There are thousands of lists on the market. Traditionally, lists have been obtained either direct from the list owner, from a list manager or from a list broker. You should allow a few days to a few weeks to obtain the data from these traditional sources and you will probably be obliged to purchase a minimum value of data: £500 to £1,000 is not unusual.
Because of the increasing demand for smaller lists for niche markets and localised campaigns, and because rapid delivery is becoming more important, lists are now also being sold online.
Elsewhere on the Internet, you can obtain details on specific lists (in the form of a data-sheet) on list owners’, managers’ and brokers’ web-sites. In some cases you can obtain rough counts, but very few web-sites allow you to actually purchase and download the data.
What is the difference between... A list broker, a list owner and a list manager?
- List owner: the person or organisation with proprietary rights in the list.
- List manager: a person or organisation appointed by a list owner to market or sell its lists
- List broker: a person or organisation that works on behalf of the purchaser of the list.
Where do lists come from and how are they compiled?
There are several different types of lists available. They are created in a variety of ways and come from a number of different sources.
Business lists
- Compiled / researched lists: originate as publicly available information (e.g. Companies House data) and are further researched by the list owner.
- Publisher lists: contain readers of magazines / books / publications. They may be subscribers or controlled circulation
- Mail order buyers / enquirers: These are buyers of products by mail order or from a newspaper advertisement.
- Exhibition attendees: people who have filled in registration cards at exhibitions. The card tends to hold a varying amount of information about the individual but interest level in the subject area is known to be high.
Consumer lists
- Compiled lists: names of individuals taken from publicly available sources. Examples are professional registers or shareholder files.
- Geo-demographic lists: are based on Electoral Roll data overlaid with census data, credit data and household classifications. Some information may be imputed by statistical means. These lists can supply large quantities of data in small geographic areas.
- Lifestyle lists: are built from questionnaire information. Consumers give details of their homes, family composition, finances and interests. Typically the surveys collect up to 2,500 separate pieces of information about an individual. These are therefore the most highly selective lists.
- Affinity / transaction & response based lists: are compiled as a result of a purchase, subscription, response or enquiry by a consumer, indicating an active interest in that product / service area.
How much does a list cost and are there any hidden charges?
The actual price of each list varies but the pricing principles tend to stay the same for traditional list owners, managers and brokers. There is usually a base rental per 1000 records (usually expressed as £x/000): this can range from £50/000: £500/000, plus any of the following;
- Selection £x/000 per selection made: e.g. £10 for each of age, income
- Email address and other additional data items cost £x/000
- Delivery / Format charge: depending on whether you want an email, cd
- Additional costs of Mailsort, keycoding and flagging
If you have any queries about sourcing your prospect marketing list please call our team on 0845 345 7755. We will be pleased to assist you in any way we can.
