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Marketing Suggestion: Avoid Using "Current Resident"

I will admit up front that this is more of a personal preference for me, but I do think I have some good reasons for having it, so please hear me out.

I get my fair share of color postcards and other marketing material in the mail each day. It usually takes me a good ten minutes to sort through my mail pile due to all of the various pieces of marketing that I get. I have to set rules for throwing certain material out right away just to save myself time, and here is one thing on that list: they cannot say current resident on them.

If all it says for the name is current resident that thing goes right in the trash, I can assure you. There are others that actually do have my name, but then also have or current resident next to them. These also go right in the trash, and these are the ones I am going to be discussing more with this article, because I doubt everyone will agree with what I have to say.

First, why do I throw these away? The reason is because if they say current resident than I now know for certain that it does not really apply to just me. They did not put my name on a mailing list, but rather just put my address. Anyone at the address will do for them, not me personally.

Well, if they are not really trying to market to me personally than I do not see any reason why I should bother. For me, even the best color postcards are getting trashed if they have those words.

Why do companies put them there? The point is that even if the person moves out you still have a chance at targeting the new person living there. But I have to wonder, if the color postcards are interesting enough, and if they are good enough at drawing the eye, will it really matter what name is on the address?

Aha, you might say, if the images alone would be enough, than would not I be looking at the postcards even if they said current resident on them? The answer still remains no, and here is why.

I have received postcards before addressed to someone else, presumably a previous resident, and if I just moved into a new place, this will certainly happen a lot. Well, I know that the company was trying to primarily target the other person, but I still know that the company took the time to address is only to them. I can still see that the company cares enough to aim their marketing at a certain group rather than attempting to reel in anyone and everyone with current resident titles.

This makes me more willing to check the postcard out no matter whose name is on it, because I still get a little bit of extra information about the company by just seeing the single name.

Should you never use current resident with your marketing? I think that might be a stretch, but at least take the time to figure out if you have a lot of people like me in your customer base. If you do, than you have your answer.

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Color Postcards

Submitted on Sunday, November 30, 2008
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