Buying Data and Marketing lists
Hard Yakka or a stroll in the park?
You've decided to increase your prospect database and you’re about to take the plunge into buying some new data. For longer than I’ve been in the business of providing marketing data (alongside fax and email broadcasting), I was in the business of acquiring data so I thought I’d share a few tips.
Like any shopping process, be it for a new car, a pair of shoes, or a new marketing list, it should start before you get to the “shop”. What do I really want? Why do I want it? OK lets go find one. Then you find out that “One of those” costs 10 times your budget and you have to re evaluate your needs from your wants. But you still need to think in terms of an “ideal” as a starting point, even if it’s unattainable.
What’s the ideal car? Well a teleportation machine, obviously! What’s the ideal prospect list? A list of 100% goers, gagging to buy, fully qualified customers just waiting to knock your door down and buy all that you offer’ - of course! Work back from there.
The other way of course is the Bunnings Method. You know, the one where you go shopping for a box of screws and come back with a bench saw, a hot dog and a lawnmower!
So that’s the first tip;
Think it through; Who are your ideal prospects? What would such a list consist of?
Tip two;
Before you get to the checkout, figure out how you intend communicate to the prospects. Direct mail? Telemarketing? Fax broadcast? Or even Email? (And of course the latter is covered by the Spam Act in this country!)
Tip Three;
Find a real live supplier to talk to who doesn’t just send you to his website, or give you a standard price list. Nut it around with him/her and find the right balance between ideal and affordable, let them poke their nose into how the list fits into your overall marketing objectives. If they can’t be bothered to help you with that, vote with your feet.
The fourth tip;
Pick up the jargon. There isn’t that much but as soon as someone mentions “DNC Washing and deduping”, stop them right there and clarify.
Drop me an email and I’ll send you my jargon list with down to earth explanations. (http://www.prospects.com.au/manager/ListTips@prospects.com.au)
Again using the car buying analogy, if you don’t know what a manual gearbox is, don’t just nod when the salesman is filling in the order for you. Ask questions; so what if he thinks you’re a couple of snags short of a Barbie!
The fifth tip;
Get an estimate of the “fail rate”. If you call 100 prospects on a list it is unlikely that you’ll get through to 100 companies who are as the list states. Quality is really a question of how close something is to your expectations.
The number of firms going out of business or moving premises is staggering so one thing to remember is that a list is out of date as soon as you get it. Not to mention simple errors like a plumber being listed as an undertaker.
So ask questions about the age of a list and ask questions about expected percentage of errors. Even 20% fail rate is acceptable if you’re aware of it at the purchase stage, AND the price of the list reflects this.
Tip number six;
The less you want, the more expensive purchasing data gets.
OK if you really want a list of the entire one legged picture-framers in Melbourne CBD who have more than 8 employees, it’s going to cost you a lot. It can sometimes be more economical to buy a database of the whole state, sorted by business type, and then select the exact criteria you want.
Tip number seven;
Place the order in writing and specify exactly what you want, and what you want it for. Maybe that’s a principle that applies across all aspects of life in general, even choosing a spouse! But it certainly applies to ordering marketing and advertising data.
For example if you just asked for “schools in Victoria” you need to consider do you really want to include Driving Schools, Dance Schools and Riding Schools? So to get the right data you need to be speaking to a supplier who asks lots of questions about your objectives, and gets “inside your requirements!
Buying data can be a relatively pain free exercise and one that can really jump start your Marketing activities if you have established a high degree of understanding between you and your supplier. Get that bit right and you have a better chance of making your advertising campaigns run like a dream whether it is Mail out, a Fax Broadcast or Emailing that you are undertaking.
Colin Butler
Managing Director
Prospect marketing Pty Ltd
