10 Ways to Optimize List Performance
By Joe Keenan

A recent report from the U.S. Postal Service offers direct mailers 10 tips on how to optimize the use of their lists, whether they be their own housefiles or rented lists.

1. Match products or services to customers’ wants and needs. Segment your list based on customer buying patterns to allow for customized offers with any direct mail campaign.
2. Select new lists or media that fit the profiles of existing customers. Search for new prospects based on the profiles of your current best customers, the report advises. Scour the Web for new and emerging lists.
3. Maximize personalization of your communication and offers. Address your customers by name whenever possible in your communications.
4. Provide ongoing interaction with your customers. Out of sight is out of mind, the report warns. Keep in frequent contact with your customers without bombarding them through direct mail, e-mail or any other channels. This helps create an awareness that triggers consideration and builds loyalty, the report says.
5. Pinpoint timing and frequency of promotions. Analyze your lists to see who responds and at what time of the year. Based on your findings, look for incremental income opportunities by renting your own customer names, the report says. This method can also be used to initiate a response to a competitor’s offer.
6. Measure response and be responsible for results. One of the greatest features of direct marketing is its measurability. It can be evaluated for its impact on a specific goal, the report notes. Use this to your advantage by analyzing past direct mail campaigns to see what went wrong and what can be done to correct your mistakes in future campaigns.
7. Create offers based on customer feedback. Enter customer requests and feedback into your database. Compare the responses to different promotions and offers to see which has produced the best response. And always listen to customer suggestions for future offers.
8. Demonstrate that your customers are valuable assets. To maximize brand loyalty, use your database to establish private sales or a customer rewards/sales incentive program, the report says.
9. Show customers you care about their opinions. Use surveys in all your channels (direct mail/catalog, retail, e-mail) to gauge customer satisfaction. If you get responses from inactive customers, tailor an event or promotion to them to make them active customers again.
10. Keep your database clean. Take steps to ensure the quality of your data by including merge/purge and deduplication of your lists and updating addresses through the National Change of Address registry, the report says.