Page 182 - Duct Tape Marketing

Direct Mail Is an Ideal Target Medium

on profiling your ideal client?) Let’s say, for example, that you are a
home remodeler. Would the fact that someone in your target market
also subscribed to a publication all about upscale home design trends
make that individual more likely to be a prospect for your service? Or
how about a commercial insurance provider? Would a group of people
that fit your demographic profile who also subscribe to a publication
that keeps them up-to-date on worker’s comp issues be potentially
interesting to your marketing effort?

There is a generally accepted notion in direct mail circles that
you can tell a great deal about what people think, how they act, and
what they value based on what they buy. Your mailing list work is as
much about understanding the culture of your ideal client as it is about
finding people who seem to belong on your list. It is very difficult to
convince someone that he or she should spend money on what you
have to offer. There are lots of businesses and individuals that need
what you do, but when you analyze your suspect list, you need to focus
on suspects who have demonstrated a past behavior that demonstrates
that they value what you do or sell. This is essential to your mailing list
research. If you sell consulting services, you need to look for companies
that have demonstrated that they hire professional consultants. In this
case, you can’t afford to waste your time on businesses that don’t seem
to value professional service providers.

Your list cost may initially increase fivefold with the approach I
just described, but since you will ultimately shrink the overall size of
your list with this approach, you will mail far fewer prospects and
receive a much higher return on each mailing. In some cases, you may
have to expand your list selection a bit or resort to custom list-building
tactics to come up with a list of adequate size, but this practice will still
deliver a better list in the end.

Doug Antonacci of Daddy O’s Music Shack, a small music store
in Springfield, Illinois, discovered a very low-cost, highly qualified
list-building strategy. Each week, he goes online to view the classified

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