The following Guidelines for Appropriate Usage are provided to help you observe best practices in your prospecting through direct mail activities. It is important that you comply with these guidelines!
After the Guidelines, there are
instructions for making mailing labels using the file you received either as an
e-mail attachment or an Excel file on diskette.
·
One-time usage
You
may only use a list one time. That means you can contact the household on the
list only once. Should the household respond positively to the mail piece and
contact you, you may add them to your own database and continue to contact
them. But you may not mail an unsolicited piece to that household more than
once. Please place a new order for each use of a list product.
·
Never use language that implies a selection criteria
The
following language is unacceptable:
“Because
you are over 65…”
“Because
you have children…”
“Because
you are a new parent…”
“Your
new baby will love this product…”
The
following are examples of acceptable language:
“If
you have children…”
“If
you are a new parent, you may benefit…”
“If
you have recently moved to the area…”
“If
you or anyone in your household is not married…”
· Practice extra caution when using data related to children
Information
related to children is highly sensitive. The following examples of language are
not appropriate:
“Congratulations
on the new addition to your family…”
“We’d
like to congratulate you on the birth of your new baby…”
“We’d
like to invite your child to our vacation Bible school…”
Instead,
use:
“Congratulations!”
“If
you’ve recently added a new member to your family…”
“If
you have a child…”
If you have questions or concerns about the appropriate and
ethical use of personal information such as that contained in your order, you
may wish to refer to the Direct Marketing Association Guidelines for Ethical
Business Practices. This 24-page booklet includes self-regulatory
guidelines that will assist you in knowing whether your offer is compliant (www.the-dma.org).
Directions
for Making Labels
1.
Save the file
you received via e-mail or on diskette to your hard drive.
If you received an e-mail, the e-mail will have a
subject line something like “ConclusiveStrategies.com Product
Order ID: 2921”
The file name will be
something like “2921.csv.”
2. Start Word and
select Mail Merge from the Tools menu.
3. Your
mailing labels are ready to be saved or printed.
Use Word’s help for
additional information on using Mail Merge.
*These directions are for
opening the file you received using Microsoft Excel and then using Microsoft
Word to create labels. Many computer users consider these “industry standard”
software products. However, you may be able to open the file you received and
convert it to mailing labels using other software.
August 2003