Take a look at
this article from Target Marketing that gives you six questions to ask your data/list provider to ensure a quality list acquisition. These tips will help you manage a compiled list purchase (a list that is created from multiple public sources) and make the right decisions to get your direct mail campaign off to an excellent start. To summarize:
- How much of this list comes from a single data source? Careful here, you don't want a list that has a narrow or single source but multiple sources.
- Is the list verified and enhanced by other sources?
- Does your list provider subject their list to a wide range of software processes to "clean" it and make it hygienic?
- Do you subject your list to regular updates to purge bad files/information?
- Do you rely on "web scraping" to compile new records?
- Is this list provider able to provide you with sample files to test? If so, make you ask for every "nth" name so they don't give you the first names on the list.
Another method to acquire a good B2B list is to investigate subscription lists where subscriber names are purged on a regular basis and the source is industry-specific.
Better still, develop a relationship with a list broker or two so they can find the lists you need on a regular basis. You'll pay a commission (usually 15%) but there are times when it's worth it in the long run.