How to Create a Direct Marketing List

Direct marketing techniques rely on being able to send mail, email or faxes directly to a person who you feel is likely to act on that particular piece of marketing. For these techniques to work, you must have a substantial list of contacts.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Develop a List of Contacts for Your Direct Marketing Campaign

1. Determine what information you plan to track. If you plan to concentrate on direct email marketing techniques, you may not need mailing addresses or other information.

2. Add your past clients or business contacts to your contact list. You shouldn't include them if you don't believe that they'd have any interest in what you are marketing, but typically, if a person has bought from you in the past, he will be interested in buying from you again.

3. Ask people to join your mailing list. It is usually easier to convince potential clients to join an opt-in email list, especially if you are offering something of value, such as weekly updates on a topic of interest, than to simply hand out their contact information. You can create a list as part of an existing website or newsletter, as well.

4. Network to develop contacts to add to your list. In addition to taking advantage of professional associations and other local opportunities, you can create accounts on a number of online social networking sites to build more relationships.

5. Buy a list of targeted contacts if you have difficulty creating a list of appropriate individuals. There are many databases available for purchase. Beware of lists that may be out of date.

Tips & Warnings

• You may not need to buy a complicated piece of software to manage your contact list. Most spreadsheet software, such as Microsoft Excel, can be used as a contact management system.
• Contact lists require maintenance. You will need to update your contacts' information, as well as remove those people who are uninterested in your material.
• If you are planning to use the same contact list for several marketing campaigns, you may need to track demographic information in order to better target your marketing materials.
• Most people are reluctant to simply hand out their contact information, especially due to recent concerns about identity theft. You may need to create some sort of value to exchange for contact information, such as a newsletter or free giveaway.
• There are a number of legal considerations if you are considering selling access to your contact list. Important issues include whether those whose information is listed can remove their contact information.