List Rental or Purchase
The lists that you build using these on- and offline tactics will provide the highest ROI as the acquisition costs are low and, because you’re mailing to targeted leads that requested your information, the results are high. However, if you need to get a campaign out the door quickly or if you need to reach a larger audience and don’t have time to build your own list, you could rent or buy a mailing list. Doing so has certain risks and the rewards aren’t as great, but when executed correctly, it could be a short term solution for your business.
Renting a list is much safer than purchasing one but it has other drawbacks. With a rented list, the list manager deploys the message on your behalf so your reputation is not at stake. However, unlike a purchased list that you can reuse, you incur fees each time you mail to a rented list so the costs can be much higher. Reputable list rental organizations require you to send your suppression list of subscribers who previously opted-out of your lists so they don’t inadvertently send the messages to those contacts. You must also agree to honor the unsubscribes your message generates by removing them from your lists. This best practice is an important step as you won’t be wasting money by sending your message to the wrong recipients.
You should follow this same practice if you purchase a list by de-duping it against your current contacts. Unsolicited messages have the highest reported abuse rate and this quick step will help cut down on the number of complaints against your message.
If you are considering renting or purchasing a list, find out when and how the vendor collected the email addresses. Reputable companies will provide this information to you as they want to maintain clean records and happy customers. You should also find out how often list hygiene and email appending has been performed so you are certain that you’re purchasing accurate data. Finally, ask how the company handles emails that bounce. Knowing this information in advance can help you find the right contacts for your email campaign.
When mailing to a rented or purchased list, one of your main objectives should be to encourage those contacts to subscribe to your list. These lists usually have less than a one percent conversion rate, but if you offer the recipients an easy way to opt-in to your list you can identify and capture targeted leads even if they don’t want to take advantage of your current offer.
Because you are sending unsolicited messages you must follow all of the CAN-SPAM regulations, which are being updated this month:
The message:
- Must contain a free opt-out mechanism that is available through a single web page, replying to the message, or through an unsubscribe button and it can only require the subscriber to enter his or her email address
- Must include a valid subject line and header (routing) information
- Must include the sender’s valid postal address and return email address from the sole sender (as defined in the from line)
- Cannot contain false or misleading transmission information
- Cannot contain a deceptive subject heading
- Must be clearly identified as an advertisement or solicitation
- Must comply with the sexually explicit labeling rule, if applicable
To learn more about the new CAN-SPAM regulations, read Listrak’s white paper “New CAN-SPAM rules for 2008.”
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