Let’s develop some eye-catching marketing pieces with compelling messages, buy a list of prospects in our industry and start executing campaigns. That’s the marketing approach many companies take. Sounds good, right? Well… not quite. While it’s the right idea, the steps are out of order. The first step of any marketing campaign is to identify your ideal customer. Once you know who that is, you’ve got to find a list of more prospects like them BEFORE you start developing your creative.
It doesn’t make sense to shoot before you aim. Without precisely managed list and data work, marketing isn’t targeted, and you can end up wasting time and money trying to grab and hold the attention of leads who either aren’t interested or won’t provide the ROI you’re looking for. If your company has been guilty of putting the cart before the horse, rethink your approach and make sure your list and data are up to snuff so your marketing is on target.
Tips for Your List & Data
Depending on the situation, list and data work can be relatively simple, or it can be complex. List companies can provide valuable information, but only if you know which relevant data points to focus on. Keeping your list(s) clean with current contact info requires the right programs and the knowledge of how to use them. And above all, you’ve got to have the right strategy in place to ensure the data you’re compiling is ideal for your marketing and sales goals.
Here are some tips for your list and data:
- Have a Clearly Defined Target Audience — When you have a clear understanding of your target audience, you can procure consumer and business lists based on a huge variety of prospect-specific demographics.
- Utilize World-Class List Compilers — There are many customer acquisition list sources. By utilizing a marketing agency, you can gain access to the most reliable and respected list compilers: Dun & Bradstreet, Acxiom and Experian are a few examples.
- Gain Access to Propensity Lists — Another advantage of working with a marketing agency is that it gets you unprecedented access to data previously exclusive to Fortune 500 companies. Utilizing unique criteria designed to predict consumer behavior, as well as product and brand affinities, will increase a consumer’s likeness to respond, convert and remain loyal.
- Update & Improve — It doesn’t take long for lists to become stale or outdated. There are many ways to keep it fresh and on target. More on this in the next section…
List & Data Services
Here is an extensive (but not all-inclusive) inventory of list and data services:
- List Improvement — Merging & Deduplication, National Change of Address
- Mailing Improvement — CASS certification, Bulk Mail Presorting, Geocoding & Geomatching
- Database Design, Discovery and Analysis
- Adventure’s IDeal™ Customer Discovery
- Customer Profile Attribute Definition (personas)
- Industry Segmentation
- Customer Acquisition Lead Lists (mail and email)
- Audience Propensity Lists
- Digital Integration – PURLs, GURLs, QR Codes
- Digital Data & List-Building Techniques
Need Help With Your List & Data Requirements?
Your prospect and customer lists are the lifeblood of your company and shouldn’t be taken for granted. Arm your marketing department with the best information you can. We can help. Here’s how:
Our list cleansing and improvement services (merging, deduplication, verification, procurement and National Change of Address) help maximize deliverability by eliminating incorrect or duplicate information so that your marketing touch reaches more of your ideal prospects. Our data services, which include domestic email append, company-based data enhancement, persona-based data enhancement and international data enhancement, provide you with additional demographic and psychographic information so that you can format your marketing to connect with targets at a deeper level.
Whether you need a list based on provided prospect demographics or need help determining the best way to identify your IDeal™ customer and build a list mirroring those previous successes, our list and data services are at your disposal.
Contact us to learn more.
