Everyday when I come home and open my mailbox, about 15 letters jump out and try to attack me. “Hop on a Cruise Today!” “Apply for Mortgage!” “Retire Peacefully!” “Enlarge Your…” and so on. Of course I don’t even bother looking. I can hardly pay a bus ticket and cruise is completely out of the question. Mortgage!? Ye right, I am a student, I can hardly afford my rent stabilized apartment. How about retiring? Sure thing. I didn’t even start working. 401(k) sounds more like an algebra question to me. Oh, and I really don’t need to enlarge my credit score (what? What did you think that letter was meant for) I have much more important things on my mind. If one of those letters offered me a lower internet bill, maybe I’d give it a look. Or if it was from the local philharmonic, there is a good chance I’d check out student tickets there. Or textbooks – man I need a cheap textbook source. But instead I get all these useless letters that the only thing I can do with them, except maybe giving them to my dad, is to throw them at the recycle bin without even looking at them. Just thinking about the endless amounts of money those companies put in sending me all of this mail. Unfortunately, my recycle bin doesn’t turn the letters into money again.

Direct Marketing is Business 101 – no doubt about it. Especially in an economic climate like ours. It’s important to be out there as a business and to stay in direct touch with your costumers. But if you are running a retirement home, sorry, I am not your customer. Direct Mail is a great tool, but it hardly means anything without an efficient data base. A good database does not include just anybody that happens to live in a 35 mile radius from your business. It should include their birthdates, their age, their family status, purchasing history, and any piece of information that can help you pinpoint your target audience. Not only will you receive higher feedbacks and response rates, but you will also save money on useless mail.

Remember that you not in the name collection business. Every letter you send arrives to an individual customer, who has his own needs and spending behavior. An efficient database implements strategic profiling and response tracking, thereby ensuring that you only mail to the best prospects. Sometimes it will be a smart move to hire a marketing database expert or company that can help you build a responsive client list. A successful database management solution should be able to provide you with verification services and delivery point validation. It should manage and enhance your list on a daily basis and provide you with intelligent and predictive modeling capabilities.

A leading marketing company that can help you reduce waste in both postage and production is Wilen Direct. This is how the magic works – only last year, Wilen Direct’s team of dedicated experts successfully removed nearly 24 million addresses, saving a client $6.8 million in undeliverable mail annually. If you think that your mail is headed to the wrong box – visit www.wilendirect.com and find out how your business can build a stronger, effective and efficient database.

Mark Etinger is a business strategist at Ajax Union Marketing Ajax Union specializes in Business Development and Internet Marketing

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/my-90-year-old-grandpa-is-not-going-to-answer-your-ski-trip-offer-learn-how-to-build-your-direct-mail-customer-database-993760.html

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