Broker Roundtable: Political Mailing Lists
Welcome to Broker Roundtable, where each week we ask list brokers to give their opinions on issues that matter to the marketing community. This week’s question: Looking ahead to next year, how important will political mailing lists be—especially in light of Obama’s success with electronic media in 2008?
Our panel includes Geoff Batrouney of Estee Marketing Services Inc.; Margaret Raven Ginns of Leon Henry Inc.; Becky Hagadorn of Carney Direct; and Michael Peterman of Veradata. Would you like to be considered to be a member of our roundtable? Contact Larry Riggs ([email protected]).
Geoff Batrouney, executive vice president, Estee Marketing Services Inc.:
Lists were, are and always will be very important during the election cycle. Yes, social media came to the forefront in 2008 but for every Obama ’08 campaign, there are thousands of state and local campaigns that will rely on good, clean, rentable lists. For the high rollers, the “whales” whose donations are bundled, I expect that direct mail and personal contact are still the preferred media for solicitations, contact and information dissemination. There is really no electronic or social media substitute for a well-produced direct mail piece that is personalized and targeted.
Margaret Raven Ginns, sales manager, Leon Henry Inc.:
Political mailing lists will still be a gem, despite the success of electronic media, provided that they are legitimately and accurately presented to the marketplace in terms of their method of acquisition, recency, party affiliation and selectability. The success of electronic media is a good thing but it does not diminish the value of good, properly authorized political mailing lists. Also, today’s polarization and passion of the parties and issues should reduce blur or redundancy in the character of mailing list composition, and therefore increase targeted effectiveness.
Becky Hagadorn, vice president, new business development, Carney Direct:
Mail will still be a vital channel for the upcoming political race. Not all voters are hooked into online means or rely on it solely for their information. Additionally, many dedicated voters, like seniors, expect and rely on their unobtrusive mail to be informed. We are a multichannel marketing world now. Ignoring tried-and-true channels has already proven to be troublesome in the non-political marketing arena. As we are all leaning, a calculated and well monitored balance of channels is essential for success.
Michael Peterman, CEO, and VeraData:
Political mailing lists will be more important in this election than in any prior election. Electronic media is the future. Doubting that is naïve. However, the 2012 election will be very much reliant upon multichannel execution. Most marketers are not yet fluent enough in the various online disciplines to convincingly forecast a result significant and accurate enough to replace direct mail.
Additionally, as a society, we are at least a decade away from shifting the balance from mail to online. Our boomer and traditionalist community control the vast majority of the money in our country and they respond better to direct mail than to any other channel. Yes, Obama changed the paradigm in the last cycle. For sure this is a sign of things to come. I also think we’ll see electronic media as a predominant channel in the 2016 or perhaps the 2020 election. For 2012, however, political mail is crucial for candidates to contend for office.
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