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List Rental 101
The document provides information on direct marketing best practices, including the importance of selecting the right target audience list, developing an appealing offer, and creating compelling creative content. It notes that 40% of direct marketing success is dependent on the quality of the mailing list, while 40% relies on the offer and 20% on the creative message. The document also outlines additional considerations for direct marketing campaigns such as tracking responses, defining metrics, selecting appropriate media, and identifying typical industry benchmarks.
List Rental 101
- 1. BorgDirect Marketing Direct: 415.682.4304 Fax:415.520.2317 P.O. Box #225022 San Francisco, CA 94122-5022 www.borgdirect.com | Member: DMAnc Email: Steve@borgdirect.com OR sales@borgdirect.com List Rental 101
- 2. Background on theDirect Marketing Industry The practice of using mailing lists by U.S. firms to promote their good or services is over 130 years old and the national Direct Marketing Association was founded in 1917. List Selection. With over 75,000 lists on the market (Target Marketing 2013), it can be a challenge to identify which lists will best deliver the mailer’s message to their target audience & deliver results. 2 BorgDirect Marketing 2014
- 3. 40% - Thelist Whether it’s a segment of your internal list or an external list, the list you use for direct mail, email or telemarketing is critical. The list represents the universe of people to whom you are going to present your offer. You need to ensure that this list is composed of people for whom your offer is relevant. For example, a campaign offering discount tires would fail if it were sent to people who didn’t own cars. You also need to ensure that lists with sufficient numbers of your target audience exist before developing your campaign. The 40-40-20 Rule for Direct Marketing Success 3 BorgDirect Marketing 2014
- 4. The 40-40-20 Rulefor Direct Marketing Success - con’t 20% - The Creative The creative needs to express your offer in a clear and compelling manner that will gain the attention of your target audience. No matter what you’re selling, however, it is important to remember that the right list and the right offer will generate responses even if the creative is poor. On the other hand, the best creative in the world will fail completely if either the list or offer is unsuitable/ill-matched/poorly chosen. 4 BorgDirect Marketing 2014
- 5. The 40-40-20 Rulefor Direct Marketing Success - con’t  40% - The Offer Of course, your product, solution, or service must be useful, timely, and priced appropriately for your target audience. Otherwise, it doesn’t matter how good your list is. 5 BorgDirect Marketing 2014 List 40% Off er 40% Creat ive 20%
- 6. List Sources ď‚—The StandardRate & Data Service (SRDS), is the accepted reference manual for the entire dm industry which catalogs the majority of the business & consumer lists. The SRDS contains the contact information available for where particular lists are managed at & who to contact. The publication also has information on the lists themselves (datacards/rate cards) which provides pricing, counts, and selectability on each list (or file). ď‚—Marketing Information Network (MIN) and NextMark are comprehensive list sources as well. 6 BorgDirect Marketing 2014
- 7. There are threetypes of lists: 1) Your Customer/Prospect Database: Your own internal list of customers and prospects is going to perform better, in terms of response rates, than any external list you might use. 2) Response Lists: (MeritDirect/Statlistics/IDG List Services) •A response list is composed of people who have taken an action of some kind to get on the list. •Response lists are carefully managed by the list owners so as to ensure that (a) they keep their subscribers/buyers/conference attendees satisfied, and (b) their mailers are successful and keep coming back. •Response Lists can be subdivided into: •Paid Magazine Subscriber Lists •Controlled Circulation Magazine Lists •Newsletter Subscription Lists •Business-to-Business Databases or Masterfiles •Association Lists •Event Attendees Lists Types of Lists 7 BorgDirect Marketing 2014
- 8. Types of Lists– con’t 3) Compiled Lists (InfoUSA/Dunhills/D&B) Compiled Lists are derived from public records. Primary sources include the yellow pages, directories, phone research, government data, internet websites and any other information that is in the public domain. They are not as productive as response lists since the people on the list have taken no action to get themselves on the list. On the other hand, compiled lists are less expensive. Compiled lists are good sources – often the only sources - for providing large numbers of names within a limited geographical area. They have greater penetration within certain industries and professions (doctors and lawyers, e.g.), allowing you to reach people and companies unavailable through Response lists. Compiled lists are also useful for reaching consumers with specific demographics (women aged 18-30, within a 20 mile radius of a certain zip code, for example). Compiled Lists, unlike Response Lists, can be rented for either one-time use or on a one-year unlimited use basis. 8 BorgDirect Marketing 2014
- 9. Datacards: The description andpricing for a list is represented on a datacard. This contains a summary description of the list, the source for the names on the list, the minimum order quantity, and pricing. Selects vary from list to list. -With business lists selects include: •Job Title or Function •Industry •Number of Employees •Annual Sales Volume •Geographical Location -With consumer lists selects include: •Geographical Location •Interest or Activity •Average Order Size •Age •Gender •Marital Status •Presence of Children •Income 9 BorgDirect Marketing 2014
- 10. Types of Media DirectMail – postal addresses Email – email addresses Telemarketing – phone numbers Multichannel – a combination of two or more of the above, at a discounted price. **A sample of the postal, email creative or phone script must be submitted & cleared by the list owner prior to any list rental use. Targets: B-to-B: Business to business marketing. Targeting company services versus individualized services. B-to-C: Business to consumer marketing. Targeting consumers in a 1 to 1 relationship. 10 BorgDirect Marketing 2014
- 11. List Firms ď‚—Many Listfirms specialize in the management (& brokerage) of specific types of lists. Examples consists of: Compilers, Business Response files, Consumer Response Lists, Associations, Religious-based Lists, Catalog lists & Attendees to various seminars/events. ď‚—List brokers who work out of list mgmt firms usually include in-house managed lists in their recommendations to customers even if they are not the best fit because the commission rates are higher (usually 30%) vs. 20% for outside list sources. ď‚—There are more list firms & data sources available on the market than ever before. Always note the source of the list data when renting or purchasing a list. Ask for the list usage report which contains a sampling of the companies who have previously used the file & how recently the fileupdated. 11 BorgDirect Marketing 2014
- 12. List Brokers •The mostimportant service a list broker can provide is to research and recommend a list or set of lists for you, along with selects, that will enable you to reach your target audience. Because brokers do not own the lists they provide, they are unbiased, and can focus solely on which lists will work best for you. An experienced list broker offers the additional value of knowing which lists are reputable. Bring your list broker in at the start of the campaign development phase so that they can help you plan how best to reach your target market. You want to find out early on, before the creative is developed, whether lists and selects for the target audience you have in mind are available, and in what quantity. • Your list broker will also handle the nuts and bolts of processing your order, making sure that your mailing house or call center receives the proper list(s), that the list owners receive your email creative on schedule, and the tests are performed to your satisfaction. Your list broker will also take care of the billing and payment, which can be a significant benefit when you are renting multiple lists belonging to different list owners. •So be nice to your list broker, they go the extra mile for you! 12 BorgDirect Marketing 2014
- 13. List Pricing An experiencedbroker will also negotiate pricing (on behalf of their clients) with the list managers based on certain order volumes or mailing budget. Examples are: Select fee waivers – Especially on multichannel orders. Net name arrangements – pay for 85% net on large postal order quantities (usually minimum of 50,000 names). Break on postal & email pricing for reuse/reblast list orders. 13 BorgDirect Marketing 2014
- 14. What Kind ofResponse Rate Should You Expect? The short answer to that question is, it depends. The more important question is what kind of response rate do you need in order for the campaign to be pay for itself, at a minimum, and, even better, generate revenue for your company? The formula for measuring a campaign’s break-even point is simply:  Campaign Cost / Net Profit per Unit Sold For example, if the net profit per unit sold for the company is $1,000, and the campaign costs $3,000, only three sales would be needed for the campaign to break even. In that case, assuming the mailing quantity was 5,000, and that 6% of the responses turned into sales, you would need only a 1% response rate (50 responses) in order for the campaign to break even.  % of 5,000 is 50 responses  6% of 50 3 sales 14 BorgDirect Marketing 2014
- 15. What Kind ofResponse Rate Should You Expect – con’t Of course, the true measure of a campaign’s revenue contribution also includes an estimate of the life-time value of each customer acquired through the campaign. That is, you don’t just measure one sale but also a projection of future sales to the same customer over time.  It is important to note that there are no true general standards for response rates. It is possible to measure average response rates in aggregate for industries or types of campaigns (email, postal mail, telemarketing) but these are merely measures of past results and are not predictive for any individual campaign. The response rate for any specific campaign depends upon a number of factors including getting the offer to the right audience (the list), whether or not the audience is ready to buy, whether the offer is expressed in a way that gets the attention of the target audience, etc., etc. That’s the art of marketing. 15 BorgDirect Marketing 2014
- 16. Tracking Mechanisms ď‚— Themechanisms for tracking responses are very similar for email and direct mail. Ideally, a direct marketing piece will offer multiple methods for a recipient to respond, each of which can be tracked by the direct marketer. ď‚— Direct mail tracking methods include use of keycoding, URL with Tracking ID, 800 Telephone #, Order Form. ď‚— Email tracking methods include use of URLs with Tracking ID, Web Site Registration, Landing Page Registration, 800 Telephone #, Order Form. ď‚— URL with Tracking ID: ď‚— The URL with tracking ID enables you to count how many web site visits from each list and/or creative piece occur as a result of the campaign. The URL is the web site address for the landing or registration page, created specifically for the campaign, that recipients are invited to visit. The tracking ID is an extra set of characters at the end of the URL which can be captured in order to identify which list the recipient came from and/or which creative piece the recipient received. Each visit (click-through) to the landing page can be counted along with how many click-throughs are associated with each tracking ID16 BorgDirect Marketing 2014
- 17. Tracking Mechanisms –con’t  Web Site Registration  Whereas the URL with Tracking ID allows you to count the number of visits or click-throughs, web site registration lets you know who visited your web site, how to contact them, and, depending upon the questions you ask, how they rank as prospects for your product or service (or if they actually buy – if the goal is a direct sale from the web site). This is a crucial part of measuring the success of the campaign and maximizing the chances that a response will eventually lead to a sale.  Web site registration is a simple form that visitors are asked to complete in order to receive whatever it is that the campaign is offering. The form should be as short and easy to complete as possible. It should consist of basic contact information (Name, Company Name, Job title, Address, Phone Number, Email Address, e.g.) and also a few key qualifying questions that determine whether or not the registrant is a good prospect for your product or service. Those questions will depend upon the nature of your business. This is especially important if you receive a large number of responses (say, two-hundred or more) so that your sales team can identify which company has the most potential and whom to contact first.17 BorgDirect Marketing 2014
- 18. Definitions of EmailMetrics BorgDirect Marketing 201418 •Open Rate (Unique): The unique open rate measures one open per recipient and is expressed as a percentage of the total number of delivered email messages. •Gross/Total Open Rate: It measures how many times the email message is opened, either by the original recipients or by those to whom the original recipient forwards the message by using the “forward” button in the email client instead of a “forward to a friend” link. •Click-Through Rate (CTR): Measures the percentage of email messages that drew at least one click. •Click-to-Open Rate (CTOR): Measures the percentage of opened messages that recorded clicks. To calculate, divide the number of unique clicks by the number of opened messages and multiply by 100. •Unsubscribe/Opt-out Rate: The percentage of delivered email messages that generate unsubscribe requests. Hard Bounce Rate: The percentage of sent messages that failed (bounced) because the address doesn’t exist or the account was closed. Conversions: An email recipient performs the desired action based on an email received. A conversion can be defined as a lead, a sale, or a download.
- 19. Direct Marketing Industry BenchmarkSources ď‚—The national Direct Marketing Association of America ď‚—http://thedma.org/ ď‚—The DMA publishes the 2014 Statistical Facebook. A compilation of hundreds of facts about data-driven marketing. ď‚—Marketing Sherpa is a primary research facility, wholly- owned by MECLABS, dedicated to determining what works in marketing via exclusive case studies, surveys, and results data analysis ď‚—http://www.meclabs.com/marketing_sherpa BorgDirect Marketing 201419
- 20. Best Days toDeploy Emails BorgDirect Marketing 201420
- 21. THANK YOU BorgDirect Marketing Direct:415.682.4304 Fax: 415.520.2317 P.O. Box #225022 San Francisco, CA 94122-5022 www.borgdirect.com | Member: DMAnc Email: Steve@borgdirect.com OR sales@borgdirect.com Contact us today to obtain your mailing list! BorgDirect Marketing 201421