Today we meet Joy Norman, vice president of business development at A. Caldwell List Co. in Norcross, GA. Her career illustrates how the role of list brokers has changed with the evolution of direct marketing and technology.
Norman got into the list business in 1987 at what's become known as Experian (formerly Dataman and Metromail), selling compiled data to list brokers. She became a broker herself in 1997 at Response Media Products Inc. Later, she also worked with Direct Marketing Results Inc. and briefly for Acxiom Corp. She joined Caldwell last October.
Norman recalls her start 20 years ago, when most brokerage activity took place in the Northeast and how she felt self-conscious of her Southern accent. However, changes that Norman has experienced in the list business have been much further reaching.
Initially, it was the diversity of clients and market sectors that made postal list brokerage enticing for Norman. Now Internet media and opportunities for brokers to get more involved with ancillary services for clients pique her interest in new ways.
It's more challenging for brokers to work with e-mail and text messaging lists, and assist clients with data services and list analytics. For companies though—it's a prerequisite to survive in this business, she adds.
It's used to be much harder to sell compiled data, according to Norman. In recent years it has become more common to overlay compiled data on response lists and for it to be repackaged for sale by multiple resellers, she says.
Norman mostly deals with consumer data, postal, e-mail and telemarketing lists, although she's trying to expand her reach in the emerging market for text messaging lists.
Clients that she works with include Caldwell Banker, Dale Carnegie, Domino's Pizza, Easter Seals, Georgia's Own Credit Union and Verizon. Norman works with agencies and directly with clients.
Besides list brokerage, Norman's interests include collecting antique furniture and traveling. One of her most memorable trips was on the East Coast. "I went all the way from Atlanta to Maine and I fell in love with Pennsylvania's Amish Country along the way," she says.
Where are the growth areas in the list business?
"Our industry is heading more to permission-based e-mail marketing. There's not a day that goes by that I don't hear from a client who wants e-mail lists," Norman says.
Text messaging is another "hot" market too. "A lot of people in the 18 to 35-year-old age group have skinny fingers and they're texting all the time," she says.
Is there a downside to the e-mail list market?
"I'm a believer in multichannel marketing, but brokers have to be careful of companies that aren't Can Spam compliant. There are companies out there just harvesting e-mail addresses from the Internet," Norman says.
Reputable brokers come across all the companies and should know which ones have legitimate data, according to Norman. "Nobody wants to risk their clients getting fines and blackballed."
Know someone you'd like to suggest for Meet the Broker? E-mailJim.Emerson@Penton.com
