Buying
a "targeted" email list: 4 questions you MUST ask before you open your
wallet
By Andrew
Mallory
[Ed. note:
Andrew Mallory is one of our top Internet Entrepreneur Club experts. To
learn more about the Club, please visit: marketingtips.com/internetentrepreneurclub]
A subscriber named Tony recently wrote us to ask if buying targeted
email lists is a good way to drive traffic to a site.
(A "targeted email list" is a list of email addresses belonging to
people who are likely to buy your product.)
Here's the short answer: Yes... sometimes.
But before you decide to buy,
there are four very important questions you need to answer:
Question #1. Is the list vendor
legitimate?
Do some careful research to make sure the vendor is a reputable
company. I'm sure you know, there are a lot of scammers out there!
You can check out what the Better Business Bureau has to say about the
company at
www.bbbonline.org.
If you don't find anything there, go to a search engine like Google and
type in phrases like:
- (company name) + fraud
- (company name) + rip-off
- (company name) + scam
You'll quickly find out if anyone has ever had an unpleasant experience
with them.
(That's the great thing about the Internet...
There are lots of scammers out there, but there's just as many people
who will point their fingers and cry, "Foul!")
If you don't come across any complaints, chances are they're legitimate.
Question #2: Is the list actually targeted?
Imagine you're a real estate agent. Which email list would you rather
buy:
- A list of people who recently visited a
mortgage
broker in your area, inquiring about a first-time home owner's loan
-- or --
- A list of random names pulled from phone
books all over the world?
The first option, obviously! It's made up of people who are
very likely to buy
your services. It's an extremely targeted list.
If you're thinking about buying a list, make sure it's targeted to your
particular market. Contact the vendor directly and ask them exactly how
they got the names on the list. Don't settle for anything less than
full disclosure.
Question #3: Did the people on the list
give the vendor permission to share their addresses?
This is another question you should ask the vendor. If the people on
the list
haven't given their permission -- watch
out! Sooner than later (and probably sooner), someone will report you
as a spammer -- and that'll get your email address blocked by the major ISPs.
Same goes if the list includes a lot of "dead" email addresses (ones
that people don't use anymore). Unused email addresses are often
used as "spam traps," and companies who send to them get labeled as
spammers.
That's something you definitely want to avoid. Getting
yourself removed from a spam list involves jumping through a lot of
hoops -- and wasting a lot of time in the process.
Question #4: Is this really
the best way to spend my advertising dollars?
In certain circumstances, the answer to that is going to be "yes." For
example, if you sell hospital equipment, then a
list of hospital administrators' email addresses is probably worth GOLD
to you.
In most cases however, I would recommend you explore other free and
cheap traffic sources -- especially if you're just starting out. Email
lists can cost you hundreds -- or thousands -- of dollars.
The following options are often much cheaper
and
more effective:
- Co-registration:
Works great if you have a newsletter. Arrange a deal with another
company, so people who subscribe to their newsletters are given the
option of subscribing to yours as well.
- Blogging:
Drive traffic to your blog via the search engines and offer a free
report full of valuable information to people who opt in to your list.
- Forums: Hang
out in forums that are popular with your target market. Let
people know you have a free report that's full of information they'll
find useful, and include a link to your opt-in page in your
signature.
- Buy advertising space in
other people's newsletters: Just make sure they have a
large list and target the same market you do. (Offering a complementary
-- NOT competitive -- product, of course.)
If you offer the right price you could even ask them to mail a special
promotion to their list on your behalf. And the great thing is, there's
no chance you'll be accused of spamming -- because you
won't be the one mailing them!
One last piece of advice. If you do buy an email list, remember that
the people on the list don't know you from Adam.
They're not expecting an email from you. They might even have forgotten
they gave the list vendor permission to share their address.
You should probably not hit them with a hard promotion the first time
you mail them. It takes a
while for most people to feel comfortable enough to make a buying
decision. Help them get to know you -- and trust you -- before you
start selling to them.
Finally, make sure you send them an eye-catching email that captures
their interest and speaks to their needs in a friendly, personal tone
-- and above all, doesn't read like spam!
Are you just getting started and trying to
figure out what to sell online?
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