Rented Lists
Whenever we're asked about the viability of
rented email lists, our firm response is: "It
depends." Purchasing or renting highly targeted
lists that are fresh and provided by a reputable
company that uses top-notch, confirmed opt-in
standards may be something to consider.
Some approach email marketing as simply a way
to generate money, thinking that buying a list
and some email marketing software will allow them
to send emails and rake in the cash. Arial Software
has always promoted permission-based email marketing
(in fact, we pioneered it). Our target audience
has never been people out to make a quick buck,
but businesses that desire building relationships
with their customer base via highly personalized
and relevant email marketing campaigns.
Blackfriars' Marketing performed an interesting
comparison that actually mirrors the behavior
of some people wanting to break into the email
marketing "gig." They arbitrarily rented a list
of 10,000 executives and emailed a survey to them,
eventually getting only about a 0.3 percent response
rate. They paid top dollar for their list, but
failed to seriously consider whether the contacts
on the list could relate to what they were doing.
If extra effort had been applied to ensure the
list they used matched their target market, they
may have been able to increase their response
rate above 1 percent. Is this effort really worth
it? In this study, Blackfriars' gives us a good
example of how not to execute an effective email
marketing campaign.
According
to Marketing Sherpa's Benchmark Guide for 2007,
some marketers acknowledged a benefit from rented
lists, but only about 4 percent thought of them
as justified by return on investment (ROI). In
this annual email marketing report, 50 percent
of the respondents indicated that renting a list
is not justified by the ROI, especially in the
business-to-consumer (B-to-C) segment of their
marketing campaigns. Business-to-business (B-to-B)
lists fared better, but Marketing Sherpa concludes
that a rented list is best used in conjunction
with other marketing channels and should be considered
carefully.
One additional caution: When deciding to rent
a list, beware of an increase in spam complaints.
Subscribers on a rented list typically do not
know who you are and are much more likely to click
the "report as spam" button that's now available
from many email providers. The repercussions of
using a rented list without taking the possibility
of damaging reputation into consideration could
ruin any subsequent email marketing campaigns,
as well as require extra hours getting back in
the good graces of some ISPs.
One way to reduce the risk of damaged reputation
is to inform rented contacts by emailing an introductory
email. It would be worthwhile to mention exactly
how and why they are receiving a message. Here's
an example: "{First_name}, a while back you signed
up for a newsletter and volunteered to receive
additional information. Here it is!" or something
tying the invitation to their original sign-up.
In this invitation email, it is a good idea to
have them actively opt-in to your in-house list,
and if they fail to do so, refrain from emailing
them again.
While it takes extra time, it's best to grow
and maintain your own email list in-house rather
than remain dependent on rental lists. Rented
email lists should be handled with great care
and should be a supplement to an in-house list,
not a replacement or starter list. Email marketing
should simply be one extension of an overall customer
satisfaction and marketing plan, not an afterthought.
In conjunction with powerful email marketing campaigns,
an in-house email subscriber list will pay off
bigger dividends in the long run.
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