Despite how tempting it seems, buying an email marketing list is bad for your business. Here are a few issues when it comes to purchased lists.
1. You might break data protection laws
Buying an email list in itself is not illegal. However, sending unsolicited marketing messages to people without their explicit consent is illegal in many countries. This is determined by local laws where the email recipient lives (think GDPR and the CAN-SPAM act).
Even if no law exists preventing you from buying email lists, it’s still a bad practice. That’s because you can never be sure that the list broker obtained consent from the contacts they’re selling. This can turn off potential customers who didn’t give away their contact information.
Another concern with purchased lists is the method by which the addresses were collected. Most of the time, these addresses are harvested by bots who crawl the internet looking for them.
The best way to avoid this is to collect the norway telephone number data email contacts yourself and get explicit consent. Usually, this means asking subscribers to check off a box agreeing to receive emails or other marketing messages.
Example of a GDPR-compliant signup form in Brevo
Example of a GDPR-compliant signup form in Brevo
2. You risk damaging your email sender reputation
Buying email lists can have a negative 6 reactivation emails that attract your prospects’ attention impact on your email sender reputation and delivery rate. Because when you buy an email list, you can’t be sure that the contacts are in your target audience. They’re often unfamiliar with your company, which makes them likelier to unsubscribe or flag you as a spammer.
You also risk getting caught in spam traps. Spam traps are email addresses used by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to identify and block senders who aren’t following list-building best practices.
Starting February 2024, Gmail plans to add even more anti-spam protections, including a spam rate threshold of 0.3%. Bulk senders will need to limit how often they’re marked as spam to stay below this threshold and reach the inbox of Gmail recipients.
So if you don’t protect your sender reputation, you’ll put your email marketing campaigns at risk. That means that even if your target recipients actually gave you their consent, your emails will reach the spam folder at best. This can be detrimental for your business.
Related: Deliverability 101: How do Email Spam Filters Work?
3. Your brand reputation might also suffer
Buying email lists can lead to negative brand awareness. Because nobody likes receiving unsolicited emails – even from sources they know and trust. Receiving marketing messages from an unknown company, or a newsletter that they conduit china haven’t signed up for, is even worse.
Many contacts on a purchased list may fall outside your target market and often don’t know who you are. By sending unsolicited emails, there’s a risk these contacts will associate your company and brand with spam.
For larger brands, buying email lists can have even more negative consequences when exposed. It takes a long time to build up a brand, and just one mistake to damage it.
4. You’ll get poor results from your email marketing campaigns
When emailing contacts from a purchased list, chances are you’re sending irrelevant, untailored content. This can lead to unsuccessful email marketing campaigns.
Relevance, on the other hand, is key to successful email marketing. The best way to stand out in the crowded inbox these days is to send value-added emails to your target audience..
However, if you buy an email list, you have little information regarding these contacts — from their preferences and buying habits, to whether they’re even potential customers.
Your campaign metrics will suffer as a result. This means poor open rates, conversation rates, bounce rates, or unsubscribe rates.
Sharing targeted content can improve your email marketing campaign metrics. This usually involves segmenting your email list based on interests, demographics, and behavior.
Related: Email Segmentation: How to Segment Your Lists for Targeted Email Marketing
5. You won’t be able use email marketing services
The best email marketing platforms don’t allow the use of purchased lists on their servers.
There are several reasons for this. Firstly, email platforms don’t want to enable spammers or promote spammy activity. Spammers are notorious for buying email lists. Legitimate email service providers don’t want to help spammers in any way, shape or form.
Purchased lists also threaten the email marketing provider’s shared IP addresses, which are essential for providing an optimal service to all its customers.
Tip: authenticate your email addresses from your sending domain
Set up SPF or DKIM email authentication for your domain. This will help email servers recognize you as a trusted source and make you less likely to be marked by spam. Note: in February 2024, SPR and DKIM email verification will become part of Gmail’s requirements for bulk senders. Brevo makes the whole process fast and easy
Read more:
Gmail’s new sender requirements
Email Authentication 101
Alternatives to buying email lists
Growing your own lists might take time but the return on investment is better in the long run. Engaging high-quality subscribers who are interested in your product is the only way to drive results with email.
In other words, the best email address lists are not for sale. You can build one instead with these email list-buying alternatives:
Practice consent-based email list building. Stick to legitimate lead generation practices. Create popup signup forms on your website or share them on social media.
Set up a double opt-in subscription process. This is when a new subscriber receives an email with a link to confirm their subscription. You’ll be able to 1) confirm the subscriber’s consent and 2) ensure the address is valid and in active use.
Offer an incentive. People need a relevant call to action to sign up for your emails. Try sharing a lead magnet to turn website visitors into subscribers, such as an ebook or downloadable templates.
Provide value in your emails so people actually open them and click through to your site. Use contact segmentation to create targeted email lists based on interests, needs, or preferences and send relevant content and offers to each.
Related: How to Create an Email Signup Form in 6 Easy Steps
Don’t buy an email list — build it with Brevo instead
Brevo’s approachable CRM suite gives you all the tools you need to build quality email lists. Create GDPR-compliant signup forms with our drag-and-drop builder. From there, it’s easy to segment your contact list for targeted outreach.