Meet the Broker: Arlene Baum

Today we meet Arlene Baum, vice president of data acquisition at American List Counsel Inc. Baum has a long history of helping publishers and catalogers sell religious products and is looking to expand in the fundraising arena.

Before she joined ALC in June 2007, Baum spent many years with Bush List Co., simultaneously working in brokerage and management to target the faithful.

"I've done a lot of consumer lead generation and I've been heavy in the church market. I'm growing and looking to do more in the fundraising market," Baum says.

Her list of clients presently includes Christian Book Distributors Inc., Christianity Today International, Group Publishing Inc., Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and JCA Co.

From piety to politics, understanding the behavioral differences between various segments of the Christian market is key for picking the right lists for clients.

List segments for Catholics, Protestants and evangelical Christians aren't interchangeable, nor can marketers expect to achieve great success by overlaying religious data or making religious inferences. "I can't use a Catholic list to sell a Billy Graham book," notes Baum.

One trait remains consistent across all segments in the Christian market though: Direct mail still works best for new customer acquisition, based on her experience.

Publishers and catalogers in the Christian market are offering more products online, but few e-mail lists are available for targeting the faithful. "Only a handful of companies release e-mail lists. We haven't broken that barrier yet," Baum says.

Baum strives to balance list brokerage and community work. She volunteers for the Girl Scouts and PTA committees. "I'm active. My husband calls me the volunteer queen," she says.

When the weather is fine she enjoys bicycling with her daughters, 9 and 15. Otherwise, she likes spending time at the beach near Forked River, NJ. "We live only a mile away from the ocean."

How do the slowing economy and postage inflation impact list strategies?

During the last 12 to 18 months list exchange activity has picked up as mailers seek to reduce costs. And Baum adds that a growing acceptance of marketing partnerships in recent years is a significant development.

"This has been happening for a while, but now it has a name. With marketing partnerships both parties share data for mutual benefits—acquiring new customers and increasing the size of house files."

Is the Christian list market growing or shrinking?

"We're not seeing extensive growth in the market in terms of new lists," says Baum. "I sure wish we did."

Within the Christian market the evangelical niche is the strongest, but otherwise response rates have been declining and mailers have been cutting back on circulation.

"What we need is for managers get more creative with list pricing incentives," explains Baum. "We're having to dig deeper into files and use more selections to boost response, but it doesn't help if it costs $20/M for the selections."

Know someone you'd like to suggest for Meet the Broker? E-mail Jim.Emerson@Penton.com