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Mailers should always utilize the services of a list broker whenever renting postal or email address lists for acquisition campaigns. The list is the most important variable in a mailing, so working with a list expert is vital to the success of the campaign. List brokers have the knowledge, experience, and resources to make sure that you reach the right target audience at the right price. 

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A good list broker will start by asking questions about your direct mail campaign:

• What is the offer?
• What type of package are you mailing?
• Who is your target audience?
• What are your goals and benchmarks for success?
• What lists have you mailed before and what were the results?

With this information, they can begin researching the best lists for your campaign. The more information a mailer can share with their list brokerage vendor, the better recommendation the list broker will be able to provide.

Studying the results of mailing lists that you have used in the past is extremely helpful.  Not only will the broker not waste your time (and theirs) recommending lists you have already tried, but they can recommend lists similar to the ones that work well for you and stay away from the types of lists that didn’t do well.

In addition to their past experience and knowledge, list brokers have access to datacard libraries that allow them to search for lists by a number of variables.  A good broker will analyze your best lists and search for similar demographics, source, and categories.  Another helpful tool is the continuation usage on your best lists. Any mailer who is continuing on your best lists is a great prospect for you. The same is true of the mailers who are using your list. Also, a reverse usage analysis of your best lists will show what lists they are using.

Once a pool of lists has been selected, a list broker should research each list to validate the information on the datacard. 

• When was the list last updated? 
• What is the update schedule? 
• What is the source (and what is the % of each source)? 
• What is the average unit of sale? 
• What are the demographics?
• Is the list owner actively mailing? 
• What mailers have continued on the list in the last 12 months? 
• If it’s a new list, what mailers are testing? 

A sample mail piece should also be requested as this is a great indicator of success for a list. The broker should also determine the best select for you to test and get a count for that select.

When all of the information is gathered, the broker will narrow down the lists to the best choices and present them to you for consideration. A list recommendation should be categorized and prioritized to aid in your list selections.

In addition, a list broker can make your life a whole lot easier. He/she will be the one to deal with all the various list managers, making sure that the orders are run correctly and delivered on time.

Utilizing a list broker can save you valuable time and money and greatly increase the performance of your acquisition campaign. 

Best of all, there is no additional charge! The broker’s commission is paid by the list owner. And you could actually save money since a broker can negotiate reduced pricing in many instances.  So there is no down side to using a list broker and many good reasons why you should.