Just Say No

Many clients have asked my about purchasing email lists and I came across this article that which summarizes some of the cons of doing this to bolster the volume of your target audience I hope that you find his information helpful.

Though leaders in the email marketing industry are just about unanimous on the subject of randomly purchased lists. Their advice to marketers? Avoid them like the plague. You may, however, still encounter those who push the buying of email lists as a perfectly legal alternative to building lists through opt-in subscription.

And according to Laura Tessmer Atkins, they are—technically speaking—correct.

"Any sender can purchase a list and then send mail to the addresses on that list," she writes at the Word to the Wise blog, "and as long as that sender meets the rock-bottom standards set out in CAN SPAM and your mail has an opt-out link, a physical postal address and unforged headers, that mail is legal. The only other obligation on the sender is to honor any unsubscribe requests within 10 days."

But here's the catch: Your recipients won't debate the legal merits of your bought list before hitting the spam button. And it only takes a few complaints to attract the stern attention of ISPs that can bring your "legitimate" email campaign to a screeching halt, she warns.

In the end, the only real winners in these kinds of transactions are the companies that provide the lists in the first place, Atkins says. "They make money when their customers buy lists," she notes, but "the customers, and the customers' ESPs bear all the cost and consequences of the spam that's being sent."

Conclusion: "Can" doesn't mean "should." Just because you can buy email lists, the likely fallout from that practice far exceeds the potential benefits. It's best to build your own.

If you would like to discuss your email marketing plans, please give me a call at 440-519-1500 or e-mail me at john@x2media.us

X2 Media can help you target your content and get your message to the audience in a way that it is not only seen and heard, but remembered.

Until next month….remember, “you don’t get a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression”. Always make it a good one! From X2Media I would like to thank you for your time.

John E. Hornyak

X2Media, LLC