With so many websites and all the list brokers you may find, how can you be sure you'll get a quality and accurate list? Not all lists are equal. The most common lists out there focus on reaching an entire zip code. Others give you more options to filter your selections.

One of the first considerations when buying or renting a mailing list involves how often the list is updated. Vendors should be updating their lists on a regular basis. Some update theirs monthly, some weekly, and some even daily. You must ensure your data provider updates their information regularly. The update frequency depends on the nature of the list and how often you intend on using the addresses. At a minimum, you should expect your vendor to update their information on a monthly basis.

The frequency of the updates should provide a certain level of accuracy. However, other factors affect the accuracy of the information. Using the list yourself is always the best test for accuracy. Beyond testing it yourself, the experience of other clients will provide information about the accuracy. A third way to test the list is to have it validated using commercial quality mailing software package.

Depending on your use of the list, basic searches by zip codes may be all you need. In other cases, you may need extremely detailed filtering capabilities. For consumer lists, you may need options for incomes, children, buying behaviors, and hobbies and interests. For business lists, you may need only industries and revenue, or you may want tomorrow down to employees with specific job titles.

When selecting a list vendor, there are many considerations to ensure you receive a good quality list.