MYTHS ABOUT BUYING AN EMAIL LIST

Common myths about buying email lists.

1. NOT LEGAL: False! Unlike European marketers that are prevented from email prospecting due to draconian GDRP rules, here in the US it’s 100% legal for companies to grow their businesses with 3rd party email lists.  To reiterate, according to the US CAN-SPAM Act, it is 100% legal to send unsolicited emails … just like it’s 100% legal to send unsolicited direct mail offers.  The primary CAN-SPAM Act requirement is that recipients have a clear/easy way to opt-out of future unsolicited emails from the Sender.

IMPORTANT NOTE 1:  Here are at DMDatabases we ONLY sell email data to buyers that will sign an agreement requiring that all facets of the CAN-SPAM Act are followed!

IMPORTANT NOTE 2:  Here are at DMDatabases we ONLY sell consumer email addresses that have opted-in to third-party marketing offers.   And since our consumer email list are opt-in, we have no spam traps, honeypots, and other pests. This opt-in requirement is one reason our consumer email quantities are a bit lower than data sellers that don’t have this strict opt-in requirement. 

2.  PURCHASED EMAIL LISTS ARE NOT EXCLUSIVE:   This is true … though this point also applies to direct mail lists … though this fact doesn’t prevent Visa, Google, Home Depot, and other multi-national companies from using non-exclusive lists to generate new customers.  Besides, note that there is no such thing as an exclusive email list since it’s naïve to think that other marketers don’t have the same email addresses.  In this age of Big Data – there are countless companies that have the same email address that many others also have … on an exclusive or non-exclusive basis.

3.  PURCHASED EMAIL LISTS HAVE LOWER OPEN RATES THAN NON-PURCHASED EMAIL LISTS:  Of course, this statement is true since a non-purchased email list will typically consist of customers and/or inquirers who have specifically requested info from the email sender.  Astute email marketers do not expect their “prospecting” email list to generate the same Open rate as an in-house email list.  The goal of a prospecting email campaign is to generate new inquirers / customers … expand the in-house email list.

4. NOT ANY EMAIL BLASTING PROVIDERS: Yes, it’s true that some popular email blasting providers (ConstantContact, etc) don’t allow 3rd party email lists, BUT there are many other reputable email marketing providers that can effectively email blast your purchased email lists.

5. QUALITY 3RD PARTY EMAIL LISTS ARE NOT FOR SALE: False! As with all products/services – there are some dubious players peddling low-quality cheap data, though this fact doesn’t negate the fact that quality email lists are for sale. And for proof just look for email list sellers with a detailed written money-refund quality guarantee … since obviously a low quality data seller wouldn’t offer a detailed “money-refund” guarantee.

6. ONLY SPAMMERS BUY EMAIL LISTS: This false statement is completely from out of left field because spammers are too cheap to buy email lists. Spammers typically use tertiary email addresses … which typically are scraped email lists or email addresses that can be downloaded from web for free. We use the term tertiary because tertiary emails are rarely checked. We all have tertiary / secondary email addresses that we rarely check, and these tertiary Inboxes are no doubt bombarded with spam … mainly because tertiary email lists are practically free. On the other hand, primary emails addresses … which are frequently checked … are too expensive for spammers.

8. PURCHASED EMAIL LISTS ARE OVER-USED: False! Sure, free tertiary email addresses are overused which is why recipients never check their tertiary email address InBoxes. On the other hand, a primary email address by logic can’t be overused as survey after survey confirms that the average person checks their primary email Inbox at least once per day.

9. EMAIL LIST BUYERS ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE MARKETERS: Primary email addresses are not cheap, thus the companies that do buy 3rd party primary email lists are typically responsible marketers … meaning they follow Can-Spam Rules and make a legitimate effort to present “relevant” offers that match the recipient’s demographic / psychographic profile. Most importantly, reputable marketers always provide an “easy” way to opt-out … assuring that no further offers will follow. As for the few spammers that do spend money on primary email address, ESPs (Gmail, Outlook, etc) are very good at identifying and blocking these spammers.

10. WILL HARM IP REPUTATION: Quality prospecting email lists will not damage an IP Address.  What damages an IP Address is a low-quality email list and/or improper email marketing practices.  For example, an email list with a high hard bounce rate will for sure result in instant IP damage and account closure.  And a quality email list with zero hard-bounces can still result in IP damage / account closure “if” the email campaign results in a high spam complaint rate.  This link shares some tips for minimizing spam complaint click rate.  

Along with only using quality prospecting email lists AND email strategies that assure a low spam complaint rate, astute email marketers have multiple email blasting vendors (IP Addresses).  There’s the primary IP address which is used for sending offers to “customers/active inquirers,” and then there are secondary IPs which are for “prospecting” email campaigns. For example, a marketer may use ConstantContact for sending a newsletter to their “active subscribers” while using another email blast platform for driving new prospects to the website … to gain First-Party inquirers or customers.    

11. PEOPLE ON PURCHASED EMAIL LISTS DON’T KNOW YOU: Yes, this is true but this fact also applies to direct mail lists – though this doesn’t prevent the conglomerates from mailing countless direct mail brochures to your home. Nor does this fact prevent companies from serving you ads while you’re searching the web. Of course, the goal of email marketing … all forms of advertising … is to get people to know you … build awareness of your brand/offer … convert strangers into customers!

12. ANNOYING: Some feel that unsolicited emails are annoying – though the same view could apply to all forms of advertising. Isn’t it annoying when you do a search for shoes, and then from that point you constantly see ads for shoes. Isn’t it annoying to receive countless direct mailers for a credit card offer; think of the environmental impact of those unsolicited direct mail pieces. Isn’t it annoying to watch 15 commercials while trying to enjoy a TV show with the family. Isn’t it annoying to attempt to read a newspaper with an ad interruption after each paragraph? Bottom-line, all forms of advertising can be a bit annoying, but one benefit of email marketing is the recipient can quickly/easily opt-out … put a stop to all future ads … a benefit that can’t be said with other forms of annoying ads.

13. ESP PENALTY: It’s true that your ESP (Email Service Provider, Gmail, Yahoo, etc) will send you a warning about closing your email account IF you continue to execute large scale email campaigns from your email account. And for this reason we recommend that you do NOT use your personal email account for executing “prospecting” email campaigns due to email SMTP restrictions.

A purchased email list can give you a positive ROI – Click Here

How to maximize your ROI from a purchased email list –  Click Here