Marketing in California in 2020

New California law takes effect January 1, 2020 regarding the use personal information in marketing campaigns. 

Identifiers such as a real name, alias, postal address, unique personal identifier, online identifier Internet Protocol address, email address, account name, social security number, driver’s license number, passport number, or other similar identifiers.

This new law prohibits using personal identifiers when marketing to consumers in California includes "marketing to consumers using these to communicate: "mailing address, email address, Internet Web page, Internet Web portal, toll-free telephone number, or other applicable contact information, whereby consumers may submit a request or direction under this title, and any new, consumer-friendly means of contacting a business, as approved by the Attorney General pursuant to Section 1798.185."

It does NOT include using personal identifying information attained from public records from local, state or federal sources. An example would be public information on home sales etc.

 “Personal information” does not include publicly available information. For these purposes, “publicly available” means information that is lawfully made available from federal, state, or local government records, if any conditions associated with such information. “Publicly available” does not mean biometric information collected by a business about a consumer without the consumer’s knowledge. Information is not “publicly available” if that data is used for a purpose that is not compatible with the purpose for which the data is maintained and made available in the government records or for which it is publicly maintained. “Publicly available” does not include consumer information that is deidentified or aggregate consumer information.

For this reason, DBS does not recommend using a consumer's actual name in any mailing or marketing effort in California. While data can still be obtained using demographics, the actual addressing should now always just be to "Resident" if using an outside purchased list.

For anyone wanting to read the entire bill, here's a link:  https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB375

1st Class Mailings and Returned Mail

Mailing at 1st-Class rates can result in mail being returned and not being deliverable as addressed.   There can be a lot of reasons why mail could be returned as not deliverable.  Some of the biggest reasons could include:

• The person addressed moved and did not file a change of address with the post office
• An apartment number or suite number was not included as part of the address.
• An internal mailstop number wasn't included - some large companies require this before their internal mailroom will deliver it.

Most reputable list compilers keep their lists updated on a regular basis - but there will always be a certain portion of a mailing list that may not be deliverable.  The Post Office statistics say that 20% of the population is in transit at any point in time.  A return rate of up to 10% is considered to be industry standard and should be factored into your budget.  An even higher percentage of people leaving their positions at businesses do not file change of address forms.  Returns can be minimized by mailing at bulk mail rates rather than 1st class or by adding “Or Current Resident” to the address or in the case of business addresses - mail to the department rather than a specific person, i.e. Attn:  Marketing Director. 

Consideration should be given if it is more important to follow the person to their new address or if a change of address wasn't filed, to get the mailpiece returned - OR is it more important for the mailpiece to get delivered to a specific address rather than to the specific person.

Some thought should be given to these issues prior to mailing -- talk to us and let us give you strategy advice.

Zip Code Changes - Phoenix Area

When the U.S. Postal Service changes central Arizona ZIP codes next month, the hardest hit may be the small-business owners struggling to survive in a slow economy.
ZIP codes that start with 852 will switch to 851 in much of Pinal County, Queen Creek, and some unincorporated areas of Maricopa County beginning July 1.

Click here to read rest of story: http://www.azcentral.com/php-bin/clicktrack/email.php/8789504
Source: The Arizona Republic
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DBSLists.com / Listfinders.com

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New Postage Rates - as of May 11th

USPS has raised their rates again --

First-Class - single piece 1 ounce letter rate increases:2 cents from .42 to .44
First-Class - single piece 1 ounce flat rate increases:5 cents from .83 to .88

First-Class - single piece postcard rate increases:1 cent from .27 to .28

Click here to see rates for bulk mail and other categories: http://dbslists.com/Index_files/Page1183.htm

What kind of lists are there?

LIST BASICS

There are two main types of mailing lists available:

Compiled Lists

Direct Response Lists

A Compiled List is comprised of names that have been gathered from a variety of sources that simply list those names that fit a given criteria, i.e. all Phoenix residents; all Insurance Agents, Restaurants, or Used Car dealers. A compiled list can also include expanded information such as all people living in a specific zip code with incomes over a certain level and within specific age ranges. There are many types of compiled lists that reflect lifestyles and professions. These lists are meant to be used by advertisers wanting to reach all people within a given market segment without qualifying if those people are actually interested in the product that is being sold.

A Direct Response List more specifically targets those people who have a demonstrated interest in the product line that is being advertised, and have already responded to the offer by direct mail. For example, if you are selling health products, you want to target your mailing to people who have already purchased health products by direct mail. Or, if you are selling fishing lures, it would be important to mail to people who have purchased fishing supplies by direct mail. It is important to direct your mailing to those people most likely to purchase by direct mail – a direct response buyer .

Go to http://www.dbslists.com/ or http://www.findamailinglist.com/ for more information. We welcome all calls -- 480.346.1114