- Raising response rates (1)
- Uncategorised (37)
- 11/07/2008: Some email ads do more harm than good
- 02/07/2008: A perfect piece of useless research
- 21/06/2008: Getting leads on the internet and via email
- 12/06/2008: The psychology of perception: it doubles your response rates
- 28/05/2008: The most cost effective form of advertising I have ever seen
- 01/05/2008: What do schools want to know?
- 17/04/2008: This is just the right time to do direct mail
- 10/04/2008: Who is watching whom?
- 06/04/2008: How common sense in direct marketing can do more harm than good
- 04/04/2008:
What you need to check when buying a B2B mailing list
The Business List Audit which was created by the DMA to try and overcome the high levels of “gone aways” found in B2B lists, has collapsed.
The DMA claimed that only 12 out of 250 firms joined the scheme after it was launched 5 years ago. The scheme included the need for list companies to provide samples of their list to the DMA compliance team for verification.
A significant part of the problem - and one that the DMA was warned about when it launched the scheme - was that just checking the accuracy of a list was only one tiny part of the B2B direct mail issue. There is certainly an argument to be made that proper guarantees by the list supplier is a big issue. Further there is the question as to whether an individual list is really right for the promotion.
Hardly any companies that sell lists offer to look at the promotion that is going out, in order to see that it makes sense when used against the list. Thus the postal system is filled with badly written and/or wrongly targeted pieces - and the DMA Audit system said nothing on these issues.
To blow a trumpet I have sitting next to me as I write this, Hamilton House always offers to take a look at promotional copy and comment on it in terms of its impact to the chosen market, and the chance of success with the selected list. Most of our clients express surprise at this extra free service - which is very much not the norm across the DMA. If you want to use the service do give us a call on 01536 399 000 - or just email me the piece with details of the list you are thinking of using and your phone number, and I will call you back.
Tony Attwood