No matter your organization’s goals, a significant component of your structure focuses around data. You are either focusing on printing, seeking donors, or recruiting new members, and the most valuable asset is your data. At some point in your marketing flow, there is a process that is heavily dependent on an accurate, clean, and properly formatted database.
Before you send marketing materials, you will need to use data to determine your target audience and then formulate a direct mail item around that audience. With a well-built and well-managed mailing list, you can dramatically reduce your costs and boost the effectiveness of your direct mail. There are data expert companies, like Valtim, that can help your organization create and maintain a direct mail database.
Make your database work harder and better for you. You can find ways to connect to people in your database by appealing to them through database analysis. Building and maintaining a direct mail database will allow your organization to thrive while you form closer connections to your members.
Building a Direct Mail Database
Before you develop your direct mail database, you need to learn your target demographics and psychographics. Demographics include age, gender, ethnicity, location, marital status, education level, income, and occupation. Psychographics include interests, hobbies, and lifestyle. Understanding your current and potential members allows your organization to send the right details to the right people.
Look at your current members. Try to find threads of commonality in the demographics and interests. Make a list of the benefits your organization provides. Then see if you can narrow down who your mission will appeal to the most. Creating a focused target based on your direct mail database details may help provide better marketing results.
Maintaining a Database
Once you’ve created your direct mail database, maintain the information by analyzing the data. By looking at the demographics, you can determine a recipient’s financial situation, age range, ethnicity, family structure, age range, and other useful information. You can then personalize mailers with images that will appeal to their lifestyle. A younger audience may appreciate images of younger individuals while older folks may enjoy seeing older models in their mail.
Analyze the geographic data too. You can see where people in your database live, such as an urban, suburban, or rural area. You can look to see if there’s anything significant in their local area or their state that you can mention to form a connection. Using photos that reflect geographic region and lifestyle can help create a bond through direct mail. People want to feel a connection with organizations, and connecting with geographic details can help form an instant bond.
Using Mailing List Data
Marketers refer to a mailing list you build from scratch as an in-house list. Names on the in-house list should come from prospective members who have expressed interest in your organization. Other names may include current or past members, referrals, and people in your sphere of influence such as personal contacts who have shown interest in your mission.
With the right mailing list data, your direct mail campaigns will achieve a higher return on investment. Use the data you have available to create the perfect mailing list. Then, work to improve your mailing list by making updates and tweaks along the way. Each time you prepare for another direct mail project, make sure your mailing list is up to date and full of accurate and current information.
Choose Valtim for Your Data Management Needs
Valtim Marketing Solutions was initially founded 30+ years ago as a data management company. We were managing big data before big data became a topic. With years of experience and the right tools, we can help you craft omnichannel and multichannel marketing campaigns based on the trends we find in your data. We have virtually unlimited creative applications using our digital presses. Therefore, we can craft some of the most impactful, hyper-personalized marketing campaigns in the industry.
Valtim processes over 2,500,000 unique records monthly. In addition to world-class data management, we can help you with mailing list data. We understand the importance of these data requirements.
Proper data management is no longer enough. To maximize the inherent value your information holds, Valtim can extract essential marketing and user-based metrics. Using these metrics will fine-tune your marketing and provide an increase to your membership base and donor list.
