1. Define your goals!
Before you select a list, you must first determine your specific goals. Unclear goals and indecisive strategies are guaranteed to produce disappointing results. Common goals include:

• Generating leads
• Increasing store traffic
• Engendering customer loyalty
• Acquiring new customers/referrals
• Responding to competitive activity
• Improving customer service
• Increasing customers' average purchase amounts
• Improving sales force efficiency
• Announcing store hours/sales/new location
• Supplementing media advertisements to top prospects and select customers

2. Target your audience!
There are two types of lists: business and consumer.

Companies that specialize in business-to-business commerce use business lists, companies focusing on the private buyer use consumer lists. Most list suppliers require a minimum order, and charging $85- $120 per thousand names for basic lists containing just names and addresses that you only get to use once.

Additional contact information (phone, fax numbers, etc.) or demographics (age, income, etc.) carry additional charges. The industry calls these "selects". The number and specificity of "selects" you can choose are virtually endless, but keep in mind each additional "select" will cost you between $5 and $25 per thousand names. Below are examples of "selects" that can increase the effectiveness of your campaign by identifying the audience you want to reach:

Consumer
For example, you could request a list of 25-35 year-old males who live in Dallas, Texas, who have recently purchased a computer through mail order and earn more than $50,000 a year.

• Age
• Gender
• Geography
• Income
• Marital status
• Purchased products
• Hobbies/Interests
• Ethnicity
• Home value
• Credit card holders
• Magazine subscriptions
• Responsiveness to direct mail

Business
For example, you could request a list of CEOs of small businesses in the construction industry that have sales of $500K to $1MM, and 10-19 employees.

• Number of employees
• Standard Industrial Classifications (SIC)
• Basic business description
• Sales volume
• Job function
• Geography
• Job title
• Length of time in business
• Type of office
• Magazine subscriptions
• Credit rating

Targeting not only allows you to select exactly who receives your mailing, it also enables you to measure your campaign's success. Through tracking systems like key coding, you know how many pieces you sent, who received them, how much each piece cost to send, and how many responses came back.

3. List quality!
Besides having a clear idea of your target audience, understand that not all lists are created equal. The following are some general guidelines and questions you should ask to ensure your campaign's success:
1. If purchasing a general list, ask who is on it to determine whether the audience contains potential buyers for your product.

2. If it is a list of actual purchasers, how recently were the purchases made? Recent purchases may indicate a pattern or exclude them as potential buyers, whereas older purchases could suggest they are no longer in the market or are due to make a new purchase soon.

3. Is it a list of everyone who responded to a previous mailing or of actual purchasers? This can help you differentiate between those who are responsive to mailings and those who actually make purchases.

4. How often do they purchase? Ask for a "hot name" select list of those who have made purchases within the last 90 days.

5. When was the list last updated? Lists go stale over time as people on the list move or change their purchasing patterns. Ask if the list has recently been "cleaned" by putting it through the U.S. Postal Service National Change of Address (NCOA) file. A deliverability guarantee can provide insurance against stale lists.

6. Inquiring about how much money has been spent on each purchase by people on the list can help you determine if they are potential customers for your product and its accompanying price.

7. How often has the list been rented? You don't want to send mail to people who are inundated. Conversely, some lists are rented repeatedly because they consistently result in sales.

8. If the list came from a company that compiled it, ask to see a sample of their mailing. This may be the most valuable way to see the relevance of the list for your purposes.