No matter how you operate, it’s likely that you collect data from your customers in some way. It’s also probable that you maintain a mailing list of past customers who you contact occasionally with information about your latest special offer, or new product range. That data sourced from your existing clients could be a vital source of growth for your business if you know how to use it in the right way.
When you start your journey, and you read guides like how to build a real estate website or how to create a retail store, they guide you through setting up an incredible website. However, you need to generate leads for your online store or services, and you need to continue to impress customers and improve your services. This is why mailing lists are as vital.
Most business managers have some experience in either B2B direct mail marketing or B2C marketing lists. Maybe you have used them to contact those who have bought from you in the past. You may have been encouraging them to try out a new product that you were really excited about, or maybe a great special offer that you knew they would love. Your mailing may have been quite successful but wouldn’t it have worked even better if you had a larger list of customers to mail?
In the business world, every marketer is trying to grow their list. It makes sense that the more people you can contact the more effective your marketing campaign will be. The problem is the time it takes to grow your list. You can put a sign-up box on your website and people will join, but that can take years to build a worthwhile list.
The solution is really simple, you use the data you already have about your customers and locate more people who are just like them. Your customers buy from you for a particular reason. They have specific needs that make them buy from you, rather than buying a different product elsewhere. When you know what their reasons for purchasing from you are then you’re in a great position to find other people with the same needs and market your products to them.
Marketing lists don’t work unless they are designed properly. You might have a huge list of people to mail but unless the list has the right names on it you are not going to generate many sales. Perhaps you have suffered in the past from telemarketing companies calling you about products when you were really not interested in what they were selling. It is the same idea with your mailing lists. You need to have the right names on the list. People who are just like your existing customers will be the best targets for the products or services that you are offering.
To create the perfect list you must be able to identify prospects in many ways. You want to be able to select them by age, ethnicity, gender, where they live, how much they earn, whether they own their own property, and many other criteria. This information will help you to select the people most likely to want to buy your products. It is also important to ensure that the list contains information that is current, and relevant. Old information wastes your time and resources.
