Step 1 - Your marketing campaign

Prior to finding a data supplier, it is often very useful to ask yourself three basic questions. This will ensure the data you obtain can be used to meet all your requirements and the results expected will be clear in your mind.

What marketing medium do you wish to use?
What information do you need?
How often do you wish to target this database?

1. What marketing medium do you wish to use?

It may sound obvious, but having a clear understanding of how the data will be used is incredibly important. When purchasing a database for a chosen medium, you need to check what base information is provided. Additional information such as telephone numbers, fax numbers or email addresses may not be included and will need to be budgeted for.

You may be considering:

Direct Mail
Telemarketing
Email Marketing
Fax Marketing

2. What information do you need?

Generic company databases have cheaper base rates compared to databases with in-depth information such as IT Infrastructure (e.g. No. of PC's) and Financial Information (e.g. Profit Margins). The base rates of a database and any additional database costs e.g. selection fees or minimum order value should be researched as it can affect your overall budget.

Costs of data fluctuate according to:

Type of selections used
Information provided
Size of database

3. How often do you wish to target this database?

Databases are sold with different licences. The cost of your database will depend on the number of times you need to use it. If you plan to use the database more that once, you need to enquire as to what type of licence the database you need to purchase.

Although this will vary between suppliers, the most common types of licenses are:

One-off use – usually mail only
One-off campaign use – mail plus telephone numbers
Limited time multiple use – use as many times as needed within a certain time frame
Eternal use – use the data as many times as need without a time limitation

Glossary Entries:

Marketing Medium