Database Marketing

How to Effectively Use this Direct Marketing Method

Database marketing is a direct marketing method that utilizes database technology to filter leads. Generally, a large data warehouse is used to store contact information and leads, and this huge store of data is filtered when an order is placed by a business. This form of marketing works well for a variety of industries including insurance companies, charities, public service organizations, car dealerships, credit card companies, financial service companies and so on.

Collecting Data for Database Marketing

Data is collected in a variety of ways for database marketing. The first way is to simply compile a customer information database. This type of database includes past and current customer contact information, what products they bought, what type of customer they are and whether they are an active or inactive customer. When the company wants to send out a flyer to promote their latest sales event, they can filter their database based on specific criteria, such as active or inactive, in order to generate a mailing list for their flyers.

If a company is looking for new leads then they can enlist the help of an online leads generation service. These companies have several websites that are set up to collect opt-in requests for more information. Usually they are set up as quote request forms. People searching for insurance quotes, car quotes or mortgage quotes find these pages and enter their contact information and information about what they are looking for. This information is then sent to a database warehouse or server. When a company looking for leads places an order they tell the company what they are interested in. the company then filters the database based on their client's criteria. This creates their list of filtered leads.

Using the Information Compiled in the Database

Once the database of information has been filtered and the list delivered, the company can then contact the people on their list. Usually the person will request to be contacted by email or phone. Time is a big issue when working with database marketing. People want the information that they request quickly. This means that the company that receives a leads list will need to contact the people on their list within 48 hours. This will improve their results.

One of the drawbacks of database marketing is the dead lead. A dead lead is a lead that is not viable. This means that the contact either won't respond to the person trying to contact them, or the person no longer is interested in the information that they requested. Dead leads can be costly to a company who subscribes to a leads generation service, however, many of the more reputable database marketing firms will guarantee the viability of their leads and will replace the lead for free. This is a feature that companies need to look for when shopping around for a lead generation service.