Breakthroughs in Reaching Fortune 500 Decision-Makers
Reaching Fortune 500 executive decision-makers has always been a challenge for marketers. Even the phrase
"Fortune 500 executives" has different meanings to different people. So who is your real target market?
Some marketers literally want to reach decision-makers within the top 500 companies in the country, as defined by
Fortune magazine. Others use "Fortune 500" as a euphemism for very large corporations. It's important that you
first define whether you literally mean "Fortune 500" companies or merely the largest corporations in the U.S.
Either way, there's an extensive number of lists
enabling you to reach YOUR best prospects by
email, postal or telemarketing. It's relatively easy to
target the type of company you want to reach
either by the number of employees, annual sales
volume or limiting your search specifically to
Fortune 500 companies only. This would also be a
good time to define any industries you DO NOT
want to reach. Those companies can be deleted
effectively from the ultimate list of contacts.
Now that you've defined whom you're trying to
reach, it's time to decide how you're going to reach
them. In addition to the traditional sources for
reaching these Fortune 500 or large corporation
executives, there are some new opportunities that have been borne out of the internet. Here's a rundown of your
options:
The Basic List Sources
Examples include InfoUSA, Dun & Bradstreet etc ...
These organizations are known as list compilers and have historically collected data on companies and their executives: InfoUSA emphasizing smaller companies, Dun & Bradstreet focusing on key corporate contacts. These
list compilers tend to be "information gatherers" with the purpose of simply collecting data for lists or, in the case
of Dun & Bradstreet, establishing credit ratings and other financial data for corporations. Both companies continue to add data by by enhancing contacts and going somewhat deeper into collecting additional titles and information in these companies.
Enhanced List Sources
Examples include Harte-Hanks, idEXEC, CorpTech, Hoovers etc...
Each of the companies mentioned in this category uses a unique methodology. But for simplicity's sake, we'll categorize them all as the same type of business.
This group of companies generally uses more sophisticated methodology in gathering information than many list
compilers. But most have certain limitations in the depths of corporate contacts they can reach. For example,
these companies may use research surveys, information gathering by telemarketing, online response vehicles,
and/or relationship building with individual employees to gather information. Depending on the individual
organization, each of these companies may be limited in their coverage of entire markets by either their techniques or their focus.
Internet Miners
This is treacherous territory. The companies in this space can vary greatly in the accuracy and quality of the information they gather. Mined data is difficult to process, collate and reconcile into specific and accurate demographic categories. Accurate timelines on the gathered information are also difficult to confirm. There are a handful of
good companies in this category and many, many questionable ones.
Publications
Controlled circulation publications have a unique advantage in gathering information. In effect, subscribers to
these publications receive their subscription for free if they fill out a lengthy qualification form. This qualification
form is designed to gather extensive business demographics on the subscriber so that the publisher can determine
whether or not they "qualify" to receive a free subscription. The publishers then "control" their circulation based
on their editorial content, and most importantly, the markets that their advertisers need to reach.
The byproduct of this information gathering is valuable data that the majority of publishers will rent for direct
marketing purposes. Ultimately, this information can be used by marketers to reach very specific market niches
within dozens of given categories. For instance, it's relatively easy to separate out large or Fortune 500-type companies and deliver these very special demographics for use by marketers.
However, even with all these advantages, many of these publications service vertical markets and individually may
be limited in the contacts they can provide. In addition, they are dependant on the validity of the information the
potential subscriber indicates on the qualification form.
Public Databases
There are numerous databases offering email, postal and telemarketing lists that marketers may access to select
large-company demographics for targeted direct marketing campaigns. One of the newest and most industrious
products is the DefinitiveDatabase™. It's comprised of over 17 million postal and telemarketing records of active
subscribers from over 300 of the most well-respected business-to-business and high-technology publications... generally the types of publications mentioned in the prior category.
By combining all these top-quality lists into one database, marketers can specify various business demographics -job title, job function, company size, annual sales, purchasing specification, geographic location and more -- and
still reach a large number of decision-makers. The net output from the DefinitiveDatabase™ will be unduplicated
records that have extensive reach into the Fortune 500 or top corporations in the U.S. and Canada. Other databases offer similar reach, depending on the specific needs of the marketer.
The Fortune 500 or top corporation market is now more reachable than ever and new products improve your
chances of having very successful direct marketing campaigns. Depending on your marketing strategy, any one of
the above categories may be right for you. As always, do your own research or contact a list professional to help
you determine your best options.
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