3 Ways to Build the Perfect List for Your Next Direct Mail Campaign

According to a DMA report, direct mail campaigns have high response rates. They found for existing customer lists, the response rate is on average 9%, and for prospect lists it’s 5%. A well-planned direct mail campaign can help amplify your marketing strategy, break through the clutter from competitors, and drive customer action.

The effectiveness of every direct mail marketing campaign is directly related to the quality of the mailing list. To reach the right audience, you’ll need to make sure you create the list carefully. Here are some key considerations to keep in mind when you are in the process of building a mailing list for your next direct mail campaign:

1. Analyze your existing data. A great place to start building a mailing list is by reviewing the data you have from existing customers. If you are in need of additional data, there are many different strategies marketers use to collect customer and prospect names, emails, and physical addresses. Some of these strategies include; gathering data with trade show registrations, social media responses, contest entry forms, white paper downloads, product warranty cards, e-newsletters subscriptions, and other simple sign-up forms. Once you start building your list organically, you will be able to use that information to track your customer’s behavior and make better marketing decisions.

2. Harness the power of mailing list segmentation. As soon as you have the right number of contacts on your list, the next step will be to figure out which variables you can use to separate your contacts into smaller and meaningful groups. Highly targeted lists segment people based on things like geographic location, lifestyle characteristics or age group. Segmenting your house list will enable your message to be more relevant and meaningful.

3. Personalize the message for each audience. Today’s small and mid-sized business marketer can easily and affordably leverage the power of  highly targeted data to reach a very specific audience. With variable data printing capabilities from your print marketing provider, you can personalize text and images by individuals or groups to improve response rates.

Are you ready to start planning your next direct mail campaign?

Your local Allegra can help you source and manage all the data you need to build a successful mailing list. Contact Allegra for all your business design, print, and mailing needs.