compilation of possible customers prepared as a list for use in direct-mail solicitation.
an online discussion conducted by relaying copies of all messages to all the participants by electronic mail. Mailing lists are preferable to newsgroups when the group of interested people is relatively small or the discussion would be heckled if it were open to the general public.See LISTSERV; Majordomo.
Direct mail:compilation of name and address records of individuals who share a common characteristic, prepared for use in direct mail solicitation. The commonality may be derived from a purchase transaction or donation; a demographics, geographic, or psychographics trait; or an affiliation. There are many different kinds of lists including consumer or business, internal or external, and compiled or direct response. An internal list might consist of customers, prospects, vendors, employees, or lapsed customers. An external list is one acquired from an outside source. Compiled lists are created from secondary sources such as trade show attendees or motor vehicle registrations. Direct-response lists are built from the names of responders to one or more direct-response solicitations. Internal customer lists can be expected to generate the best response to a list owner's offer because they have purchased before. Successful Direct-Mail Marketing depends upon careful selection and testing of lists. The one time usage cost of a consumer list averages $90-105 per thousand names for mail order merchandise buyers or magazine subscribers and $70-75 per thousand names for fund-raising donors. Some lists cost as little as $50 per thousand. Business lists tend to cost more, averaging $120-220 per thousand. Lists are combined prior to mailing via a merge/purge process.See also list broker; list buyer; list owner list rental; list segment; list source.
Internet:online discussion conducted by sending e-mail messages to a select group of participants.
