LIST MANAGEMENT

Direct - mail advertisers use three types of lists:

1. 2. 3. House Mail response Compiled

INTERNAL LISTS
House lists: A companys customers are its most important asset. A house lists contains a companys current recent, and past customers

EXTERNAL LISTS
Mail Response Lists: After current customers, the advertisers second most important prospects are people who respond to direct-mail pieces from other companies especially those with complementary products or services.

For example a company that advertises sports car caps might want the response list of a company that sells driving gloves.

COMPILED LISTS
Compiled lists, the most readily available, are those that some Source compiles for a particular reason - for example Lists of car owners,
Chamber of commerce presidents, Union members, and so on.

List Brokers and List Selection

TWO SIDES SERVED LIST BROKER

1. The Client (mailer)

2. List Owner

For products sold in Vertical market e.g., Doctor, Lawyer etc. finding the right list is simple.

Products that has a broader appeal is complex to sell for them List Brokers are there.

RELATIONSHIP WITH LIST BROKER

1. Bring the list broker into the picture at an early stage

2. Give the broker, time to do a professional job.

3. List- rental order must be cleared for approval with the list owner.

LIST MANAGERS
List management company takes over the complete management of a list for rental purpose.

FUNCTIONS OF LIST MANAGERS:1. Handling contacts with list brokers. 2. Clearing sample mailing piece and mail date with list owner. 3. Processing list- rental orders.

4. Ensure delivery of lists within the specified returned date.

5. Billing the broker on behalf of the list owner.

6. Collecting payment and remitting it to the list owner less brokers commission and list management fees.

7. Assuming responsibility for all promotion of the list and sales activity, usually without charge to the list owner. 8. If the list owner so desires, assuming responsibility for the maintenance of the list either in house or with an outside service bureau.
9. Providing the list owner with a detailed activity and accounting report, usually on a monthly basis.

LIST RENTALS
List can be ordered directly from a list owner. Most list - rental orders are placed through list brokers. The broker handles all the details with the list owner clearances, order placement, follow up for order completing, billing, collecting and payment to the list owner , less the usual 20% commission that accrues to the list brokers.

THE RENTAL OF LISTS INVOLVES THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS:

1. The name are rented for one time use only. no copy of the list is to be retained for any purpose whatsoever

2.

Usage must be cleared with the list owner in advance. The mailing piece that is approved is the only one that can be used.

3.

The mail date approved by the list owner must be adhered to.

LIST RENTALS ARE CHARGED ON A PER THOUSAND NAME BASIS.

Net name arrangements vary, but most list owners will specify the percentage for which the full list rental charge per thousand must be paid plus a specific running cost for the names not used.

Most list owner charge extra for selection such as sex, regency, stage, unit of sale, or any segmentation available on the particular list.

List Protection
List decoying : The traditional protection for such misuse is to include a number of fictitious names so that the list owner can trace the number of mailings.

a) Permanent Decoys : Names that remain on our list to protect it from theft when stored at your office or your service bureau.

b) Temporary Decoys : Names we change each time we rent or exchange our list; they help us determine responsibility if there is an unauthorized use of our list.

SERVICE BUREAU
Service bureau provide a number of functions : Improve Lists Lists enhancement Merge/Purge

MARKET TESTS
To identify the market spectrum test is recommended.
Spectrum test is-: A sort of X,Y,Z arrangement

Middle group Y is drawn from the list that appear to be right on target.
X from certainty of factors.

Z reflects a very different profile.

S.No .

List of Category

No. of Lists

Total no. of Prospects. 2500000

1-

Art/antique lovers

28

2.
3.

Photography
Decorating items

14
16

1554000
1444540

4.
5.

Corporate Office
Cultural members association

23
12

1047000
893560

6.

Club members

17

2140250

Procedure to be followed for testing is :

Divide the lists into X, Y and Z category.

Take some of the lists from each category.

Take sample of potential customers from each of number of list within each category.

the

Qualified lists will be those, in which the response rate is 5%-10%.

LIST OF CATEGORY QUALITY

NO. OF LISTS

TEST

Corporate Office
Cultural Association members Y Art/Antique Lovers Decorating Items Z Club Members Photography

10
06

50,000
30,000

14 07

70,000 35,000

05 04

25,000 20,000

TEST RESULTS

NO. OF TESTS 10 06

QUALIFIED LISTS

SUCCESS RATE 80% 100.0%

Corporate Office Cultural association members Art/Antique Lovers Decorating items Club Members Photograhy

08 06

14 07 05 04

10 07 01 01

71.4% 100.0% 20% 25%

46

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APPENDIX
Principles:
The unavoidable principles given by ROSE HARPER are: 1. Direct marketing companies do not have a single mailing lists, they have many. 2. Consumers are purposeful human beings with goals & interests and a distinct purchasing behavior.

3. Renting list can be a form of our market research.

4. In direct mail we can control our package, offer, product, but the rental list so important to our success is the one factor we can not really control.

For protecting the listlist renters should also ask for a sample of the mailing material. A mailing may be in bad taste or contain a deceptive offer.

However, the much greater problem is that the mailing may be too closely competitive with the list owners products. Renting a list should provide additional profit, not additional competition.

5 Mail every month to find out when our customers and prospects are most likely to buy, we may uncover a good new session that is right for us. 6. All orders should be traced by lists for collectibility, renewabiltiy, and life time value.
7. Look at list selections an investors looks at a stock portfolio: choose mostly sale guaranteed money makers some slightly more speculative.

8. Hot line (recency) segmentation is very important and in some cases as important as the affirnity factory.

9. Follow these standard list selection guidelines.

Descriptions (subscribers, members, buyers, donors, expires, former buyers). Affinity (based on consumer profile, previous list history or a subjective interaction or experience). Source used to acquire names (direct mail, space, radio, telephone). Recency of acquisition, such as hot line names. Frequency (i.e. multi-buyers). Unit of sales.

10. Don't look at he success or failure of a single list.

11. Some products are demographically self defining e.g. acene treatments.

12. The more we know about our own customers, the more directed the test list selection.

13. It is important, particularly in a start up situation to understand that in some instances the first mailing does not yield a profit.

14. It is logical to assume that the same group of names that pulled 19% in January will not pull the same response in August.

15. Mail the list before it is too late.