News
Maximum Help From Limited Resources
By Mary Ann Kleinfelter, vice president of
marketing, L-com
It’s no secret that there are far fewer list
management and brokerage firms vying for our
business. Many of the smaller, more entrepreneurial
list firms have been absorbed by a few large
corporations. As a result, some catalogers believe
there are fewer opportunities to negotiate pricing
and fewer choices in general. The same concerns
exist about firms that rent out cooperative prospect
lists.
But in reality, the contrary is true.
Never has the competition been fiercer among
companies renting out prospect mailing and e-mailing
lists, thanks not only to a weak and faltering
economy, but also to changes in direct marketing
brought about by the Web.
The economic downturn has caused a reduction in the
number of direct marketers prospecting in the
traditional manner. As a result, the number of names
they’re renting for prospecting is diminishing.
What’s more, the number of names available for
rental is declining.
Therefore, the competition to supply those names and
the services associated with them continues to
increase. Most of the industry still receives a
commission based on the number of names rented. No
matter how compensation is structured, many list
firms now are asked to do a great deal more for
less.
Detailed Circ Planning
Multichannel marketers historically depend on their
list firms for research. There are many out there,
for example, who are unaware of how dramatically
their own lists are changing as a result of multiple
channels, as well as the extent to which the lists
they use can generate new business. A list that a
marketer may have rented for years might have gone
from 5 percent online-generated to 95 percent
online-generated in the past few years, affecting
results dramatically.
Catalogers also need to rely on the experience of
the list firms they choose to work with for
information beyond list counts. Different list firms
and list professionals often have very specific
areas of expertise. So, if you’re marketing to a
niche, determine who’s an expert in that field.
The need to service clients more fully with less
compensation applies to co-op database companies as
well. “We and our clients must now work harder than
ever,” says Stacey Hawes, senior vice president of
account management and business development for
Abacus, which administers the industry’s largest
co-op database of more than 1,600 participants. “We
spend more time partnering with our clients so we
can fully understand their businesses. We now offer
full-service solutions to meet all of their direct
marketing needs.”
Abacus often studies clients’ mail plans beyond
prospecting to learn how deeply clients’ databases
can be mined to reactivate older buyers, or how to
get more inquiries to convert to buyers. In the
world of
consumer lists, this may even mean mining gift
recipients to get them to purchase gifts for their
friends and families.
Since some multichannel merchants, for instance, no
longer have the time, staff or money to go the
traditional route of ordering a variety of lists
from different vendors, they have to schedule
separate merge/purges to prepare names for a
printer. Among the co-ops, Abacus now offers its
FastPath service to fill this need.
FastPath allows marketers access to an integrated,
complete circulation solution that combines Abacus’
co-op data and state-of-the-art modeling. In
addition, catalog members can get postal preparation
services through FastPath, which simplifies the
process of getting offers in the mail, reduces
overall costs, and further enhances response
potential and strategic flexibility.
It’s not surprising that as multichannel marketers
try to stretch their prospecting dollars further,
they ask their list firms to negotiate more and
better deals. Huntoon and Hawes both point out their
companies spend a lot of time helping clients do
much more, such as performing multichannel analysis
of clients’ campaigns and developing complete circ
plans. Sometimes they act as the repository of
history for catalogers when changes at catalog
companies make history difficult to recreate.
Build Partnerships
The small- and medium-size catalog companies need
the most help, and often turn to list firms for that
help. Ronda Anderson, marketing manager for American
Time & Signal Co., a Dassel, Minn.-based
multichannel marketer of clocks and clock parts,
says she doesn’t find competition among list firms
to be a major issue right now. “Our process is to
find a good partner to stay with,” she says. Her
goal is to learn more about industry trends and
standards, “so we can mail smarter. A trusted list
partner can help provide that information.”
No matter how you choose to prospect these days,
include all your partners in the process — from the
very beginning. This team should include list
brokers and managers, co-op database providers,
merge/purge vendors, among others. Literally
everyone, all so they can know each other and their
respective roles in your campaign. You’ll gain
nothing and risk plenty by keeping parties in the
dark.
Once the team is assembled, share the results of
previous mailings and e-mailings with all members,
internally and externally. Make sure everyone
clearly knows the goals of the mailing — to generate
new customers, more profit, reactivate older
customers and so forth. This inclusive approach must
extend to multiple channel partners, so if there’s a
combined e-mailing and mailing campaign, all parties
are aware.
Regardless of how sophisticated the technology has
become, or how difficult the economy has become,
solid direct marketing principles still apply. Don’t
stop prospecting, but prospect smarter, using not
just acquisition, but reactivation and list rental
optimization.
---Source:
Catalog Success Feb 1, 2009 (www.catalogsuccess.com).
Mary Ann Kleinfelter is vice president of marketing
at L-com, a B-to-B catalog/multichannel marketer.
You can reach her at mkleinfelter@L-com.com.
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