Meet the Broker: Susan Darling, Millard Group Inc.

Today we meet Susan Darling, senior vice president of the list brokerage division at Millard Group Inc. Darling joined Mokrynski & Associates in 1984, which Millard acquired in 2006. She stayed put and still oversees brokerage services at the Woodcliff Lake, NJ office.

E-mail, affinity marketing, search marketing, social networking and Web site co-registration are becoming more important for acquiring customers, as brokers preside over shrinking postal list universes. And it’s not just clients reminding Darling to keep her eyes on Internet media.

“I see it with my two girls (ages 16 and 18) searching and shopping on the Internet. Even my mother who is 70 years old does all her shopping online,” says Darling.

“Our clients are evolving online and as brokers so must we. I’ve been a list broker for 25 years and now I have to become an online expert to survive. Maybe that sounds harsh, but it’s the reality.”

She consults with clients in variety consumer products categories. Her specialties include the apparel market. She works with companies such as Boston Proper, Body Central, Alloy, Jos. A. Banks Clothiers and Universal Screen Arts.

“A lot has changed especially in the last three or four years. I’m doing more consulting work and I’m moving away from the postal space to the online space, especially e-mail prospecting which I’ve been doing a lot lately,” Darling says.

Catalogers are exploring ways to prospect for new customers and drive Web site traffic with e-mail. Though many mailers are still in a testing mode, some have developed e-mail marketing programs.

More transaction data and selections such as age, income and product are being used with e-mail lists, but the majority of e-mail list data rented is still overlaid, rather than actual response data, she says.

Falling e-mail list prices particularly in the last year, along with rising postage costs have encouraged more consumer marketers to test e-mail lists.

“One client put together a whole e-mail marketing plan for this year and their roll out will be pretty substantial,” she says.

Darling is involved in big projects at home too. She’s remodeling her house. “My brother is a carpenter and he has been helping me and I’ve been doing all the painting,” she says.

A single mother, Darling enjoys spending her free time hiking, scrapbooking and traveling. One of her most recent trips was to Maui, which included sightseeing from atop a volcano.

How are catalog and list strategies changing?

Some companies are using catalogs more like advertising to generate Web site traffic and online sales. Mailing frequencies are being reduced by some companies. In some instances, response rates from modeling data and cooperative databases are falling, because mailers are using more marginal names, as postal universes decline, explains Darling.

Are social networking Web sites viable sources of list data?

“I absolutely think there are opportunities for catalogers with social networking Web sites, she says. “For marketing to teens and college kids, social networking is a perfect fit.”

Web sites such as Facebook definitely generate buzz with younger consumers. Marketers can take advantage of targeting opportunities by getting them to sign up for fan clubs, coupon offers and other interactive promotions. “Clients are talking about and learning about social networking,” says Darling.

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