Marketing and Public Records
Public records play an important role in limiting marketing efforts by targeting solicitations to those most likely interested in specific products or services.
While some consumers complain about marketing and solicitations, how often do we contemplate the role of marketing in our society?
- How would you feel if you bought a car only to find out you had paid thousands of dollars too much in interest rates because you didn’t know about a lower rate?
- What if you paid a premium price for a product at a retail store because you didn’t know you could get the same product from a catalog or on the web at a substantial discount?
Marketing allows consumers to become better informed about the available purchasing choices available to them. More than two thirds of American consumers take advantage of direct marketing opportunities each year.
Businesses rely on open access to public records to develop targeted marketing campaigns and to reach out to new customers. The ability to accurately and efficiently identify consumers interested in a given product or service dramatically reduces costs, limits the volume and environmental impact of unwanted or undeliverable mail, and enhances consumer satisfaction by increasing the chance that the information consumers receive is actually of interest.
All of this yields lower marketing costs for businesses, which in the end is an advantage all consumers enjoy.
Additionally, access to public records allows new market entrants – namely smaller businesses that cannot afford mass market advertising and lack the customer lists of their well established competitors – the ability to reach those individuals most likely to be interested in their products and services.
