Under article 6 of the General Data Protection Regulation GDPR the processing of personal data is only permitted, when the data subject has given consent to the processing of his or her personal data for one or more specific purpose. Differing from this, processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject or in order to protect the vital interests of the data subject or of another natural person or for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.

Whether a mailing is the right choice for winning new customers depends on a whole series of differing factors:

• Do you wish to advertise at a regional or national level?
• How big is the available budget?
• What target group do you wish to reach?
• What product/what service do you want to advertise?
• What is the marketing objective of your campaign?

We would be happy to discuss with you whether a mailing is the most suitable medium for your purposes, with no obligations on your part.

As a rule, we recommend leasing addresses for single use. The advantages for you are that you are always able to access up-to-date addresses and can write to a different segment of the total number of addresses available each time you send out a mailing. As you are not aware of the quality of the addresses nor do you know how the addressees will react to a mailing, purchasing without a prior test of a representative subgroup entails a great degree of risk.

The following information is usually required before leasing addresses:

• Name of the mailer and an address to which a court summons can be served
• Binding sample of the planned mailing
• Scheduled mail date
• Name and address of the service provider tasked with processing the addresses (data processing, letter shop, call centre, alternative postal services provider, etc.) as well as an up-to-date DDV Declaration (12/2009) “Commissioned Data Processing and Data Treatment“ (DDV-VE) signed by all of the parties concerned.
• Secure delivery address (preferentially an FTP server)
• Details of measures relating to data processing that extend beyond usual standards (e.g., enrichment, scoring, mail response analyses, use as a blackfile, storage for more than 3 months, etc.)

For leasing address lists for single use, there is commonly a minimum order quantity of 5,000 addresses. For business addresses, there is as a rule a minimum order value between € 300.00 and € 500.00 depending on the provider.

When purchasing addresses you pay for the quantity of addresses actually delivered. There is, as a rule, a flat-rate fee charged for selection and provision.

In the case of single use of addresses, the quantity of addresses actually used is invoiced; the minimum invoice quantity and the minimum billing rate will, however, also have to be borne in mind. They are set by the owner. A cv report will be needed for invoicing. This will be supplied by the service provider responsible for data processing. This will make it possible to track the processing of the addresses and the quantity of addresses actually used. Over and above the price for the addresses, costs may incur for common and specific selections and for the delivery of the addresses.

There are several ways in which you benefit from ordering your addresses from a reputable list broker rather than ordering directly.

• List brokers are familiar with the market and provide unbiased advice with regard to the list potential available for your target group.
• The services of a list broker will not cost you anything as he receives a commission by the provider of the addresses. This means that you will not pay more for the services of a list broker than if you ordered the addresses directly.
• List brokers are familiar with the legal situation and will help you make sure your advertising complies with the law in practice.
• The services offered by a list broker (such as list management, campaign planning and handling, data processing, etc.) can save you a lot of work and supplement the expertise already at your disposal.
• List brokers who sign the quality and service standards of the List Council within the German Dialogue Marketing Association (DDV) are subject to strict requirements on the quality of their services and regular monitoring. By choosing a list broker with the seal of quality of the DDV List Council, you meet your duty of care in the selection of service providers pursuant to Sec. 11 of the German Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG).

The answer to this question depends on a whole range of varying factors:

• How many addresses are available, how old are they and how were they gained?
• Is it a “living” database, how many addresses are added on a regular basis?
• What target group(s) does the database contain, what selection criteria can be applied?
• Will you also rent your addresses out to competitors, would you rather rent them out on a restrictive basis or revenue-based?
• Do the lessees achieve satisfactory results with the addresses?

You can check up on whether your addresses are used as contractually agreed by employing seed addresses. The seed addresses should be suitable for the selection of addresses ordered (gender, postcode region, etc.). Ideally, you should use each seed address only for one selection of addresses so that unambiguous evidence can be provided in the event of discrepancies. Our partner adreko, which has specialised in providing seed addresses will be pleased to make you a non-binding offer. Get in touch with us now!

You can check the quality of addresses on the basis of various factors. For example, a quick glance at an address file can reveal whether the addresses have been registered properly.

• Does each data field always contain the same type of information?
• Have first and last names been switched by mistake?
• Are the individual fields long enough to prevent abbreviation of names or address details?
• Do all addresses include the title of the addressee? Have all relevant fields been completed?

A check using professional address software will reveal a lot of information on the quality of the addresses:

• Does the database include a suspicious amount of doubles?
• Do postcode, town and street match?

And last but not least, the addresses can be purged with various files with the details of movers and deceased persons. The number of hits uncovered in this way makes it possible to draw conclusions on how often the addresses are used and how old the data base is.