Tourism Internet Marketing U

Build Your Mailing List: Three Ways To Greater Tourism Profits

When it comes to direct mail lists, there are three ways to build a list:

• Acquire a list
• Rent a list
• Build your own

Acquiring a list is perhaps the easiest and quickest way to perform direct mail. You buy a list and you get to use that list as many times as you want for your direct mail campaigns. These lists come with a variety of information and you’ll pay based on the amount of information that you acquire. Some lists come with nothing more than a name and mailing address or, if you are acquiring an electronic mail list, an e-mail address. Other lists come with all sorts of other useful information to include demographic information, purchase histories, income levels, number of children, and all sorts of other information that may or may not be useful in your campaigns. You’ll have to determine what type of information is useful to your direct mail campaign and focus on that when acquiring your mailing list. Don’t pay for anything that you won’t use.

List rentals come with all the same information as lists that you acquire, with one difference. You only get to use a rented list once. Before you rent that list you need to make sure that the information is current. You don’t want to rent a list that contains information that is outdated and not useful. Be sure to do your research and check up on the list rental company before you go this route.

The best way to go about getting the list of your dreams, though it is more time consuming, is to build your own mailing list. When you build your own mailing list you know that the members of your list are targeted because you’ve done the legwork. But it does take time and a lot of persistence to build a list that can pay off in the long run. When you do, though, you’ll see it in the results.

List building is a very important part of running an online business - even a tourism-related business. And when it comes to thinking long term, you have to consider your mailing list and consider what is important to your business. Not all mailing lists are created equal.

Ready to start a list of your own? Why not look into my Private Mail List Marketing webinar for further advice?

-Written by Susan Sweeney