Always look on the suppression side of life

Direct Marketing International - June 2009

Suppression should be as much a state of mind as an essential technology for all international marketers striving to be more fiscally and environmentally responsible. With volume-based DM practices giving way to value-leveraged models emphasizing response rates and ROI over blanket coverage (big is no longer necessarily better), suppression remains the cornerstone of data management best practice.

Regularly applying suppression files to clean your B2C and B2B lists of deceaseds and gone-aways (ie. people who have moved house or job), as well as preference service registrants is no longer an optional extra but is now, in the UK at least, mandatory for all data owners. But with a plethora of suppression files available, how can marketers ensure that they're getting the most accurate and cost-effective suppression possible?

The four most important criteria to look at when choosing a suppression file are accuracy, recency, coverage and price. Files containing inaccurate data can play havoc with client and prospect data and can make you unwittingly commit the most cardinal of data management sins: over-suppression. Purging your files of otherwise viable name and address data is marketing death, so make sure all of the suppression files you're using contain only verified and non-assumed data.

With 'warm' transactional data the new 'hot' for many marketers, recency is also becoming an important selection criterion. Files that take months to compile and update may impair your response rates, so look for suppression products with a refresh rate appropriate to your needs.

Even in a more targeted, multi-channel DM environment, coverage still has a prime place at the suppression table. Don't constrain your marcoms strategy by using suppression files with anything less than the maximum coverage available - whether by market or sector. Otherwise you won't be playing with a full data deck, so to speak.

Finally, there's that old suppression devil: price. Only after ticking the accuracy, recency and coverage boxes should price enter the equation, in my opinion. A suppression file which meets all of your requirements in each of these areas will, after all, represent best value for money - both in the short and long term.  Once again, 'pick 'n mix' files which have low churn rates and/or incorporate a sizable percentage of unverified data may look like a cheaper, viable option. But the additional costs you'll incur by needlessly marketing to customers who have moved, died or simply aren't interested in your offer (not to mention those who may have otherwise responded but have been needlessly suppressed), will cost you infinitely more in terms of brand damage and/or lost sales. 

Luci Penn, Managing Director REaD uk