Join the county start-up set

Startupsplus, the b2b lead service from Selectabase, has named the top 10 counties for business start-ups in 2007. The league table is as follows:

 

   1 - London

   2 - Lancashire

   3 - Essex

   4 - West Yorkshire

   5 - Kent

   6 - Hampshire

   7 - West Midlands

   8 - Cheshire

   9 - Surrey

   10 - Lanarkshire

 

Combined these top 10 counties account for over 35% of the UK’s start-ups last year.

 

The presence of London at the top of the table probably doesn’t come as a great surprise. Nor do other areas of the UK with a more built up, urban and industrial profile, such as the West Midlands, Lancashire and Cheshire.

 

However counties such as Hampshire, Kent and Surrey featuring in the nation’s top 10 areas for business start-ups seems to indicate more businesses looking to start out life in greenfield and rural areas less associated with traditional business activity.

 

Startupsplus monitors business start-up activity across the UK, as well business moves, new branch openings and changes in ownership. Businesses looking to increase their sales can then subscribe to receive these leads for their own chosen local area.

 

Business leads from Startupsplus provide a unique way to get your message, products and services in front of businesses at a key decision making moment about who they are going to buy from.

 

And Startupsplus subscribers enjoy an additional advantage of being able to reach these leads well before their competitors even know of their existence.

 

Startupsplus free counts and quotes are available now from www.startusplus.co.uk or by calling 01304 382211.

Spread some birthday cheer

Target consumers at some of the key moments in their life with the B2C Birthday List from Selectabase.

 

The unique B2C Birthday database is a marketing list of 9 million consumers, ready to be selected and targeted based on their next birthday.

This means you can promote your product or service to coincide with key events such as:

 

   - Coming of age at 18 or 21

   - Turning 40

   - Retirement at 65

 

You can choose to rent data based on which birthday to target, where consumers are based geographically, their gender and their lifestyle.

 

Data from the B2C Birthday Database can be used to promote a wide range of products and services, on a local or national level.

For example if you are in the entertainment or hospitality industries, you could use the B2C Birthday Database to promote your local party venue, bar, club or restaurant to key local consumers that meet your lifestyle and age criteria. Mail them a few weeks before the big day with a card and an invite to your venue, and see the bookings come in.

Alternatively, you could target young adults with the latest mobile phone offer just before their birthdays, so they can leave the relevant hints to their friends and family.

Perhaps men reaching 40 would like to hear about your indulgent self purchases such as technology products, automotive, or travel.

Or at the other end of the age spectrum you could contact consumers reaching retirement with age specific offers on holidays and financial services.

All data from the B2C Birthday Database is fully screened and verified when you order, to ensure accuracy and quality.
For a free count call the b2c team now on 01304 3823211.

Selectabase introduces Cream of the Crop

The new Cream of the Crop direct marketing list from Selectabase features some of the UK’s most affluent consumers.

 

Representing the top few per cent of the nation, consumers included in the Cream of the Crop database are top-salaried professionals, directors and business owners with expensive tastes and extravagant lifestyles.

 

In particular, they enjoy spending their considerable wealth on the following products and services:
 

Property - Cream of the Crop consumers buy or rent high end and expensive luxury properties in prestigious locations such as city centres.

 

Automotive - These consumers frequently update their luxury executive cars and are particularly keen on sports models and prestigious marques.

Consumer Goods - From the latest designer fashion labels to the newest technology and gadgets, Cream of the Crop consumers must have it all.

 

Leisure - Cream of the Crop will pay handsomely for exclusive membership of the best health clubs, and enjoy cultural attractions, boats and horses

Travel - As you’d expect, Cream of the Crop travel extensively, taking expensive holidays several times a year at the world’s best destinations.

 

Investments - Cream of the Crop have varied investments of considerable value - pension plans, stocks, shares, ISAs, investment trusts and property.

Financial Services - Their salaries and ready cash can easily cover their extravagancies, but for convenience Cream of the Crop demand credit cards, store cards and private health insurance.

 

If your business is involved in promoting only the finest that life has to offer, across any of the markets outlined above, then you should be considering using the Cream of the Crop database for your next direct marketing campaign.

 

Contact the consumer team at Selectabase now for free counts and prices from this exclusive and unique marketing database. Call 01304 382211.

 

Are your mailings meeting their obligations?

If you use or hold consumer data, then you should be well aware of the need to maintain an accurate database. After all, accurate data means better targeting, lower wastage and improved response rates.

Yet some businesses overlook checking their consumer data in two key areas: gone-away’s, (or consumers that have moved home) and bereavements - consumers who have sadly passed away.

The consumer environment is literally constantly on the move, as people move house and leave home. In the UK 3,200,000 people move house every year – that’s up to 7,000 moves every day.

Fortunately the direct marketing industry can make use of the Gone Away Suppression File which currently holds over 9 million records of individuals who have moved location. The data is cross referenced between consumers both moving out and moving in to a property.

Another way in which consumer data can constantly change is through bereavements. The latest official figures show that there were 572,192 deaths registered in 2006 across the United Kingdom.

 

Companies that continue to mail individuals who have passed away can cause great distress to bereaved family members.

An even more sensitive situation can be when parents receive mailings promoting products and services for children following the tragic death of a baby. This is why the Baby Mailing Preference Service exists, allowing bereaved parents to register with the MPS not to receive upsetting baby related mailings.

Obviously you would not wish your marketing activities to cause any individual unintended distress, which is why you should screen your data regularly, and at the very least before each mailing.

Not only is maintaining accurate data an ethical issue, it’s also your legal obligation under The Data Production Act to ensure that personal data is accurate and kept up to date.

Selectabase provide several services designed to help you clean your lists quickly, easily and cost effectively:

 

   - Easycheck is an easy to use and free software tool which lets you verify your data against a range of criteria – TPS, CTPS, MPS, Gone Away’s or Bereavements. You can even de-dupe different lists against each other. Just purchase affordable credits for the number of names you need to clean, and stay in control of your valuable customer data.

 

   - If you have a larger list, Clean My List can clean your name, address and telephone number data quickly and easily. Use Clean My List to save money in direct mail production costs and postage, as well as reducing the environmental impact of your direct marketing.

 

For more information about any Selectabase list cleansing service please call the team now on 01304 382211 or visit https://www.selectabase.co.uk/i-have-a-list/