There comes a point in the development of most companies, or organisations, when they decide that a marketing list is a sensible progression in their overall marketing strategy.

For commercial companies it may be that they wish to gain more sales or raise the profile of the company. Market Research companies will want to gauge public opinion and the Third Sector may wish to purchase a list to promote their fundraising activities or solicit donations.

You then have public authorities such as the police may wish to conduct crime confidence surveys, or the NHS who may wish to recruit patient panels.

Regardless of the campaign obtaining a list is one obvious way of achieving these aims.

However, new clients are often unsure where to start and have heard horror stories about lists. It is sadly true that rouge list providers tarnish the reputation of the majority of reputable providers, but we also find that the expectations of new clients regarding lists exceed reality. For this reason we have put together a short guide to assist you before embarking on this venture.

In addition to the very steep learning curve regarding processes, technical points and options available, the main issue new clients experience is that they expect every single record to be 100% accurate, deliverable and contactable, which is sadly unrealistic.

Most list owners take great care when compiling and updating their lists, but when dealing with millions of records that are constantly changing it is like painting the fourth bridge, you never actually get to the end of the update process.

Here then are our guides to the two types of lists available. If you would prefer to talk to us about the options and implications please do not hesitate to contact us.