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Direct marketing agencies
News Release from: Howse Jackson Marketing | Subject: customer data list rental
Edited by the Marketingservicestalk Editorial
Team on 20 March 2008
DM industry needs your data now
Talking to colleagues and peers in the list industry, it's clear there is a dire need for sources of fresh data, writes Mark Jackson, Business Development Director at Howse Jackson Marketing.
Traditional lists, especially the good ones, have been over-used and responses have fallen off a cliff Coming against a background of further consolidation in the list industry, it's clear that difficult problems need radical and innovative solutions
This article was originally published on Marketingservicestalk on 2 Sep 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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The best of these is simple: persuading brands and clients to allow their precious customer databases to be rented out to third parties.
'Not me' you say! Are you sure? Put aside your fears for a minute and think of the one main advantage - a new, undiluted revenue stream that is pure profit going either straight to your bottom line or added to your marketing budget.
There are many brands doing just this - renting out their data to third parties and bringing in GBP50k to GBP100k+ per annum in net profit.
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Data and affinity marketing specialist Howse Jackson Marketing has been appointed by Magnopulse to bring to market its opt-in list of mail-order buyers for the very first time.
Still not convinced? Well, there's more.
The main obstacle to a brand owner renting out their customer data is the fear that the data will be abused and this will damage precious customer relationships.
This fear is easily resolved.
Simply vet all interested parties in your data and clarify: what the product is; what the offer is; and if the offer is relevant to your customer base.
If all the boxes are ticked, what possibly could be the problem? Take a nationwide wine chain.
Its customer database of 200,000 might be able to be segmented into high-value customers with an average order size of GBP15 per bottle or more.
Now, imagine a fine food hamper manufacturer mailing these names with an unbeatable early summer offer, with a special picnic hamper promotion included.
It's unbeatable.
The wine chain gains because the customer database has been mailed by a brand that is relevant to the customer profile.
The food hamper company gains by mailing a fresh list of ultra-responsive names that also matches its target market.
Most importantly, the wine chain gains hugely by earning revenue from the mailing.
Indeed, the wine chain might request a share in the profits of the food hamper's campaign.
Why not? So long as the percentage is sensible there is no reason why a brand renting out its customer list shouldn't request a share in the profits.
Furthermore, if the response curves show promise, the company who mails the database might want to consider an affinity deal and a strategic long-term partnership with a much larger co-branded opportunity.
What needs to be stressed is this: renting your customer list to a third party does not mean relinquishing control.
On the contrary, it means having full and total control over who you rent it out to and under what terms and conditions you feel comfortable with.
By employing a data and affinity specialist, you can leave all the hard work to a professional company experienced in finding matches for your data.
If your data is new to the market, simply place your file in a list sales portfolio where your competitors are not.
Try to work with smaller, focused list managers rather than those with large 50-100 client + portfolios.
What about data security? Well, email is opt-in only and total care needs to be given to the wording of third-party opt-outs.
Postal data, of course, is opt-out and it is perfectly legal to rent out postal data to a third-party.
Best practice, however, demands that 'opt-out' boxes are 'standard procedure' in any marketing campaign that is also harvesting data for future promotional use.
Data and affinity specialists like us will be able to advise accordingly.
In conclusion, there should be no excuse for the DM industry to plead 'lack of available data'.
Indeed, highly responsive fresh data is there in spades, in volumes unprecedented in the industry's history.
What is needed is for companies to step up to the plate and make their customer data available in a tight and managed framework provided by a specialist list broker like ourselves.
The profits and benefits can quite simply be staggering. Request a free brochure from Howse Jackson Marketing ...
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