To Purchase Mailing Lists Go The Source Of The Best Ones

By Brandie Montgomery


The art of direct marketing has been with us for many, many years. It is not going to change as there are things you can do to promote yourself and products that can not be accomplished any other way. The creativity, the range of messages and the fact it will not be deleted before it is looked at are all in your favor. The most important element of the entire campaign is still how and where to purchase mailing lists.

Several places offer these mailing lists, however, a few minutes spent checking other things out will be necessary. You will need to identify what, exactly, you are selling. You need to understand, a little more, what your current customers like about what you offer and establish a pattern for when they buy what during the year. This will assist in knowing what types of list to get and where to get it.

When thinking about the two main types of mailing lists, you will chose the one that fits your customer base the best. The first one will be generated from the responses other firms have received from their direct marketing efforts. You will want to find a list that has a lot of responses from products and service similar to the ones your offer.

Another type of list would be the one that is of all members of a sub group, such as all fast food restaurants in a given area. It also might list those by menu categories, size and whether they are a franchise or not. Important information if your product is marketed to these types of businesses. Listings of all other industries are available.

When you have decided what it is you need, approach the source with enough questions to make sure they have what you are looking for. The fresher the list, the better the results. The tighter the entities interest in your service or product, the better. The larger the list, the better, all things being equal. You will still need to do the testing but you have a fair chance by checking into everything having to do with the list you are looking at.

The over 10,000 magazines, published in the United States, alone, can help you get a very wide distribution of your best mailing piece. These magazines, some of which are for a tight interest group, will rent or sell their subscription lists for the right deal. Present their readers with a good product that helps them enjoy the magazine better and the price will be right.

The many catalogs that are sent around the world are also a very good source. These catalogs can be as general as a shopping mall or as focused as a kiosk. There are those that make a good portion of their yearly profit by renting out those important mailing lists. They will express the interests of their customers to a degree that will assist you in knowing you may just get a better return than the normal two percent.

Planning your campaign and designing the best marketing piece is one thing. Getting the right list to make that effort worth the time you spend on it is another. Knowing your customer base and their likes and dislikes and targeting those lists is the process you need to perform. In your efforts to purchase mailing lists, study, ask questions and then test a small amount of that list before you spend a lot of time and money on it.




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