In this article, we’ll discuss buying email address, whether it’s a good or bad idea, and the best way to buy email addresses if you have no other option at this point in your business.
Most email marketing companies insist that buying email addresses is a bad idea. Further, most email marketing companies do not allow you to send emails on their system when your mailing list consists of email address that have been purchased from a third-party company that specializes in the selling or renting of email address lists.
Their reasons are very sound, and their restrictions are intended to protect their customers, as well as to uphold the integrity of their outgoing email servers.
Here are some reasons why buying email addresses for email marketing may be a bad idea:
- After being lured into buying email addresses, many buyers report that a large number of those addresses are invalid.
- Sending a large number of outgoing emails to invalid email addresses can get your mail server blacklisted and you’ll be labeled a spammer
- It’s unlawful to market via email to someone who has not agreed to be on your mailing list, and you can never be sure if the email addresses you’re buying actually belong to people who have opted in to receive promotional offers
- The list may not be as targeted as you think. When you create your own mailing list, you know with 100% certainty that your subscribers are an ideal target market who have expressed an interest in your offering.
If you’re still not convinced that buying email addresses is a bad idea, then you’ll be pleased to know that there are actually right ways to “buy” email addresses. But, don’t expect great results by going to companies that specialize in selling lists of email addresses with 100,000 recipients, 85% of which are invalid.
The correct way to buy email addresses is to partner with another company or website that you believe to be a reputable vendor. Ask the webmaster if he or she would place a checkbox on their sign up form, which allows their visitors to sign up for your offer, as well. You can offer the webmaster a price for each email they gather; most would be delighted to offer your product and make a little extra revenue.
You’d be surprised at what an excellent email address list you can come up with by taking this approach. For example, if you sell organic dog treats, you may ask the publisher of a magazine that specializes in dog care if you can place your offer on their signup form. The mailing list you generate with your partner would consist of a target market that cares about their pet and would certainly consider your organic dog treats. This method may be a little more time-consuming — but at least you’re not completely wasting time and money.
FYI, there are services who specialize in helping to partner you with businesses for an email coregistration program.
The preferred way to “buy” email addresses is to attract subscribers by offering a free gift, a free online app, download, coupon, or exclusive information on your website. Use a subscribe form, like the one found here, that allows your visitors to enter a name and email address, and then redirects the visitor to your offering:
http://www.emailmarketingprofessional.com/subscribe/create.php
Now, this method won’t give you 100,000 people overnight, but something of even more value — a list of people who you know are interested in your offer.
