Life events are opportunities to touch base in marketing.Each passing of a major milestone early in life has the potential to spur a new spending pattern. Marketers who anticipate milestones that impact spending patterns can capitalize on such opportunities.

Perhaps the most personal way to reach out to the new milestone achiever is to drop a note in the mail congratulating him or her and stating how your products and services can help along the way. This small, personal acknowledgement can go a long way in earning a new customer and possibly gaining a long lifetime of loyalty from a young consumer.

The key to getting out in front of each milestone and into the recipient’s mailbox first is a good list. Specific milestone lists are readily available and milestone-indicative data can be appended to a marketers’ house file.

Four Early Milestones Marketers Must Mail

  1. Newly Engaged/Newlyweds

Fiancés & fiancées are in-market for bridal magazines, wedding venues, invitations, registry services, wedding party apparel, and honeymoon destinations. Newlyweds seek financial advice, real estate, and home décor and furnishings. Home health, auto, and life insurance companies as well as credit and financial service providers can build a lifetime of loyalty with those tying the knot.

  1. New Baby/New Parents

Pre-natal lists by trimester are available to reach new moms and dads before they even bring their bundles of joy home. Post-natal lists can identify the actual month of birth for marketing the most relevant models of toddler furnishings, apparel, transport gear and more. By many accounts, young parents respond particularly well to coupons.

  1. New Movers

New homeowners have a multitude of needs and new mover lists can offer a multitude of data to address them. Be sure to look for such data points as homeowner vs. renter, single-family dwelling vs. multi-family dwelling, head-of-household name and age, household size, move-in date, income, and distance moved. If you are marketing luxury furnishings for example, you will want high-income new movers to single-family homes.

  1. School Graduates

Reach families of high school students and college-bound graduates seeking seminars, summer programs, private schools, community colleges, trade and technical schools, universities, and online education programs. Student aid providers, scholarships, grants, and financial assistance programs can also zero in by targeting those most in need by geographical location and other demographics.

Every early milestone easily lends itself to the use of variable data to keep your marketing relevant and on point. Be sure to personalize your mailing by name and use images that exude gender, age, and subject matter of interest. Armed with good lists and illuminating data, you can mount a milestone campaign that can move your bottom line past a few milestones as well.