Buying mailing lists has been a common thing that businesses just think they have to do. But while there are a few potential pros, the truth is, the cons far outweigh any pros to buying mailing lists these days. It’s so easy to find your audience today using social media like Facebook that there is no real reason to have to buy a mailing list.
* Spam risks – If you buy an email list, you’re likely to end up being accused of spam. It’s so much better to earn your audience through other means and make sure you get that double opt-in. When people double opt-in they’re giving you permission to market to them, and that’s so much better.
* Old Lists – Most of the time when you buy an email list, it will be kind of old. You’ll get a lot of bounces, and that’s not good for your conversion rate at all. In fact, most of the time the email addresses aren’t even answered. Home addresses aren’t really much better. How many times have you received crazy ads in the mail that were targeted completely incorrectly?
* Wrong Target – Many mailing lists just will not be the right target audience. When you send to a list it’s really “cold calling”. The people aren’t primed in any way to receive your messages and likely will not even read them because it’s the wrong target market.
* False Security – Often when a business owner buys a list, they are just trying to appear busy. But, they’re skipping some important steps which involves warming up your market, getting them to give you permission to send them education and information. Buying the lists just makes you feel as if you’re doing something.
If instead you work toward finding your target audience, delivering to them what they want and need and building your own list with those you’ve spent time warming up, you’ll find that you are much more successful.
* Warm Market – When you attract people to sign up for your email list, they have already warmed up to you. They know what they’re getting in exchange for their email address and they’re giving you permission to send them information.
* Social Ads – It’ll cost you the same amount of money to buy an outdated list with the wrong target audience as it will for you to run an advertisement on Facebook. But, on Facebook you’ll attract the right audience and actually earn money when people click over what you spent on the click.
* It Works – The fact is, attracting your audience to you will work better than trying to force them to be part of your circle. Using low-cost items, webinars, freebies and more to bring your audience to you will always be more fruitful than buying a list.
* It’s Not the Dark Ages – Some things need to be put to the side now that we have new ways to do old things better. You do need to have a mailing list, but you should build it with people who have shown interest in what you do or have bought something from you.
So, basically don’t buy a mailing list. But if you do it anyway, make sure that it’s a newer list and that the people on the list want to receive the information you’re going to send them.