Mailing to Credit Score Lists

The credit score list had become a relic around here until about a month ago. As lenders begin to (slightly) loosen up so does the subprime market. However, credit score lists don't have to be the only way to target these people, here are a few other ideas.

Credit Score Lists

Expense: $$$

Pros: targeting specific scores, weeding out too low scores, ability to make a firm offer of credit on the mailer

Cons: expense, reliability of data (lists are always 2-4 wks old by the time mail hits the home), disclaimer hell-legal fine print required with this list can sometimes take up half the mailer

Income Lists

Expense: $$

Pros: ability to target income ranges for credit purposes, more mail for your dollar, fewer legal hoops with disclaimers and piece restrictions

Cons: data is self reported so is not always highly reliable

Saturation List with Average Income

Expense: $

Pros: very inexpensive/a lot more mail for your money, the typical mail responder is in the credit bracket most dealers would target, you could get in the occasional prime customer as well,

can still address most customers by name (instead of "current resident"), no legal restrictions or disclaimers regarding the list needed

Cons: income information is an average by neighborhood (could be large variances)

In most cases I recommend sticking with the targeted saturation lists. The difference in price can be staggering and the traffic that comes in can be "filtered" by the content of the mailer. That being said, list selection is very unique to each campaign, dealership & market. Please discuss what's best for your specific mailer with your mail specialists (...and yes, the Diva is accepting new clients).

Happy Friday!