Direct Mail List Rental Strategies

So, you're ready to purchase your first direct mail list rental?

Should be fairly easy, right?

Actually, putting together a quality direct mail list that perfectly matches your target audience takes careful planning.

Follow these simple direct mail list rental strategies to help ensure your investment pays off.

Special Note: These strategies relate to renting external lists for the purpose of mailing to Suspects. Your own internal list, known as your House List, is used for mailings related to your prospects and customers. I do not recommend mixing rented Suspect lists with your house Prospect/Customer list.

Direct Mail List Rental Strategy #1: Reduce Your Risk

I like to think of your list rental as a mutual fund. You want to include a variety of list sources so that if any single source performs below expectations, the other sources will act as an offset.

Direct Mail List Rental Strategy #2: Find a Good List Broker

Type in "List Broker" into Google and see what you find. There are lots of list brokers out there. But just as you wouldn't pick a doctor by looking in the Yellow Pages, you shouldn't simply pick a list broker because they rank high in Google.

The key is finding a broker that knows and understands your target audience. Most every broker has access to the same mailing lists and charges roughly the same price. However, if you can locate a broker that has experience with your types of products and services, this can help ensure your final mail list is the best it can be.

Interview your list brokers and ask them specific questions about your business and target market. It will be obvious when you find a knowledgeable and proactive list manager.

Here are some topics to cover when you interview a potential list broker.

Does the broker know your competition?
Does the broker use a wide variety of list sources?
Does the broker know how any particular list is refined and how often it is updated?
Will the broker proactively work to help and assist you in the selection process?

Direct Mail List Rental Strategy #3: Obtain List Samples

For each individual list you rent that makes up your overall list, ask to see a sample output. Check this composite list sample to make sure everything looks reasonable with the data.

For example, if you are renting company names, is a company actually listed with each individual name? Are the titles and businesses appropriate for the selections you requested? Are there any obvious duplications? Are there home addresses when you expected business addresses? Are zip codes missing? If you ordered all female names, are there any male names listed?

I think you get the point. While your broker should be making these same checks, don't leave it up to them alone. Two eyes are always better than one. Finding any obvious errors now can save you a lot of grief later on.

Make sure you ask for a random sample from each list, not just the first 100 names. A random sample is much better for evaluation.

Direct Mail List Rental Strategy #4: Use Updated Lists

When was the last time the list was updated for accuracy? I recommend you use lists that have been updated within the past 90 days.

You can rent what are known as Hot Lists. These are people that have responded to offers and/or made a purchase in the recent past. These can be good lists as they use the concept of Recency to increase the likelihood of a response.

Direct Mail List Rental Strategy #5: Perform a Merge/Purge

Once you have made your list selections, you will want to perform what is called a merge/purge. This will remove any duplicate names that may be on multiple lists.

In addition, because you are mailing Suspects, you will want to perform a merge/purge of your final rented list against your house list in order to remove your existing prospects and buyers.

Remember, this is a Suspect mailing, designed to convert Suspects into new prospects. You want to ensure your not inadvertently mailing existing prospects and customers. If there is any confusion about this, please read Marketing to Your Customer Types.

By incorporating these five basic strategies into your list rental regimen, you'll drastically increase your chances of pulling together a high-response list the first time around!