Most B2C companies are working hard to maximize their consumer lists. Nowadays, consumer lists are multi-purpose. They have to be.
Today’s omni-channel marketing strategy mandates that people be contacted in multiple channels. Direct mail, email, social media, even telemarketing has its’ place.
A strong consumer list can contain all the elements a marketer needs to keep them in touch with customers and give them an edge for prospecting.
It’s the first step to generating leads for a business’ sales funnel.
Targeting
Smart targeting is the first step in creating a responsive consumer list. And, we’re not just talking about simple demographics. Depending on a company’s offer, different overlays may be important factors to consider.
The basic demographics include age, income, gender, length of residence, dwelling type, home ownership, and presence of children.
We can start layering other criteria on top of these to further refine the criteria. Ethnicity and religion can be selected. In fact there are over 100 ethnic options. Many marketers overlay property characteristics on the file. These may include the value of the home, presence of swimming pool, lot size, roof type, even number of bathrooms.
Mortgage information is also available for many homeowners. This is highly valuable data used in the financial services industry. Modeled credit score data may also be selected for offers that require affordability.
And there are more options (lot’s more!) when you maximize your consumer lists. Many marketers also select lifestyle data. This category includes ailment info, pet ownership, travel preferences, sport interest, political affiliation, and entertainment inclinations. Marketers can even drill down further. Scrapbooking enthusiasts, jazz aficionados, skiers, veterans are also selectable.
Think of unique segments from consumer lists – New Homeowners is a fabulous targeted list that works for many different kinds of offers.
Deciding on Channel
Remember the old expression “Different strokes for different folks”? Consumer research has shown that different people prefer to engage with you in different ways.
Studies show that repetition counts. To cut through the clutter, people need to see your name as often as your budget allows. And, they need to see your name in more than one channel.
The real beauty of a high quality consumer list is that it is multi-purpose. It includes all the bells and whistles: email addresses, cell phone numbers and quality snail mail addresses. And this gives you the opportunity to maximize your consumer lists and reach your prospect in multiple ways.
Of course, everything depends on your business and your goals. Yes, you use your consumer list for mail, email and telemarketing. But, you can also upload the address list for addressable geo-fencing and digital display advertising.
Just this week there was a study done that showed how many consumers preferred to shop where they saw an ad. The study showed that if someone saw something that piqued their interest in ad, regardless of where they saw it, they preferred to shop right there, in that channel. It could be an ad on Instagram or an ad on an app on their mobile phone. They purchased where they saw the ad, instead of clicking through to a company website to make their purchase. For businesses marketing a single item, using a targeted consumer list in this fashion might be a great way to go.