Common Business Sense: Targeted Mail Lists Trump Do-Not-Mail Bill

Clearwater, FL, 22 June 2007 – PostcardMania CEO, Joy Gendusa, has been saying for years that the road to success with direct mail was careful selection of one’s mailing list. With that in mind, ‘junk mail’ would virtually fall by the way side. The recent Do-Not-Mail bills attempting to thwart businesses and direct mailers from reaching out to potential customers is, in some expert opinions, the main reason why targeted lists are so vital in the fight to cut out junk mail.

Ten states have recently introduced Do-Not-Mail bills in their state legislatures indicating that consumers are fed up with junk mail. If these bills are passed, a company wanting to send un-requested mail to consumers would need to buy an updated copy of the state’s Do-Not-Mail list and check it against their own mailing lists – adding unwanted workload to businesses that will curtail productivity in response to government red tape. This in turn will have a severe negative impact on a state’s economic development.

"Junk mail is mail that is not directed to a specifically targeted mailing list," said Joy Gendusa. "Consumers do not mind receiving mail promoting products and services they need – that is ‘direct mail’…there is a difference."

That difference was recently defined in the DM News article Balance to Avoid ‘Junk Mail’ Label: "Once relevant or targeted mail is outweighed by unsolicited direct mail, consumers begin to complain."

PostcardMania has been in search of the highest technology in deciphering key prospects for a business for purposes of hitting the mark in marketing. The find came in the form of a precise technology, which in the past was saved only for large corporations, but is now available to the small business owner, finally giving them the ability to micro-target their market for extreme results.

Gendusa rolled out the new technology to her customers to allow them to locate their target market on a very exacting basis. Using this technology, PostcardMania can access very specific information about any company's consumer client base. The information goes way beyond the standard criteria of age, income and gender used in list purchasing.

Imagine if a customer base can be broken down into 70 different segments and upon doing so, one learns that 30% fall into one segment, 20% into another and the other 50% is spread across the remaining 68 segments. Why mail to the micro percentages that fall into the other 68 when one can hit the 50% most likely to purchase?

One can learn the spending and saving habits of one’s customers along with details like what they enjoy reading and where they like to travel. Then an analysis is done with all that info and the geo-demographics of that client base so that one can really find his/her exact market and promote only to them.

"Using technology like this increases response and ROI [Return On Investment] and that's all business owners really want from their marketing, said Gendusa. "And the mail recipient doesn’t mind either – in fact they respond!"

Targeted mail lists are key in handling problems such as Do-Not-Mail bills - which are only arbitrary solutions which will only become a bigger problem down the road.

Studies show that 70 percent of the US population prefers direct mail to email or phone calls. However, in order for it to be ‘direct mail’ it must ‘direct’ its message to people whom it is relevant and their purchasing habits.

About PostcardMania:

PostcardMania is a full service postcard direct mail marketing company which includes graphic design, printing, mailing list acquisition and mailing services with free marketing advice. PostcardMania employs over 140 people, has seen positive expansion every year since its inception and is currently on a 23 million-dollar-revenue run rate for 2007. They have won many awards for their creativity and marketing farsightedness, such as the MarCom International Awards, the Stevie Awards, the Inc 500 List, the Creativity Annual Awards and the Webmaster awards – all of which the underlying theme contributing to their accomplishments is helping companies all over the nation expand. They print 4 million and mail 2 million postcards representing over 350 business, finance and industrial clients each week. Visit www.postcardmania.com

If you would like to interview Joy Gendusa, CEO of PostcardMania, please email PostcardMania’s VP PR, Karla Jo Helms at karla_jo@postcardmania.com or by calling 800-628-1804 x 342.