apparently there are many scumbags who practise this dishonest technique knowingly, and some innocent folks who believe this is normal and have fallen into the trap. How to Handle Jargon at Your Web Site - and Why If you sell a technical product or service, you probably know you have jargon at your web site - specialized terminology that the average person doesn't understand. While jargon does help you communicate precisely with peers, it seriously gets in the way if potential and actual customers aren't as conversant with it as you are. Target Market - 3 Big Reasons You Need To Know Yours Rule Number One when writing marketing materials is "Know Your Target Market." There's a lot of foundational work to do before you ever put a word on paper but this is the place to start. Direct Marketing Puts Information In The Buyer's Hands Direct marketing is advertising from a manufacturer or front-end supplier directed to the ultimate consumer of a product or service. Another way of looking at direct marketing is selling to a consumer directly, whether is from a printed magazine campaign, TV or radio spot, or from a direct mail package. How To Market Effectively Even If No One Understands What You Do So how do you effectively market your product or service when one knows anything about them because you're in a new and emerging industry? How can you expect to get customers if no one understands what it is that you do?If this is your situation then a big part of your marketing strategy will need to be educating consumers about what you do. If yours is a field that is relatively new, or perhaps misunderstood, adopting an education strategy can help consumers understand the benefits you provide and feel more comfortable with the idea of purchasing your products or services. Motivating Shoppers with Online Coupons (Part 2 of 2) Last time we discussed how online coupons and promotion codes can motivate buyers. We discussed examples of coupons and some of the aspects of these offers that can boost sales and generate urgency to a purchase. Work Backward And Make More Sales! It goes against the grain, especially for those of us used to "business at the speed of light." But bear with me. 5 Ways to Give Your Web Site a Big-Company Look and Feel We all DO judge a book by its cover, and the same saying goes for Web sites. I've seen many entrepreneurs offer great information on their Web pages, but compromise their image dramatically with a few amateur mistakes that can be VERY unforgiving. What Is Better Than FREE? Oh come on! FREE is free. Zero, zip, nada, zilch. Why Smart People Dont Know How to Market As an educated professional, your success is based on what you know, your education, your intelligence, and your creativity. Even if you're just starting out, you've achieved success just to get your many degrees and pass those licensing exams! Your clients return and refer because you apply your expertise and insight to guide them to appropriate answers for their unique situations. The Building Blocks to Effective Marketing The Building Blocks to Successful MarketingIt's More than Sales and AdvertisingBy Julie ChanceWhether you're a Fortune 500 company or a one person shop, to be successful, you must have a marketing strategy and you must implement it consistently. However, it doesn't have to cost a fortune and you don't have to be a creative genius. CD ROM Business Cards - Offline Marketing For Online Promotion It's a great concept, - and it has a 'cool factor' of 300%!Many people will pop these into their drive just because of image appeal alone. What's really neat is when one is so well done, so informative, so interactive, that everybody wants one. How Your List Affects Postage Costs HOW YOUR LIST AFFECTS POSTAGE COSTS AND WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!The quality and accuracy of address information in mailing lists is one of the areas least understood and largely overlooked by most businesses using direct mail. To get an advertising message delivered the address must be correct! Many firms that use direct mail neglect this vital aspect. Business Cards That do the Business A business card makes a statement about who you are and what your business is about. It needs to convey the quality of your business and an insight into your personality. Top 5 Ways to Generate Qualified Leads for Your Small Business Do you ever wonder if you could be doing a better job marketing your small business or professional service firm? Successfully marketing a small business is hard work. There are several key skills required to consistently develop new business that you, as a small business owner, must master in order to succeed. Your Marketing Message Your message is first among your weapons in the battle of perceptions.Your message allows you to accomplish many things. Stretching Your Marketing Dollars--7 Cheap and Easy Ways to Market on a Budget Just because you have to stretch your marketing dollars doesn't mean their effectiveness will decrease. The easiest marketing solution is often to simply throw money at a problem. Where Should I Network? Building business relationships through networking is a great way to build your business. The caveat? It's a slow process. Postcards - Picture Perfect Promotion There is a simple but almost mystical law which governs promotion and marketing and their relationship to the amount of business generated: business will come in to the degree that you get your message out, promote, let people know you are there, advertise, write to people, call people, e-mail people and generally communicate to existing or potential clients.It isn't a fact that registers easily and it almost takes faith to follow this dictum until you have seen it work over and over in all sorts of different businesses and organizations (as I have).
|
| Domain Names | E Books | Email Marketing | Ezine Marketing | |
| Internet Marketing | Marketing | PPC Advertising | SEO | |
| Traffic Building | Web Design | Web Development | Web Hosting |
|
Home | Site Map | Traffic Building
| Free
Classified Ads | Free-For-All
Ads | Reciprocal
Links | Search
Engines | |
| Copyright © 2006-2007. The Highland Marketing Group. All Rights Reserved. |
|
| ||
|
