Lists : Maximum Help From Limited Resources

The list business is shrinking, but the experts and their knowledge are still there for the asking

Catalogers also need to rely on the experience of the list firms they choose to work with for information beyond list counts. Different list firms and list professionals often have very specific areas of expertise. So, if you’re marketing to a niche, determine who’s an expert in that field.

The need to service clients more fully with less compensation applies to co-op database companies as well. “We and our clients must now work harder than ever,” says Stacey Hawes, senior vice president of account management and business development for Abacus, which administers the industry’s largest co-op database of more than 1,600 participants. “We spend more time partnering with our clients so we can fully understand their businesses. We now offer full-service solutions to meet all of their direct marketing needs.”

Abacus often studies clients’ mail plans beyond prospecting to learn how deeply clients’ databases can be mined to reactivate older buyers, or how to get more inquiries to convert to buyers. In the world of consumer lists, this may even mean mining gift recipients to get them to purchase gifts for their friends and families.

Since some multichannel merchants, for instance, no longer have the time, staff or money to go the traditional route of ordering a variety of lists from different vendors, they have to schedule separate merge/purges to prepare names for a printer. Among the co-ops, Abacus now offers its FastPath service to fill this need.

FastPath allows marketers access to an integrated, complete circulation solution that combines Abacus’ co-op data and state-of-the-art modeling. In addition, catalog members can get postal preparation services through FastPath, which simplifies the process of getting offers in the mail, reduces overall costs, and further enhances response potential and strategic flexibility.

It’s not surprising that as multichannel marketers try to stretch their prospecting dollars further, they ask their list firms to negotiate more and better deals. Huntoon and Hawes both point out their companies spend a lot of time helping clients do much more, such as performing multichannel analysis of clients’ campaigns and developing complete circ plans. Sometimes they act as the repository of history for catalogers when changes at catalog companies make history difficult to recreate.

Build Partnerships
The small- and medium-size catalog companies need the most help, and often turn to list firms for that help. Ronda Anderson, marketing manager for American Time & Signal Co., a Dassel, Minn.-based multichannel marketer of clocks and clock parts, says she doesn’t find competition among list firms to be a major issue right now. “Our process is to find a good partner to stay with,” she says. Her goal is to learn more about industry trends and standards, “so we can mail smarter. A trusted list partner can help provide that information.”

No matter how you choose to prospect these days, include all your partners in the process — from the very beginning. This team should include list brokers and managers, co-op database providers, merge/purge vendors, among others. Literally everyone, all so they can know each other and their respective roles in your campaign. You’ll gain nothing and risk plenty by keeping parties in the dark.

Once the team is assembled, share the results of previous mailings and e-mailings with all members, internally and externally. Make sure everyone clearly knows the goals of the mailing — to generate new customers, more profit, reactivate older customers and so forth. This inclusive approach must extend to multiple channel partners, so if there’s a combined e-mailing and mailing campaign, all parties are aware.

Regardless of how sophisticated the technology has become, or how difficult the economy has become, solid direct marketing principles still apply. Don’t stop prospecting, but prospect smarter, using not just acquisition, but reactivation and list rental optimization.

Mary Ann Kleinfelter is vice president of marketing at L-com, a B-to-B catalog/multichannel marketer of connectivity products based in North Andover, Mass. You can reach her at mkleinfelter@L-com.com.

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