Is Your Mailing List Stale? (And What to Do About It)

Direct mail marketing remains a powerful tool in the marketer’s arsenal, boasting high engagement rates and a tangible connection with consumers. However, the effectiveness of direct mail campaigns largely depends on the quality of your mailing list. A stale or outdated list can lead to wasted resources, low response rates, and missed opportunities. Let’s look at how you can freshen up your direct mail list and keep it generating the best results for you.

 

1. Purchase a New List

One of the most straightforward ways to update your mailing list is to purchase a new one from a reputable provider. Many providers offer targeted lists based on demographics, geographic location, buying behavior, and other criteria. This allows you to reach a specific audience that is more likely to be interested in your products or services.

Use a reputable list provider that regularly updates its databases to ensure accuracy.

2. Add to an Existing List

Expanding your current list with new contacts can breathe new life into your direct mail campaigns. Here are three places you can start:

·       Run online and offline lead-generation campaigns to capture new contacts. This could include offering free resources, webinars, or exclusive discounts in exchange for contact information.

·       Collect contact information at events, trade shows, and industry conferences. Networking events are an excellent opportunity to connect with potential customers and expand your mailing list.

·       Encourage your existing customers to refer friends and family by offering incentives.

3. Conduct Your Surveys

Surveys are valuable for gathering fresh data and updating your mailing list. Here are three approaches you can use:

·       Regularly survey your customers to gather feedback and update their contact information. This helps you maintain accurate data and understand your customers’ changing needs and preferences.

·       Conduct market research surveys to identify new target segments and gather insights into consumer behavior.

·       Offer incentives such as discounts, freebies, or entry into prize drawings to encourage survey participation. Higher participation rates lead to more comprehensive data and a more robust mailing list.

Maintaining a fresh and updated direct mail marketing list is crucial for success. Investing time and resources in keeping your mailing list current will ultimately lead to higher engagement rates, better ROI, and more effective campaigns. Interested in what a new list, data append, or customer survey can do for you? Just ask!

What's in YOUR Recycled Paper?

The demand for recycled paper products continues to grow, but not all recycled paper is the same. For example, when you spec paper with 40% recycled content, it might be 30% post-consumer waste and 10% pre-consumer waste. What's the difference? Does it even matter?

Most people are familiar with recycled paper made from post-consumer waste. Examples include direct mail, newspapers, and paper packaging that we throw into the recycling bin. But what is pre-consumer waste? Pre-consumer waste is derived from paper scraps and trimmings discarded during manufacturing.

Defining Pre-consumer Waste

Say you are producing a brochure. During production, adjustments may need to be made to the press for color accuracy and alignment. This leads to test prints and setup waste. After printing, the job goes through finishing processes such as cutting, folding, and binding. Trimmings and offcuts, such as excess paper edges or misaligned folds, are also recycled.

All of this is pre-consumer waste, which occurs as part of the production process before the final printed brochure reaches the consumer. Pre-consumer paper waste is also produced in book and magazine publishing, packaging, and wide format.

One of the benefits of including pre-consumer waste as part of the recycled paper stream is that it does not get contaminated by other consumer waste (such as food or drink that gets spilled on paper products at someone's home). This makes it clean and highly efficient to recycle. However, not all manufacturers have efficient systems for pre-consumer waste, so the recycling rates tend to be lower.

Is One Better Than Another?

When spec'ing recycled paper, is one better than another? It's a matter of preference. Post-consumer waste is what most people see. This creates the widespread perception that post-consumer waste is "better" for a sustainability strategy.

The reality is, however, that both types of waste end up in the landfill if not recycled. So, both are equally valuable from a sustainability perspective. Furthermore, you have a more comprehensive array of recycled paper options by not focusing on post-consumer waste alone.

So, don't sweat it when considering the ratio of pre-consumer to post-consumer waste in your recycled paper! If you are spec'ing recycled paper, any mix of the two is a big "thumbs up" for the planet.