The latest List Price Index rankings are in EVIDENCE of consumer sensitivity to privacy issues is strikingly apparent in the most recent edition of the List Price Index. Two new categories – permission-based e-mail B-to-B lists and consumer lists – have been added.
The index, compiled by list marketing and database services firm Worldata/WebConnect, Boca Raton, FL, tracks some 175 lists across 13 categories.
Privacy concerns as well as an increased demand for permission- based e-mail files have caused the two categories to jump to the top of the cost-per-thousand rankings. At an average cost of $250 per 1,000 names, permission-based B-to-B e-mail names are the priciest category, followed by permission-based consumer names at $198/M. The categories consist of lists previously qualified under other headings.
Prices within a category increase due to higher priced lists as well as demand for the files, according to Worldata corporate vice president Ray Tesi.
When category averages fall, it’s usually because lists drop out and are replaced with lower-priced files. Tesi points to the “donor” and “newsletter” categories as two that have seen such softness recently. From July 1999 to July 2000 the average price per thousand for these lists were $74 and $156, respectively, compared with $74 and $161 in last year’s index.
Other Results Rounding out the average prices in 2000 were paid circulation business magazines ($137/M); controlled circulation business magazines ($129/M); databases/master files ($112/M); business merchandise buyers ($110/M); attendees/members ($106/M); consumer magazine subscribers ($106/M); books/CDs ($105/M); consumer merchandise buyers ($93/M); and consumer book buyers ($89/M).
Consumer magazine subscriber lists had the largest percentage price increase, averaging a 5% jump in costs. They were followed by business merchandise buyer lists (4%) and permission-based e-mail consumer lists (3%).
Database and master file prices went up an average 2%, and books and CDs crept up 1%. Controlled circulation business magazines and donor lists were flat.
The price increases for consumer e-mail lists are due to their being slow to market because of privacy matters. As each issue regarding privacy practices is resolved, more marketers see these lists as viable possibilities. In contrast, B-to-B e-mail list prices have remained stable over the years, slipping less than 1%.
The categories that showed the biggest declines in price were attendees/members, consumer merchandise buyers and newsletters, each of which saw their cost per thousand fall by 3%. Consumer book buyer lists slipped by 2% and permission based e-mail B-to-B lists were off by 1%.
One category recently eliminated was the inquirers/expires heading. This was done, says Tesi, for two reasons: The lists that consist specifically of expires or inquirers have declined in favor of better targeted lists, and the response rates have been among the lowest in the industry.
