Anybody know of a company to buy a mailing list of pool owners by zip code. There are dozens of them on the internet, but do they all have the same data? I bought one a few years ago, and I know for a fact that I don't have all the pools in my area. I do a mailer once a year in the early spring, and I am wanting to get a better (more accurate) list of potential customers. Any thoughts or help is appreciated.
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Hello all! I'm a writer for PoolPro Magazine (http://poolpromag.com) and have been assigned an article regarding establishing a direct mailing list based directly upon this forum thread for our March/April publication. Would any of you be interested in an interview with me via telephone or email on the topic? If so, please email me at eternal.compositions@gmail.com and we'll make appropriate arrangements. In order to meet my deadline, I'll need to speak with you or have email responses from you by December 18th, so your prompt response is of great importance.
Thank you for your consideration,
Michelle
I have bought 2 mailing list from 2 companies one was good the other was not and i had to go though it to filter out only the addresses that had pools. The good thing is once you have the list its yours and you can send out as many mailers as you want. I have had success with some mailers and not so much with others. Mailers is science there is no doubt about it. I know that the list that i have only have about 1/8th the pools in my area so i just build on the list. Hope that helps.
Door hangers are hit and miss, never tried the mailing list but we do get them through the door from other pool service companies and we only just put our pool in. A free way and gets you in front of the locals is to stand at the local grocery stores or gas stations with your'e company shirt on and hand out business cards. Take your'e dog and put a shirt on the dog people always want to chat with dog owners and if its also wearing a shirt they may think its cute and shows your'e dog friendly. Kids love dogs and parents may take a liking to you and your'e services.
what is your message?
Rex's comments are right on. You can not get frustrated with low return if you only send out one mailer. The key is repitition, as well as getting them to read your information. Getting your name in their mind and on it is what gets you the business. We will typically send out 3 to 5 mailers per promotion and we time them for specific times of the week, and to arrive within a week of each other.
The ROI is also something that people tend to figure out wrong. You can not look at it as i only got 2 people from this, but what those 2 people are going to spend with you over the course of your relationship, and how many people they will talk to about you.
Targeting the proper neighborhoods, income levels, etc is important to a good mailer, as well as documenting the results.
I've already pulled the trigger on a direct mail postcard campaign through my pool distributor. The first round goes out to 1,000 pool owners in the most effluent zip codes in my area in just a few weeks.
-Jeremy
Florida Leisure Pool & Spa
www.FloridaPoolSpa.com
The truth is that any list you buy will always be at least partially wrong. The question is "how wrong?" 5% wrong to 10% wrong is not too bad. When you start exceeding 50% erroneous information, it can get a little frustrating.
To answer your question directly, there are a lot of great list companies out there, but I don't know of any that have a good database of "homes with pools." Historically, these have been hard to find, because in the grand scheme of things,it's not a very popular list. (The list aggregators will spend time and money compiling lists only if they think a lot of people are going to buy it. And apparently there hasn't been much demand for lists of "homes with pools," even though most business owners in our industry would be delighted to buy it!)
Final comment -- even if the list you buy is 50% wrong, and 95% of the people who actually do get your direct mail piece completely ignore it and throw it in the trash, you might still get a sufficient response (less than 3%) that still justifies this expense, and pays for itself in new business.
that's how you make the ultimate final decision. "Will it pay for itself?"
Ed,
What I did was exactly what Matt said. Went to the building departments of the communities I wanted to serve. Some were old school and really had no easy way to look up specifically for pools. Other departments permits where all computerized and all we needed to do was look up the time frame. Yellow Book as well as Verizon also offer this type of service I believe.
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