Marketing - List Rental

Renting lists for use in direct marketing campaigns can be a confusing experience if you haven’t ventured down this road before.

Here are a few guidelines to help you through the list rental maze.

Alternatively, call DMS now and we will organise everything for you!

Where to find lists
One of the most confusing areas for newcomers to Direct Marketing is the ‘purchase’ of a list. For starters – it’s very unusual to ‘purchase’ a list. Most often, you can only rent them for a one-time use.

But where can you rent them? Again, it’s not as simple as you might think. You can rent lists from either the list owner, the list manager or from a list broker. You will probably end up paying the same price, whichever route you take, so it’s often better to use a broker who may have some relevant experience of other clients using the list you are after.

What you need to know when looking for lists
There is one over-riding factor to bear in mind when selling products or services by direct mail, whether it’s consumer or business-to-business. And it’s this… Those people who have already bought something by direct mail are more likely to buy again by direct mail. So your first choice when looking at lists is to find out whether there is a list of your target audience who have already purchased a product or service by mail order.

It is essential also to have an understanding of your target audience. What would be the perfect credentials for someone to buy your product or service? For example, if you are targeting new businesses, you need to find a list of new businesses who have already purchased something by mail. Is it more likely to be purchased by a business owner or the sales manager? Is it a big corporate purchase or something more likely to be bought by a one-man band?

If you need help with finding the right lists for your product or service, call David Cooper now on +44 (0)1803 875522. We will point you in the right direction or can arrange the rental on your behalf.

Data Protection - the law and what you need to do

Most businesses do not need to be registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), these days, unless you trade in lists of names and addresses or other personal data.

OK, so even if you don't actually have to register with the ICO, you have responsibilities which are governed by the Data Protection Act, and it's important that you comply with the 8 principles laid down in the act.

You will find full details of the requirements on the ICO website http://www.ico.gov.uk

Other regulations regarding lists and Data Protection…

MPS – Mailing Preference Service
FPS – Fax Preference Service
TPS – Telephone Preference Service

These 3 organisations have been set up by the direct marketing community to help protect consumers and businesses from what is commonly referred to as ‘Junk Mail’.

The following notes provide more details about these schemes.

Mailing, Telephone and Fax Preference Services.

If you are seeking to reduce the amount of unsolicited, personally addressed advertising mail you receive, you may want to contact the Mailing Preference Service (MPS). The MPS is a non-profit making body set up by the direct marketing industry to assist those people who do not wish to receive so called 'junk' mail.

When you provide your surname and address to the MPS they will place the information on their consumer file which is then made available to those members of the direct marketing industry who subscribe to the MPS scheme. They undertake to ensure that the mailing lists they use and supply are 'cleaned' of any names and addresses which appear on the MPS file, the result being that you should not, in future, receive their mailings.

Membership of the MPS scheme by direct marketers is not a specific requirement of the Data Protection Act 1998. However the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) strongly supports the scheme. In some circumstances he can insist that direct marketers who do not currently subscribe to the scheme, do so in future. Furthermore, several direct marketing industry codes of practice specify that direct marketers should clean their lists against the MPS file. This means there is substantial voluntary adherence to the scheme.

You can register your details with the MPS free of charge and your registration will be effective for five years. However, the MPS can only assist in respect of mailings, which are personally addressed. It is unable to assist with mailings, which are unaddressed, or those, which are addressed to 'the occupier'. It is also unlikely to prevent the mail you may receive from organisations you have done business with - you should write to those organisations directly and request that they exclude you from their marketing lists.

To register or to find out more about the services offered by the MPS go to http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/

Similar schemes are operated by the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) and Fax Preference Service (FPS) on behalf of the Director General of Telecommunications. Organisations that engage in unsolicited direct marketing by telephone and fax must not contact individuals and companies which have registered with these opt-out schemes. Registration with the TPS and FPS can therefore help you to reduce the number of unwanted telephone sales calls or marketing faxes you receive (although if you have invited an organisation to phone or fax you it does not need to adhere to the schemes, unless you advise it that you no longer wish to be contacted in this way).

To register or to find out more about these services please go to:

TPS: http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/tps/
FPS: http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/fps/

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