List Biz 101: The Importance of Good Datacards
Okay, I admit it. I’m a datacard junkie.
As a broker and manager, I consider the datacard to be the most important sales tool for marketing a list for any type of marketing campaign.
The datacard remains the building block and foundation managers use to convey information about a list property to the brokerage community. This is the same tool that list and media brokers provide to their clients, the mailer or direct marketer in order to make their media buying decisions.
So, why are there so many inferior datacards out in the market? How much money are list managers, service bureaus, list brokers and yes, list owners losing on account of incomplete, non-essential datacards being used to promote data? I would venture to say that on an annual basis it is probably millions of dollars.
Brokers and mailers need the right information to make their specifying and purchasing decisions. This includes all possible selections offered, counts, source of the information, unit of sale, pricing, net terms, commission arrangements and any unique attributes as to why the list should be used.
The days of laziness or intentionally leaving stats off the datacard with hopes of the broker reaching out to the manager for more information is a broken business model. Nobody has time to chase down this data or to return phone calls or e-mails.
If you were looking for a home to purchase, would you consider giving a second glance to a listing with no photos or a virtual tour? I don’t think so. But, would you be more inclined to consider the home if presented with a complete listing of room measurements, potential taxes, photos, information about the neighborhood and local schools? This is what gets a prospect interested in the property and creates a sale. Our industry is no different.
As list managers, let’s all take a concerted look at our inventory of listings and strive to make them as colorful and descriptive as possible. In the end we’ll all benefit and elevate the datacard process from grunt work to an essential tool towards making a sale.
Leland R. Kroll [[email protected]] is president of Kroll Direct Marketing, Plainsboro, NJ.
