List Rentals Are Not the Answer
Ahh list rentals… If you ask me they’re a sign of desperation that usually stems from an out-of-touch marketing department who “demand results”. Well guess what? As far as I can tell, utilizing a list rental service is not the way to go if you want results.
But if you do ultimately decide that renting a list will help you reach your goals, then you should keep a few things in mind. If you are going to rent a list, know what to look for in a vendor. From reading this article on clickz, they point out a few things to look out for when choosing a legitimate vendor.
1) Look at their prices. If there’s a sliding scale for the amount of email addresses your message will be sent to, then you should avoid them. Know what other vendors are charging. Get an average and an idea of what you should be spending. If something seems to good to be true, then… well, you know the rest.
2) If the vendor gives you the addresses to send to, then they’re bunk. They’re an asset to the vendor and they should treated it as such. If they’re handing them out willy-nilly then you should be alarmed and not do business with them.
3) Make sure if the list is double opt in. Double opt in lists traditionally make for better results, but this is usually applied to house lists. This is difficult (nearly impossible) for a vendor to prove without giving you their list. Also, if they insist their contacts are opted in, the question remains, “opted-in to what?“
4) If the vendor doesn’t give you their IP address, then don’t do business with them. Period. If they do provide you with an origin IP, take it as a sign of confidence on their part. You can check their sending IP at the following sites: Senderbase.org, ReputationAuthority, and BarracudaCentral.org. If you don’t check the IP addresses reputation and it turns out it’s blacklisted, your brand may be perceived as spam by users and ISPs alike. Once the send is completed and you’re looking to gather up your reports to see how the send performed, do not use baselines from organically grown lists as a means of measurement. You will almost always be disappointed in your results if you do this.
All in all, list rentals seem shady to me… no matter how much the vendor pleads the lists’ legitimacy, I’d be very apprehensive to pay for it. The best way to get results is to send timely messages with relevant content to users who opted in to specifically receive your emails. It takes time, patience and attention. Again… time, patience and attention.
Has anyone ever sent a successful list-rental campaign?
Posted by Bryan Quilty on Oct. 01, 2009
Comments
Renting an email list to grow a subscriber list, generate leads, or transact commerce can be part of smart and cost effective marketing strategy but it’s not for everyone, especially novice overly optimistic marketers. There are few that would argue that email marketing provides a 2X ROI over other marketing mediums when using an in-house list. Therefore efforts to build that list, be it through opt-in requests, lead gen or direct sales via a rented list, could hardly be considered an act of desperation.
As for your point #1 of “Look at their prices” I would recommend that all interested parties look at services like Nextmark.com or SRDS.com, as opposed to Google, for finding email list rentals that might be fit for their audience or offering. Not all list brokers, list managers, or list owners are created equal. Because the above listed services require that all list providers pay for their services, it’s a great pre-qualifier. Also look for Direct Marketing Association members.
Point #2, “If the vendor gives you the addresses to send to, then they’re bunk” Couldn’t agree more. However this is not list rental, it’s data sales. Huge difference in the companies that provide the list and results you may receive.
Point #3, “Make sure if the list is double opt in.” It’s a good rule to practice but having worked on all sides, meaning as a client, list manager, list broker, list owner, or the agency—I can tell you that the stated opt-in mechanism often has little to do with performance. That is, I’ve seem that a single opt-in list can as well as or better than it’s double opt-in counterpart. I say let your gut as well as the creditability, reputation, list source, and practices of the list owner be your guide.
Point # 4, “If the vendor doesn’t give you their IP address” this a good way to judge a mailing domain but it can easily spoofed.
Final thought, you say and I paraphrase; “Just send relevant content to users and be patient”. In an ideal world this would be the best practices, but for many businesses this sort of passive, inbound marketing cannot sustain their growth or even their existence. In fact, without outbound marketing many would not have the subscribers to send content to. (e.g. where would DELL be without direct marketing?). Direct marketing is the cornerstone of many successful organizations, it’s capitalism at it’s finest. It should not be frowned upon but it should also be used wisely as part of an over strategy.
Posted by Scott Hardigree on 10/28/2009 02:55 PM
I’ve been an email list broker for 10 years. I’ve worked w/ literally hundreds of clients (B2B & B2C, branded and unbranded mailers, etc.) and can genuinely say list rental is a good idea if used properly. Targeting has become more sophisticated as have marketers. Delivering a well tailored email campaign to a rented email list can generate opt-ins, social media traffic, event registrations, etc. Saying that rented lists don’t work is a lot like when people said banners don’t work. What people are really saying is that they haven’t refined their efforts w/in that specific medium to the point where it can work.
Posted by Scott Treske on 10/14/2009 03:08 PM