house list

Definition

Your own database of contacts collected through legitimate, non-creepy means—the marketing equivalent of knowing people personally. It's your most valuable asset that you definitely didn't buy from a sketchy lead broker.

Example Usage

Our house list outperforms rented lists by 300% because these people actually opted in and know who we are.

Origin

Direct mail terminology from when physical mailing lists were actually maintained in someone's house

Fun Fact

House lists are typically worth 10-15x more per contact than purchased lists, yet many companies still blow budget on cold lists that perform terribly.

Source: Direct marketing and list management terminology

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