Looking for List Counts? It’s important to be Specific!

As email marketers, we get hundreds of list counts each week. Sometimes for an email marketing campaign, other times for a direct mail list. I am often surprised at how many times we get counts that aren’t specific.

Imagine you send a list request targeting consumers in Hollywood. Being a Floridian, we might assume the count is for Hollywood, Florida. What if the advertiser is trying to reach Hollywood, CA?

Did you know there are nine states that have a city named Hollywood (AL, AR, CA, FL, MD, MS, NM, PA, and SC)? According to Wikipedia, there are 41 Springfield's, 26 Clinton's, 25 Madison's, 24 Franklin's, 24 Washington's, 23 Chester's, 23 Marion's, 22 Greenville's, 21 Georgetown's, and 21 Salem's; and that’s just the top ten most common city names.

It’s not just city targeting. Take Philadelphia for example, there are five states with cities named Philadelphia, but there is also a county in Pennsylvania with the same name, and you can also target by the Philadelphia metro area.

Geographic targeting is the most common selection criteria for targeted marketing campaigns. Geo-targeting capabilities in the United States include: zip code, zip code radius, SCF (the first 3 digits of a zip), city, county, metro area, state, or nationwide. If the target audience is wrong, it can have a huge impact on the advertiser’s bottom line. 

If your marketing campaign is geo-targeted, make sure your list provider knows what you are requesting. If in doubt, list it out!


Contact eTargetMedia to find out how we can help you target
your email campaigns to maximize your campaign results. Visit us online at www.eTargetMedia.com