For the purposes of this article, we’ll be talking about direct mail, telemarketing, and email marketing. With direct mail, you can mail a plain letter, a colorful postcard, or a small package with a sample of your product. Telemarketing allows you to speak directly to your prospects and inform them about your product or service. An email campaign can be as simple or elaborate as you like, providing your potential customers with quick links to your website.
You can also try doing all three! The key to marketing is repetition. By reaching your potential customers using different marketing methods, you strengthen your initial message. This also offers your potential customers a variety of ways to respond, which will improve response rates.
Of course, the costs associated with each direct marketing method will vary for each form. Regardless of which form you choose, there are a few things to think about when setting a budget for your direct marketing campaign.
The first cost will be the list you use. Unfortunately, there is no absolute cost for a direct marketing list. The cost of your list will vary based on the type of list (mail vs telemarketing vs email), how many records are in the list, what data elements it contains (how specific it is), and how it was obtained (compiled, subscriber, direct source, etc.). There is also a variation in costs from one list owner to another, as their compilation methods vary, as does the cost and procedure required to maintain data accuracy.
Depending on the type of list, a mailing list is usually cheaper than a telemarketing list, as it is just a name and a postal address. A telemarketing list will have a name, postal address, and phone number. The additional cost of the telemarketing list is the additional element of the phone number.
An email list that has a name, postal address, and email address will usually be more than just a mailing list as well. There are email lists that contain just the name and email address, and they tend to be cheaper. Depending on the type of marketing campaign you are planning, you may want to steer clear of these email lists, as obtaining this information may not be entirely reliable.
The more records in a direct marketing list, the cheaper the cost per record. For example, you can pay $ .05 per registration when purchasing a mailing list with 5,000 names. That same list could cost $ .02 per record if you buy 1,000,000 names. This is because list owners will offer volume discounts.
List owners also enforce list minimums. If the number of registrations falls below their minimum, they will charge a flat fee. This means that if they charge $ 250 for a minimum of 1,000 records and you only want 500 records, you will still have to pay the minimum of $ 250.
If you want more specific lists or specialized lists, these will cost a bit more. In general, the more data items, the higher the cost. A simple list of Seattle women will cost less than a list of Seattle nurses with a good credit rating who have cats. Although a well-targeted list may cost more, they should work better than a broadly-targeted list. You will need to determine if the additional cost is worth the improved response rates.
After the cost of the list, the next expense will be the delivery of your message.
If you choose to send your message by direct mail, you will have to factor in the cost of printing and postage. By using postcards instead of envelopes, you can almost cut your postage fee in half. If you buy a large enough mailing list. can be mailed in bulk, allowing you to qualify for bulk rates.
If you decide to use telemarketing, the size of your telemarketing list will help determine the cost of your campaign. If your list has only 1,000 names, you can probably call the list yourself, keeping the telemarketing campaign at home, which will obviously keep costs low. If you are working with a large telemarketing list, you may want to consider contacting a call center. A single caller in a call center typically makes about 100 calls per 4-hour shift. Of course you will have to pay for the service.
The costs associated with an email marketing campaign are probably some of the lowest. You will have two options, you can buy an email list and send the emails yourself or you can have the list owner implement the list on your behalf. The size and frequency of the emails should help you decide which option is best for you. If you plan to send emails to the list very frequently, it would be more profitable to send them yourself. However, if you plan to send to a large list, you may want the list owner to send the emails on your behalf as they have dedicated servers that are whitelisted, allowing for better deliverability. .
As mentioned above, there is no direct answer to what a direct marketing campaign will cost. It’s like going to a car park and asking how much a car costs. There are many variables that influence the cost of a car: year, make, model, etc. The same goes for direct marketing. The best advice is to find a knowledgeable list broker who can explain all of these options and help determine the best direct marketing campaign that works for you. List brokers do not charge for their services and will know what is the most profitable method of direct marketing for your product or service.