The following is part two of a multi-part series on “The Naughty Words of Email Marketing.” Feel free to chime in through comments or through Twitter.
Much like buying sex is considered taboo in this country, buying lists for email marketing purposes is a very naughty practice.
Here are my reasons why “Buy” is naughty:
“Buy” is naughty because it’s fundamentally antithetical to the very legality of email being opt-in. I wrote a bit of a diatribe about this here, but here’s a bit more pointed commentary:
- Email is opt-in. You must have permission to email people.
- Permission must be explicitly given.
- Therefore, buying a list does not mean you’re purchasing people’s permission. It doesn’t work that way. (Read my rant about email not being a lead gen tool. This kind of proves my point a bit.)
List buying for email has been a hot topic among the Email Snobs out there.
What the Email Snobs say about “Buy”
Julie Waite, Email Marketing Strategist at Bronto, probably says it best on the Bronto Blog:
Purchasing lists and sending bulk unsolicited email is bad news. Buying lists opens up a whole host of problems with deliverability, sender reputation, and potential damage to your brand. Most purchased lists are loaded with honeypots (dummy email addresses that ISPs will recognize as spamtraps and use to block you), not to mention the fact that these people have not given you permission to email them. In this day and age of Twitter, Facebook, and other instant viral internet communication, you can’t afford to risk this damage to your brand.
Mark Brownlow on Email Marketing Reports writes:
Clearly, no self-respecting list owner is ever going to sell copies of their address lists. Not if they want to preserve its values. If somebody does offer to sell and send you a bulk list of email addresses, 99 times out of 100 you’re getting a spam list. At best, your messages to that list just elicit a poor response. At worst, you’re labeled a spammer, which has numerous practical consequences–all of them bad–for your brand, bottom line, and ability to do business over the Internet.
Loren McDonald has this to say on the subject:
[Buying lists] indicates a fundamental misunderstanding about how email marketing works. Worse, it perpetuates the false expectation that all you have to do to have success via email is to “buy” a list and then start sending messages to it. Is “buying” a list illegal? Not according to the CAN-SPAM Act, as long as you provide a means to opt out among other requirements. But let’s be serious. Do you really want to risk your brand and sender reputation to send unsolicited emails to millions of people?
For something that’s so strongly argued against, it’s amazing it still has relevance.
What are your thoughts? Chime in. It could be fun.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
It’s easy to see how email marketing newbies would opt for the seemingly easy choice. The real problem here is that there is a failure to consider the user experience. Would you want to receive emails from a company you’ve never given your information to? I sure wouldn’t.
Maayan,
Agreed. You must consider the user experience. That’s why buying lists is wrong. It’s self-serving salesmanship, not working on creating a mutually beneficial experience and relationship.
Thanks for the comment.
Buying a list can be valuable, just understand how much its worth to you to have people see your message. Imagine a big silo and your first step is find the people that very broadly have an interest in your subject. You email them and they enter the funnel/silo and you find the pearls in a broad demographic. Many people on the internet are aware of the practice of giving up their contact info to an online site…i dare say they expect to be marketed to…I know I do and I actually look forward to the targeted emails from them as we grow our relationship. Use email marketing at its best and using a broad demographic you can carve out your niche and create YOUR most valuable list of customers.
Mike,
It’s an interesting approach you have there. You have to consider the validity of the email list you’re buying. Odds are, given the ROI of email addresses, that if folks are selling email addresses for an anywhere-near-affordable price, the addresses are not good. The list is probably filled with bad email addresses, spam honey pots, etc.
If you’re trying to maintain your argument, your best buy is going for list rental, where the list owners send the email for you (from them).
Scott Cohen´s last blog ..Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes