"In these perilous times, you need to not only look for prospects that fit your ideal profile, but also understand their current buying behaviors," Sobel says.

Modeling enables direct marketers to analyze the attributes of their best customers and then target more of them. Identifying prospects that are likely to respond to your sales and marketing message is essential for today's marketer.

The key to a successful model is the data used.  Dataline specializes in consumer marketing information and houses a proprietary database of over 235 million individuals.  Updated on a monthly basis, Dataline’s file incorporates over 110 million consumer transactions.  "We know who is responding and who is purchasing," Sobel says.  It's the most comprehensive, up-to-date information on the market today.

The modeling process uses marketing information to analyze your current customer base.  At Dataline, statisticians use an information-rich consumer file to match and model your data.  The goal is to predict a person's likelihood to buy.  Once the model is created and those variables are identified, the selection processes begins.

Perhaps the best news is that modeling and analytics can uncover who your true buying public is.  That knowledge is power – modeling can act as the eyes and ears in today’s ever-changing marketplace, providing the advantage on who to target.  It's a tool that today's marketers should consider as they wrestle with identifying who their best prospects are in this "new" economy.