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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, July 16, 2001

60 Seconds on Business
Fresh database helps in marketing

By Dr. Drake Beil
President, Solutions Inc.

You can do a lot of marketing with a tight budget.

For example, many companies have developed successful direct mail and direct contact marketing programs using the following guideline:

Remember that a mailing list is not necessarily a database. A database should have more information and help you target more effectively.

For example, a supermarket can measure what you buy and how often you make purchases, and then send you coupons in direct mailings that the company anticipates you'll use.

That's a personalized approach that can be modeled for use in many other businesses.

Harvey Mackay talks about 66 items he puts in his personal information files, and you shouldn't underestimate the power of individual addressability.

Let me be specific and ask a personal question: How's your database? How often is it purged and cleaned?

After each mailing you can make sure a cleansing process takes place.

If you don't, do you realize that in three years, an unattended database will only be 50 percent accurate?

You lose about 16 percent to 20 percent of the names annually, according to Jim Lipka of CPS Direct.

Dr. Drake Beil can be reached at drake@60secondsonbusiness.