The other day, I came across a mailing list that could literally save your ass. According to the data card for the Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue mailing list:
"Donkey’s (sic) in today’s society are misunderstood and poorly treated. Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue provides a safe and loving environment for neglected, abused, and unwanted donkeys. It is their mission to educate the public on the history, usefulness, treatment, proper care, and personality of these wonderful creatures."
The Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue mailing list is a perfect illustration of how precise mailing lists are these days. Can you think of a better way to reach a group of donkey lovers?
This is just one example of more 70,000 targeted mailing lists available. I am constantly amazed by the variety of lists and have come to conclude there is a perfect list for everyone. But the sad truth is most marketers don’t know about all these great lists.
Why is this sad? Because 40% of the success of every marketing campaign depends on the list. If you send your promotion to the wrong people, it gets tagged as spam or junk mail and promptly discarded. It’s a waste of your time and money to send to the wrong people. It’s frustrating to them when you fill their mailbox with stuff they don’t want.
I’ll let you in on a little secret… great lists are not hard to find if you have the right resources. You can hire a list broker (which I highly recommend). You can also use a mailing list search tool.
Whether you are saving donkeys or simply trying to improve the results of your direct marketing campaigns, you owe it to yourself to learn more about mailing lists.