Source The Right Business List
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A business list is a spreadsheet of company information, which is supplied by a list broker and ultimately used for marketing purposes. There are approximately two million actively trading company premises within the United Kingdom.
To follow are some processes, questions and recommendations to help you identify the right business list (from the available two million) for your marketing campaigns. Steps 1 – 4 are free of charge; Responsiva only charge for the eventual supply of business data, should you wish to proceed to place an order.
1. The Specification
The following parameters will guide you down the right path of business list identification;
- Geography. Postcode areas and districts enable the tightest selection criteria, but business data can also be selected by post town and county.
- Company Size. Company turnover may be preferable, but a business list is best selected by the employee size, due to field accuracy and population.
- Premise Type. B2b data hosts values such as factory, retail outlet, business trading from home and office. There are 14 premise codes to choose from.
- Industry Sector. There are around two thousand classifications, which can be amalgamated into approximately one hundred market sectors. Most businesses understand their target market, but for those that don’t Responsiva are here to help.
- Job Title. The most senior contact name in a company can tell a lot about its suitability as a prospect for your eventual business list. Chief executive, licensee, head teacher, branch manager and proprietor are just a few examples.
There are more parameters to select a business list by, but these five represent the best starting place. Responsiva will automatically (and proactively) assist you with our expertise where we consider the additional variables to have a relevance to your marketing.
2. Exclusions
There are some exclusions which should be applied to your marketing data, prior to running the counts;
- Existing Prospect Data. If you already have a previously-supplied marketing list (and don’t want to contact these again) these can be supplied to Responsiva to apply as a “stop file”. i.e., matches will be excluded from the business list counts & supply.
- Customer Data. A list of customers (or just their phone numbers and postcodes) can be supplied to ensure they are suppressed from the eventual prospect list.
- Competitors. Why market to your services to competitors? By understanding your own business sector, other companies within this sector may be excluded.
3. Contact Strategy
Your contact strategy is important! Whilst all b2b data is supplied with full company name and address (so is suitable for a postal mailing), not all records can be supplied with other data fields relating to your intended marketing contact strategy. These include;
- Telephone Numbers. Any company registered with the Telephone Preference Service will not be included in your business list if you are intending to run a telemarketing campaign. This caters for nearly 30% of UK companies!
- Fax Numbers. Although less frequently used nowadays, fax numbers also require screening, and not all businesses operate with a fax number.
- Email Addresses. Permission-based email addresses are not populated with every prospect data record, so if emails are essential to your campaign then it is important to stipulate this at the early stages of campaign discussion with Responsiva.
4. Business List Counts
Once steps 1 – 3 have been established, Responsiva will run some free business list counts for you. These are supplied via email, and are accompanied with live samples and a quote. This enables you to visualise the proposed b2b data supply, in terms of format and fields.
The prospect data counts are usually in a linear format, but more complex cross-tabulations may be provided instead (also free of charge). Responsiva will present the business data counts in a format and style which we consider to best represent a clear visibility of the prospects which meet your specification.
Up to this point, all aspects of Responsiva’s service are free of charge. You will have a clear understanding of the business list specification, a quote, some prospect data samples. And any questions are welcomed, even if that means tweaking the specification and re-starting this process from step 1.
5. The Supply & Guarantee
All data supplied by Responsiva is in a spreadsheet (or csv) format, exactly as per the samples supplied with the business list counts. Prospect data is also supplied for multiple usage, enabling you to make several contact attempts to each record.
Our marketing data is also guaranteed, automatically refunding any shortfall of a 98% accuracy in postal mailing addresses or telephone numbers if reported within thirty days of supply.
If you have any questions then call our freephone number (0800 118 5000) or send an email to info@responsiva.biz and a highly experienced data expert will be there to help.
