Datacard Quality Going Up: NextMark
Sixteen list management companies reported double-digit improvements in datacard quality over the first quarter, according to NextMark Inc.’s just-released second quarter datacard quality report.
The report categorizes list management firms based on the number of titles managed, and provides an average data card quality score across each company’s list management portfolio.
A total of 89 list management companies got an ‘A’ (90 or greater) for data card quality and 25 of those companies got a perfect score of 100.
“Usually the number one driver [of datacard quality] is update frequency,” says Chris DeMartine, director of business development at NextMark. “So when a list manager goes into the datacard they can do segment counts and confirm that they are up to date. They get a higher score for the recency of their info because a lot of firms don’t do that.”
“If the datacard had all the other information but they don’t update the counts every month it doesn’t have as much value to the broker,” DeMartine notes.
Individual data card scores are calculated using a weighted average of 13 attributes, with an emphasis on recent updates. Those attributes include universe, base price, market, type, description, source and selects.
A list manager’s score is the average of all the data card scores in their portfolio.
So why is updating lists such an issue?
“There’s a lot of information on datacards,” says DeMartine. “So if a manager has 800 to 3,000 datacards updating monthly that’s a lot of work.”
The top companies for each category are
Category I (500+ Titles)
*American List Counsel B2B
*Complete Mailing Lists
*ListBargains.com
*Lighthouse List Co,
Category II (250 – 499 Titles)
*ConsumerBase
*Media Source Solutions
*Dunhill International
*Great Lakes List Management
*List Connection Inc.
*PCS Mailing List Co.
*Take 5 Solutions
*Ethnic Technologies
*Integrated Business Services
Category III (100 – 249 Titles)
*W.S. Ponton
*BMI Elite
*ETargetMedia.com
*List Service Direct, Inc.
*Political Fundraising Lists
*Charles Moore Associates
Category IV (50 – 99 Titles)
*Key Marketing Advantage
*NCRI List Management
*Profile America List Co.
*Media Baby
*Paramount Lists
The next report will be published in October.
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