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Investing In Mailing Lists

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When it comes to marketing there are many different methods and programs that you can use. Some of them will work where others will be a lost cause. If you invest money into a mailing list and you get a very low response rate and a lot of returned letters, it is obvious that you have purchased a faulty list. You need to clean up your mailing lists as much as possible and it is important that you purchase lists from trusted companies that have been able to provide you with a quality list that actually pertains to your business.

A mailing list needs to be stored in some type of database. A lot of businesses will use Microsoft Access as it is universal and easy to use. Other companies will build their own database. It all depends on what you can afford to spend on a database and how easy it is for you to use that database. Your employees need to be able to go in and edit customer information quickly and easily. If they struggle in doing this, it can make it difficult for you to keep your database clean so you can mail out letters to your customers.

Should you purchase a list from a mailing list broker or from other companies that are putting them together in your industry? Sometimes you can get a list for free because you have a good relationship with another company in your niche market. Other times you may need to spend a great deal of money on the list and you may only be able to use the list once. Hiring a mailing list broker can provide you with a list but will it be created to your niche market? This is something that you need to consider as mailing list brokers do not always offer the best results.

A mailing list broker has a large database and they often use survey programs to find out information that people are interested in. They will then list all of these people into categories which may or may not apply to your business. In some cases you will have people that input something such as "music" but this doesn't mean they are interested in buying your CD! You have to understand what type of research is done by the mailing list broker to compile the list so you can be sure that you are getting a quality list that actually returns results.

Clean up your own mailing list to pull out names that are duplicates along with missing zip codes and other things. Regular maintenance on your mailing list will be able to prevent you from having returned letters and other things that can cause a lot of wasted money and time. When you use a mailing list you want to be sure that it is up to date and accurate. City records can assist you in cleaning your mailing list up as they are required to update their records. This way you will be able to reference some of your customers that may have moved or customers that do not have a complete address in your system.

How much should you spend on a mailing list? It depends on the product that you are promoting and what type of results you are hoping to get. Some companies can drop a few thousand dollars on a mailing list where others cannot spend even $100. You need to look at the costs and to know what your company is able to afford when it comes to finding a good mailing list.

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