Why Purchased Lists are Rubbish

There is a big difference between having access to an email list, and having permission to send email to that list. Anyone can go online and buy an email list of 10,000 addresses but when you start sending to them, you can open up a whole world of trouble and problems, which can jeopardize your marketing budget.

• ROI on paid or rented list: 5%
• ROI on permission-based list: 80%

Let’s face it, no one likes spam. We flag it all day long and wonder how we ever got to be on their radar. But most people don’t mind hearing from people they have done business and are familiar with, especially people they requested to hear from.

Imagine seeing posts from people you are not friends with in your Facebook feed. Not good.

By using Market 2 All, you agree to follow our permission policy for sending emails. If you do not have proven permission to email the addresses on your mailing lists, you are sending spam. If your subscribers flag your campaigns as spam, that reflects on our account and ultimately yours.

Shall we close your account? Thought not.

Purchased lists are the lowest value of lists, are not targeted, usually consist of random addresses, and most likely, full of people who do not want to hear from you.

They are, in fact, the rubbish of the marketing world.

Let’s take a closer look at who you should and should not send to.

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Nope, You Should Avoid These!

• I bought/rented a 100% opt-in list from a reputable list broker
• We sponsored a trade show and got a list of everyone who attended
• These are all paying customers from my poker/adult/pharmaceutical site
• They all bought something from my eBay store
• They are in the member directory of my local business chamber/real estate organization/sports association
• These people all contacted me through my website with an inquiry
• They are all group members from LinkedIn

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Yep, Good To Go!

• Everyone signed up through a mailing in my store/via my store website
• We sponsored a trade show and people signed up at our booth to get our newsletter
• These are all paying customers from my store/website within the last 2 years
• They registered on my site or forum and checked the newsletter checkbox
• We ran a competition with clear instructions that they would receive a newsletter
• These are all my friends/colleagues/family members whom I asked first
• We emailed customers over 2 years old with a link to sign up on our website

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Ultimately it comes down to being clear and up-front with anyone whose email address you collect for mailing list purposes, and then meeting the expectations you have set for those subscribers.

It can really pay off to stay clear of rubbish and focus on recycling.

What’s the Workaround?

You can use an outside source (e.g. use the BCC in your email software) to send to the purchased list then link them to a brand new list in our system. Add in a nice “Thank You” email and maybe a drip campaign and you will have a highly-engaged list of people who asked to hear from you!