New homeowners represent an enormous profit opportunity for local businesses. On average, about 41 million Americans move each year. Having just moved into a new neighborhood, these individuals and families have yet to find local businesses with whom they will soon form lasting relationships. New movers represent a hot opportunity for those local businesses forward-thinking enough to contact them directly to extend to them special new-customer offers and discounts.



Savvy local business owners know that they can take advantage of this hot market by subscribing to new homeowner mailing lists. However, given that most business owners understandably lack the time and expertise, they are not always sure how to best leverage these lists to their advantage.

Here are 7 reasons for local businesses to leverage new homeowner mailing lists:

Reason #1: Allows you to strike while the iron is hot:

Recall your own situation the last time you were a new mover, having just moved into a home or apartment: the first few weeks were probably a flutter of activity as you unpacked and got to know your area. Most new homeowners are so busy getting their new lives on track that they rely merely on geographical convenience or dumb luck to find new stores.

Now, imagine that you are a new mover who has received a specially-targeted, customized direct mail piece addressed to you. Maybe it offers a $10-off coupon, a free oil change, or a free haircut. Moving is expensive, so it makes perfect since to give this new business a try this one time (even though chances are you will be back again and again). The point is: there is only a very small window of opportunity to make contact with new movers, so you have to strike while the iron is hot.

Reason #2: Specifically focuses limited marketing budgets on this hot prospect category:

If you are like most small business owners, your marketing budget is rather small, so spending on magazine, newspaper, TV and radio ads may be out of the question. Direct mail is always a good alternative, except that sending mail pieces to everyone in a 5 or 10-mile radius of your business would be too expensive. But, by narrowing your mailing list down to the prospects most likely to make a purchase, you will be getting by far the most bang for your marketing buck.

Reason #3: New mover-targeted direct mail can carry coupons and other special offers:

Not only are TV, newspaper, and radio ads expensive, but they are not conducive to generating a leave-behind with your prospects. It is one thing to try to remember a special offer that you hear on the radio, but it is quite another to have a 20% off coupon in your hand, wallet, or glove box. Direct mail pieces are an ideal medium for targeting specific target prospects with offers tailored just for them. And, making special offers to new movers makes sense: why not charge them less on their first visit in order to get them hooked on your products and services? By doing so, you will have a high probability of converting them to lifetime customers.

Reason #4: The lifetime dollar value of each new client is substantial:

Of course, getting a customer to buy from you once is an important and impressive feat. But, consider the fact that the lifetime value of a customer is many, many times the value of an average single purchase. For example, the annual value of a customer for various types of businesses is substantial, including for grocery stores ($3,778), pizza stores ($204), oil/lube centers ($100), auto repair shops ($436), tire stores ($300), dentists ($178), hair salons ($394), dry cleaners ($480), and day care centers ($2,240). And, these figures are just for a single year of business, so of course the actual value of longtime customers is much, much higher.

Reason #5: New homeowners are 4 to 8 times more likely to respond to direct mail than are longtime residents:

For reasons stated above, once an individual or family is settled into a new residence and have settled into a pattern of patronizing certain businesses, it takes a lot for them to switch and try something new. Reason: most people are risk-averse, meaning they would rather stick with what they know rather than try something new, even if the potential benefits of switching are high. Translation: even if you are the best business in your neighborhood for your business category, getting people to switch over to you can be a huge challenge, no matter what you do. However, by targeting new movers, you are going after people who are still “on the hunt” for the businesses to whom they will end up giving on the whole tens of thousands of dollars or more of their hard-earned cash each year. New movers have been shown to be 4 to 8 times more likely to respond to direct mail campaigns than are longtime residents.

Reason #6: New homeowners tell each other about businesses they like:

New homeowners - especially those from out of the area - tend to stick together. Their kids play together, they watch sports together, they have picnics together - and they share about where they do their shopping. By successfully winning over new movers in your area, you are effectively tapping into a viral (i.e., word of mouth) marketing opportunity that can give you a return on your investment many times over.

Reason #7: Your competitors may already be beating you to it:

One of the best reasons to target new movers is that your competition may already be doing so. If you find that you are struggling against a staunch local competitor or two in your market who just keep getting ahead, they may be carrying out targeted direct mail campaigns. It is important that you get the message about your business in front of the new movers in your area before your competitors do if you want to beat them to the punch and capture that new business for yourself.

New homeowner mailing lists, coupled with a customized direct mail campaign, are an effective, low-budget way to directly target new movers in your area. With the lifetime dollar value of a client often running into the thousands of dollars, new movers represent a ripe marketing opportunity that all local business should go after.