Business Lead Lists

Business Lead Lists

According to industry experts, three main factors affect direct mail response: the list, the offer, and creative, respectively. Getting to the right person in the right company is key - otherwise, your direct marketing efforts are a waste of time and money. Follow these power tips to boost list performance:

1. Does the list match your target audience?

Develop a written profile of your best prospects, including company size, revenue, job titles of decision makers, key industries and more. Also include criteria you want to avoid. Give this profile to list brokers and also conduct research on the Internet. As you evaluate lists, keep asking, "Does this list match our target profile characteristics?"

Use list selects to carefully hone in on the "most likely suspects." You'll weed out thousands of irrelevant prospects - saving thousands of dollars in postage and production costs.

2. When was the last list updated?

Lists get old - fast. For example, Info USA reports that it makes changes to about 1 million records every month for its database of 14 million businesses. In addition, about 70 percent of their business records are updated with some significant change every year.

3. Which companies are using the list more than once?

When requesting list information, ask for list users and list continuation users. If there aren't many continuation users, it could be a sign the list didn't perform well, so it wasn't used again. Also check if your competitors or other solid, well-known companies used the list. If so, you'll have a better chance of getting a quality list.

4. Where does the list come from - what is its source?

Make sure you know where the list comes from. Good "response" sources include both paid and unpaid trade magazine subscribers, trade show and seminar attendees, industry associations, and actual "buyer" or customer lists. If purchasing a compiled list, stick with leading national providers such as Dun and Bradstreet and Info USA.

5. Is this list a "bargain" or a "special deal"?

With few exceptions, bargain-basement lists advertised via email or fax are usually too good to be true. Especially in the B-to-B market, these lists usually end up costing you far more money than they save. Steer clear of them - and purchase lists from reputable brokers or

Exact Business lead Lists