Maximising your ROI with your business data

The basics on buying business data
What are your expectations from your direct marketing campaign?

Have you analysed the potential returns from your business data? If you are purchasing a large business database it could be more cost effective than a more defined list.

For example, let’s say you have a target of 100 leads to generate, if you assume a 1% response rate you need to target 10,000 businesses. Even if you fine tune your targeting down to 2,500 companies by specific job title, it’s doubtful you will generate a response rate over 3 times that of our assumed average response rate. Higher volumes will generate a much lower cost per response as you’ll benefit from economies of scale in business list buying, print, design etc.

We’re not advocating a scatter gun approach, but it’s worth thinking about your level of expectation from your marketing campaign and the average cost per response. Balancing the volume of data and your target market definition will go a long way to maximising your return on investment.

Marketing Guru will provide you with realistic advice on what to expect from your b2b lists.
Timing of your direct marketing campaign

The timing needs to be right - have you planned in advance the data you will require for forthcoming campaigns? If you are purchasing a business list for the first time, do you know what delivery timescales are like? If you get the wrong list and it needs re-outputting, have you a contingency plan to account for further data processing? It’s worth allowing at least one week from point of order to actually importing the list in to your system.

Rushing your business list order will lead to costly mistakes. If you plan in advance and even order your lists in advance, you can save significant portions of your marketing budget for data acquisition.

Marketing Guru can offer significant cost savings for data acquisition, these are usually based on the volume you agree to purchase and can be split over a specified contract period.
Duplicate records and data planning

Have you thought about duplication issues of the data you are going to purchase? If you’re targeting new prospects with a special offer, it might be more prudent to exclude your current clients. Many data providers will provide a de-dupe service free of charge and only change you for the fresh data.

Don’t pay for duplicates and don’t make the mistake of sending duplicate mailings. Marketing Guru can de-dupe against your data at no extra cost.
Database licenses - what are the rules?

When you purchase a business list from most suppliers you will have two options - to rent on single use or to lease for 12 months. Either option is a legal contract with your data supplier. Renting a list means you can only mail or approach by telephone once. If you use the list beyond your license agreement, you are liable to at least the full cost once again.

A 12 month multiple use license equates to using the list on a multiple basis over the contract period. Again, should the list be used outside that contract period you will be liable for at least the original invoice value. Confirm with your supplier the Terms & Conditions of your data.

The best value for your b2b marketing campaigns is to purchase business data on a multiple use basis as this will substantially reduce your data costs per conversion.

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