Inside every company there are many different cultures, each with their own needs and concerns. Reaching out to any company through B2B mailing lists is not about offering services or products to one entity. For targeted B2B mailing lists to work, each individual department and agency within that company needs to understand what your business can accomplish for them. In developing this type of targeted mailing list, part of the plan has to concern assessing and being able to meet these expectations.
When deciding to compile, rent, or buy B2B mailing lists, it is a good idea to think of this as a database in and of itself. This should be a list of possibilities and contacts for your company. There are key questions to ask regarding the information that’s contained in B2B mailing lists, in order to understand if this data will be able to help you. Information that doesn’t fit the criteria you need will result not only in the waste of the cost to rent or own the material, but this will also represent an inefficient effort and valuable time misspent. Anyone who is offering a compiled targeted mailing list should be willing to share the resources they used, and the criteria used to develop the list.
Perhaps the two most critical factors for B2B mailing lists are the sources and names on the list. The sources should be accurate and include not only general listings, but also profession-specific data origins. There should be contact information on those who hold a decision-making place within the business. Again, the goal isn’t simply to reach the mailroom of a business, the purpose is to reach those in charge. An example of B2B mailing lists that meet this expectation are those from Dundee Data, which contain key contract information, such as executive names or titles.
Businesses make changes rapidly at times, so one reason to ascertain the sources for B2B mailing lists is to estimate the relevance of the data. The better the sources, and the more often these are compiled, the more likely that important facts like location, business size, credit ranking, and executive data haven’t changed. It always sends a bad impression to direct mail, calls or email to the wrong person, and this is especially true where B2B mailing lists are concerned. An outdated mailing list not only generates an unnecessary effort, improper addressing can also send a negative impression.
Part of the plan for B2B mailing lists is having data that can be interpreted and used to match specific criteria. Credit ratings of companies can help in establishing whether a business will be interested and able to request a service or product. In discovering the exact needs of a company and how to meet the expectations they might have, knowing the number of employees is also helpful. Having verified data to use that comes from a well-conceived B2B mailing list can create not only an easier to use marketing strategy, but also a more comprehensive business plan.