Marigold Direct is proud to launch DNS Insight, a new email deliverability and creative segmentation tool. Managers of large opt-in email files now have another method to improve the quality of their database. The DNS Insight service validates IP addresses in customer files.

When a customer opts-in to receive email messages, several details are captured: the website where they opted-in, demographics collected via survey questions, the date and time stamp, and the IP address. The IP address is often overlooked as an important data element. DNS Insight looks to change that viewpoint. The IP address indicates the ISP or carrier network that the customer subscribes to. And by periodically testing the status of the IP address, owners of opt-in databases can see if the IP address remains active or not. We have found a strong correlation between inactive IP addresses and inactive emails. For example, if a customer upgrades from a dialup account such as AOL to a cable broadband account like Comcast, there is often a change of email addresses as well. The DNS Insight service can validate that change without sending an email and receiving a hard bounce back. Hard bounces damage the IP reputation of email broadcasters. The last thing a legitimate opt-in email provider wants for their service is to get blacklisted on the multitude of RBL or spam blocking services out there.

An additional benefit of IP Validation with DNS Insight is that the service can flag suspicious records in the customer’s database. During the pre-launch testing period, DNS Insight validated a 6 million record file of USA consumers and found 8,000 records all pointing to the same server in China. These records could have been “opted in” by means of some sort of automated process or bot. Flagging and removing records such as these will only improve the quality and responsiveness of the database.

Improving email deliverability is only half of the DNS Insight solution. Creative segmentation is the other half. DNS Insight will append a variety of new data elements to our customer files, including the fully qualified domain name of each IP address, and the carrier network that the IP address belongs to. The creative segmentation component adds considerable value to the database of DNS Insight customers. Innovative campaigns can be developed targeting specific networks such as Cable, or DSL customers as opposed to Dialup customers. Targeting customers from Educational or Government networks is now also possible. Distinguishing customers based on business or residential networks will prove to be a very valuable segmentation as well.

DNS Insight will work with reputable companies interested in maintaining the highest level of integrity and service. For more information, please visit www.dnsinsight.net

SIC code mailing lists are the surest way to reach potential buyers in a particular field of business. Only a small percentage of the executives and managers of any given industry will attend a conference or subscribe to a trade journal; a much larger percentage will be represented in Marigold’s B2B lists.

Who takes advantage of SIC code mailing lists for their campaigns?

• New businesses looking for an affordable way to introduce their products and services to potential buyers
• Businesses expanding to new markets (introducing a commercial version of a product that has been successful with consumer audiences, for instance)
• Businesses introducing a new product that has appeal to industries beyond those they currently serve
• Businesses selling locally that are ready to expand their campaigns into a regional or national market

You can find out more about the hundreds of SIC code mailing lists available using Marigold’s SIC Code Lookup tool. Use it to browse the lists alphabetically, or to search by SIC code or keyword. You’ll find counts for lists and for sub-sets of those lists, along with extensive descriptions of each SIC code.

Any SIC code mailing list you choose can be refined (by applying selects for state, ZIP code, company size, and more) to target exactly the audience you want to reach.

Contact us for more information about SIC code mailing lists, including data recency, and how particular lists have performed for other clients.

For the the catalog industry, the all-important gift-giving season is just around the corner. Catalogs are in design, printing dates are scheduled, and mailing lists are being compiled.

Nearly every large and mid-size company in America gives holiday gifts. Internal gift-giving can range from clever, company-specific party favors to substantial “thank yous” to key players. Gifts to external clients range from basic items given out by sales staff to their accounts, all the way to truly lavish gifts sent from senior managers to their peers in client and partner organizations.

If you are currently selling items popular with corporate-gift givers, consider enhancing your 2007 holiday gifts campaign with Marigold’s proven Corporate Gift Buyers list. The list provides access to more than 600,000 authorized purchasers in the U.S.

Marigold’s list can be refined using a variety of selects. They include: business/industry type, company size, job function/title, state, and zip code. We can help you work with these and additional selects to refine a list that will reach exactly your target audience. Whether you are a national retailer aiming for Fortune 500 buyers, or a regional company looking to reach the right people in the organizations near you, this list means “Happy Holidays.”

What could be better than getting your B2B direct mail offers to the right audience? And what could be easier than using Marigold’s online Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Lookup tool to locate the perfect B2B list?

Just as libraries use the Dewey Decimal System to organize books by subject, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission set up the Standard Industrial Classification codes to organize the corporate business information it reviews by business type. (For example, prefix “35” signifies Industrial and Commercial Machinery and Computer Equipment, while the prefix “83” indicates Social Services.)

The SIC Lookup tool lets you search Marigold mailing lists by SIC code number or keyword, or browse an alphabetical list of SIC titles. When browsing, you’ll find top-level lists and address counts for each list; then you can click through to see sub-sets of the list and their counts.

Studying the SIC codes and the many associated lists available from Marigold can give you new perspective and new ideas for targeted campaigns in which you can closely match an offer to a highly qualified audience. Call us to find out more about how our clients are using SIC information to increase the effectiveness of their B2B campaigns.

Marigold has announced several new mailing lists including a massive database of more than 498,000 new businesses. This fresh postal mailing list has segments that allow you to reach businesses at the 1-month, 3-month, 6-month and 12-month stages of growth. Selects include business/industry type, company size, and state.

Additional new professional and lifestyle lists provide access to these desirable markets:

• Retirees — This list includes segments for recent (3-month and 6-month) retirees, and offers numerous selects allowing you to target your offers.
• Surgeons — This multi-sourced file is perfect for professional offers for medical books, uniforms, apparel, and more.
• Nursing Professionals at Home Address — This list provides access to strong buyers of educational and professional tools, including seminars, videos and books.
• Reach a market with exceptional discretionary income using the new lists Households with No Kids and Double Income Household with No Kids.

Search our complete database of lists, or contact us to find out about our ability to develop custom mailing lists to meet your specific requirements.

Marigold has just announced three new B2B mailing lists to help clients target specific purchaser subsets within the business universe.

MultiLocation Pros puts you in touch with more than 15 million businesses nationwide that have a headquarters plus branch locations. Segment the postal mail or phone data by headquarters or branch, as appropriate for your campaign. You can further target your mailing to companies by their annual revenues, number of employees, or number of years in business.

Minority Owned Businesses (postal, email, or phone) makes it possible for you to reach more than half a million minority-owned businesses. Selects for this extremely targeted list include business/industry type, ethnicity, ZIP code, and more.

Research and Development Professionals gives you postal mail, phone and fax access to more than 25 thousand professionals in a specific title set with purchasing influence and authority.

Please contact us to find out more about these powerful new lists.

There’s no question that segmenting your mailing list can increase ROI. You can use segmenting to hone in on the recipients who best match your campaign criteria. Or you can use segmenting the way major catalogs retailers do: segmenting a list and sending out tailored versions of the offer to each segment.

Segmenting a mailing list of existing customers is relatively easy because you have data about them in relationship to your products or services. You know how much they usually spend, how often they make purchases, and when their last purchase occurred.

You can also segment a brand-new list to significantly increase its effectiveness. Here are some of the criteria commonly used to segment a new business-to-consumer list for targeted mailings:

• Income level
• ZIP code (this information can be correlated to lifestyle information for that area)
• Marital status
• Gender
• Children living in the home

Business-to-business lists can also be segmented by various criteria:

• Business size
• Total revenue
• Industry served

Deciding how to segment a list for your campaign is just the first step. The next is to create and test targeted copy for your offer that leverages the information available about the prospects. Just as people pay attention when they’re addressed by their names (personalization), people take notice when an offer shows that the sender understands their interests.

Be sure to call out the customized nature of your offer prominently in headlines or email subject lines to list segments. Instead of a generic headline such as “Announcing our new 2007 cruises,” test headlines such as “2007 lineup includes three new family cruises” (households with children) and “Meet other Tri-State singles on summer weekend cruises” (singles, particular ZIP codes).

For more information on segmenting mailing lists, contact us.

While business-to-consumer (B2C) direct mail is often expected to generate immediate sales, business-to-business (B2B) direct mail is typically part of a longer and more complex sales cycle. In addition to generating new leads and repeat business, B2B direct mail can be used to support multiple stages of the sales process.

While B2C mail talks directly to potential buyers, B2B mail has to take into account a wide range of readers. This includes people who use a product or service, people who recommend the purchase, and people who make the actual purchasing decision.

It’s tempting to simply target B2B mailings to the end-user of a product or service, but this strategy runs the risk of yielding good response rates but mediocre sales. That’s because the opt-ins, sign-ups, and requests for demos come from people who may be able to influence purchasing decisions but lack decision-making authority.

In creating a list for your B2B campaign, aim to include recipients at the decision-making level. Initial response rates from this segment of a list may be lower, but direct mail experts note that highly qualified leads often yield a higher rate of sales.

Because of the diverse audience for B2B direct mail, you may want to segment your list and craft a targeted message for each segment. Users and “influencers” may need to hear all about product features and pricing but, when making the pitch to the decision makers, consider using a shorter message. It should focus on what’s likely to matter higher up in the organization—the big-picture benefits of your product or service. Arousing decision makers’ interest, rather than trying to answer all of their questions, is more likely to lead to sign-ups or calls for more information that can eventually lead to sales.

Marigold’s direct marketing consultants can help you choose, test, and refine business mailing lists that will put your offer in front of the decision makers in any niche market. We can even help you develop custom mailing lists to meet your specific campaign requirements.

Direct marketers in the telecom and personal technology fields will want to check out Marigold’s current featured list, Wireless Pros: Wireless Cell Phone Subscribers.

This data goldmine of more than 41 million names is the most comprehensive source of cellphone subscribers on the market. It is compiled from sources including providers of ring tone and wallpaper services and marketing campaign respondents who have opted-in to receive information from Marigold partners.

The list is segmented by cell phone service provider, and Marigold can assist you in refining the list with geographic and demographic selects to suit your campaign. Please contact us for more information.

B2B direct mail is one tough environment. Today’s workforce is highly mobile, meaning that addresses go cold quickly unless mailing lists are frequently validated and updated. Even the best-crafted B2B offer can return disappointing results unless lists are carefully built from well-cleansed data and then rigorously tested to gauge response rates for a particular campaign.

A new study of B2B mail paints a picture of massive amounts of mail that never reach the intended recipient — or anyone at all.

According to the study, the average US business professional receives approximately 1,500 pieces of unwanted mail annually, along with an additional 280 pieces of mail intended for employees no longer with the company.

Sixty-one percent of mail addressed to former employees is thrown away, with 15% of the mis-addressed mail being returned to the sender. Eighteen percent is recycled, the study found.

While direct marketers may assume that the 85% of mail not returned to them is delivered to a past or prospective customer, the study results suggest that it’s more likely to be tossed out or recycled.

Marigold understands the unique and significant challenges of B2B direct marketing under these circumstances. We work with clients to address factors such as lengthy sales cycles, multiple decision makers, and the movement of addressees to other companies.

We go to great effort to keep our extensive roster of business mailing lists up-to-date. And we work with clients to test list segments and measure response rates to make sure that their campaigns will generate maximum ROI in a real-world mailing. Please contact us to discuss a customized direct marketing solution to ensure your B2B mailings get through to your target audience.