Questions and Answers About EnthusiastsDirect

Do your automotive mailing lists comply with the Driver's Privacy Protection Act (DPPA)?

Yes. We comply with all Federal privacy laws that protect drivers.

What is Driver's Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) and 'Shelby Act?'

The Drivers Privacy Protection Act (DPPA), Public Law No. 103-322 codified as amended by Public Law 106-69, was originally enacted by Congress in 1994 to protect the privacy of personal information assembled by State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMVs). On June 1, 2000 it was amended with the "Shelby amendment," often mistakenly called "The Shelby Act." It changed the DPPA to require states obtain a driver's consent before releasing any personal information, regardless of whether the request is made for a particular individual or in bulk for marketing purposes.

What is the source for EnthusiastsDirect automotive mailing lists?

We spent two years testing data models, building databases and creating strategic alliances with the mailing list industry's data providers. We have access to hundreds of variables on nearly all of the nation's 112+ million households including vehicle ownership, income, employment, marital status, consumer buying histories and more. We use a complete year/make/model ownership masterfile of 120 million U.S. consumers including automobile, truck and motorcycle owners, and we can drill down to consumers with a buying history of aftermarket parts and accessories with DIY behavior.
Important note: watch statistics from any list provider very carefully. For example we know of lists marketed that cover "120 million" or "150 million" US households or other high numbers. The US Census Bureau is projecting 114,825,000 households in the U.S. for 2010 so a higher claim is suspicious. Likewise we know of consumer lists that cover "300 million US consumers" or other similar numbers. The official US population estimate for 2009 was 307,006,550 so any masterfile that claims a higher number is either intentionally inaccurate or it includes millions of children (in 2009 21 million US residents were under 5 years old). Choose your list provider very carefully!

Why are your automotive mailing lists different from other mailing lists?

Our automotive mailing lists were created specifically for the automotive aftermarket industry. When talking to any mailing list vendor you can always run a simple test to see if they're familiar with the automotive aftermarket. Just ask if they have mailing lists for "Mopar 'A' bodies," "C5 Corvette" or "Fox body Mustangs" instead of referring to model years. You're likely to know pretty quickly if the list vendor is familiar with the industry or not!

Are your mailing lists accurate and current?

Yes. Our mailing lists are run through the United States Postal Service's National Change of Address (NCOA) file before delivery to you, giving you the most accurate file available. It also lets you qualify for all applicable postal discounts. Our data is updated weekly or monthly, depending on the source.

Can you dedupe against our existing customer file?

Yes, for an additional charge. If confidentiality is a concern we can also accept MD5 hash encrypted files to protect your records. MD5 hash files are encrypted with a widely used cryptographic hash function with a 128-bit hash value, typically expressed as a 32-digit hexadecimal number. When you send us an encrypted file we will only see if our of our records matches to one of your records, and we can then exclude a matched record from the file we send to you. We will also gladly sign a confidentiality agreement protecting your assets.

How do your mailing lists differ from modeled or predictor lists?

Our automotive mailing lists are created from multiple sources that indicate registration of an actual vehicle. Other lists on the market use hundreds of consumer data variables to "model" or predict what is in the consumer's garage. Both types of lists have their purpose. We do not recommend predictor lists when marketing parts and accessories for a specific make or model because they are not completely accurate. Instead we recommend lists such as from EnthusiastsDirect.com which indicate the actual make and model of the vehicle.

Who is EnthusiastsDirect.com?

EnthusiastsDirect™ was started by industry veterans from our sister company, Hedges & Company with more than 40 years of collective experience in direct marketing, mailing lists, market research and database marketing in the automotive aftermarket and powersports industries. It was started because there's a need in the automotive industry for specialized mailing lists, email lists and marketing programs tailored to the unique characteristics of automotive and motorcycle enthusiasts.