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Target Marketing
It’s All About The List!
By Bob Milroy
President
Alexander Marketing Services

Ask any successful direct marketing expert and they’ll tell you that the success of a campaign is based 40% on the list you use, 40% on the strength and relevance of the offer you make, and 20% on how you execute. Without the right list even the best strategy will fail.

Fortunately, for those of you selling products, services, and ideas in the life sciences industries – targeted and up-to-date lists can be rented for a small investment that will allow you to reach groups of prospects in the right kinds of companies, with the appropriate titles, functional responsibilities, and even specifying or purchasing involvement and authority. This is more cost–effective than trying to build a list yourself. And it will also save you the effort and expense of keeping your list up-to-date in the face of the inevitable turnover of decision makers and influencers in the marketplace.

For example, say that you’re a manufacturer of excipients, you can select and rent names from the database of Pharmaceutical Technology magazine. The circulation of this particular publication is audited by BPA worldwide and breaks down contacts by job function, job title, business/industry, and other parameters. By selecting the most useful names from the magazines circulation you can direct your mailing to just those individuals most likely to specify or buy your product. In this case the magazine reaches 9,831 people in the R & D function.

By focusing your prospect definitions more narrowly you can target the desired audience more specifically. For example, Pharmaceutical Technology lists 13,211 individuals involved in pharmaceutical manufacturing, or approximately 48% of their total circulation. So if we limit our promotion just to R & D people who make pharmaceuticals our list would include 4,719 names.

Lists offered by Functional Foods & Nutraceuticals are another good example of the micro lists that are available. If you are interested in selling raw materials to those involved in vitamin manufacturing, you would probably only want to reach the 3,059 individuals the publisher lists as manufacturers of dietary supplements and nutraceuticals, rather than their entire list of 5,819 names which includes food and beverage manufacturers, cosmeceutical producers, and those who provide natural and organic products.

BioPharm International is another good example. Suppose you are a manufacturer of medical devices, you may want to focus on individuals involved in laboratory management. BioPharm International allows you to purchase a list of 1,625 contacts specifically in lab management rather than the total list of almost 40,000. This allows you to reach the 4% of their readership that is most valuable to you.

In summary, direct marketing, or more specifically, mail-based promotions using readily available industry lists, is one of the most effective time-tested techniques that entrepreneurs with limited funds and companies selling products to numerous defined audiences can utilize. But, remember it’s important to first deliver your message to the right audience. If you don’t start with the right list it won’t matter what message you deliver.

About Alexander Marketing Services, Inc. Bob Milroy is the President of Alexander Marketing Services (AMS). Alexander Marketing Services, Inc. is a full-service, business-to-business marketing services company that is exclusively dedicated to the “hard stuff” - technically complex products and high value services with complicated selling propositions requiring specialized and sophisticated communication. Founded in 1965, AMS operates full-service offices in Grand Rapids, Michigan; Chicago, Illinois; and Raleigh, North Carolina. The company recorded capitalized billings in excess of $32 million in 2005 and is among the top 50 business-to-business agencies listed by BtoB Magazine.