A mailing list is a list of email addresses that can be contacted at the same time with updates and information.
They are incredibly useful for communicating with large groups of people, as well as creating long-term relationships with customers, members, and clients.
This can be to communicate with subscribers or to provide important updates about a purchase.
If your website is starting to gain traction, and it's becoming harder to email your customers individually about updates and information, you need a mailing list.
Thing is, you don't just create a mailing list like a giant group chat. You have to actually buy a mailing list from a provider.
So, if you think a mailing list will greatly benefit your website, but you don't know how to make one, you've come to the right place.
Here is everything you need to know about how to buy a mailing list.
How To Buy A Mailing List
If you choose not to make your own mailing list, you can buy a mailing list from a mailing list provider.
These providers use contact data from the email addresses to contact them in various ways, including email, direct mail to home addresses, and even mobile numbers.
However, while there is no law to prohibit you from buying a mailing list, it is actually highly discouraged.
Buying a mailing list from a third party provider can be a serious violation of GDPR rules of consent, and you can severely damage your IP reputation and email deliverability.
How Much Does A Mailing List Cost?
The cost of a mailing list will depend on the provider's rates. In most cases, you can expect to pay anywhere between $60 to $250 for every 1,000 names and email addresses.
The bigger the mailing list, the more money you're likely to spend.
The overall cost is also determined by the type of list you opt for, whether it's direct mail or an email.
Why You Shouldn't Buy A Mailing List
As mentioned earlier, it's not a good idea to buy a mailing list.
There are lots of reasons why you shouldn't hire a third party provider to make your mailing list, even if it does seem like a convenient option.
You Don't Own The Mailing List
While it might seem like the easier option, you don't actually own the mailing list if you hire a provider to make one.
You won't be able to see the individual email address of the people on the list, and it can be a costly fee if the mailing list has thousands of email addresses.
Not only this, but the people on the mailing list don't know you, either. Addresses on a mailing list are often taken from other websites, so they're not likely to know you or your business.
Even if those email addresses belong to an "opt-in" list, they have opted to receive emails from the purchasing company rather than your company.
Also, the reality is that you're not going to find a high-quality email list to buy. The email addresses on purchasable mailing lists are usually non-responsive and don't qualify for market outreach.
The reason why email addresses on purchasable mailing lists are unresponsive is because people hate spam.
These email addresses are filled with spam in their spam and junk boxes, and your updates are going straight into those folders.
If you wouldn't want your personal email address to be purchased by an outside source just for the sake of spam, then neither do your customers.
As explained in the previous point, the people behind these email addresses don't know you or your website. So, it's going to end up in spam.
At the end of the day, people are going to find you annoying and will want to unsubscribe from your spam.
Unless you're offering valuable information to keep them up-to-date with your company, you're going to lose their trust.
You'll Violate GDPR Rules Of Consent
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a European data privacy act that is responsible for allowing opt-out emails.
Even if you don't work in Europe, any recipient or customer that lives in Europe is automatically protected by GDPR.
So, you can't buy a mailing list that only offers opt-in emails, as these aren't compliant to GDPR's rules of consent.
However, you can't just simply add an opt-out option to the email template. You need explicit consent from your contacts to be able to send them emails.
This is usually in the form of a checkbox for both opt-in and opt-out options.
When you buy mailing lists, your contacts won't have this option. This means that even before you send the first email to your purchased mailing list, you have already broken the rules of consent under GDPR.
Spam Leads To Damaged IP Reputation
When you become spam, you will be caught out by honeypots. Honeypots are set up by organizations that combat email spam.
This system sources and identifies spammers through spammy activity, which can severely damage the reputation of your IP address and company.
When you buy a mailing list, you can't confirm how many email addresses have been emailed.
This means you can't identify email addresses that are essentially honeypots, which can report you as a spammer.
Reputable Companies Don't Like Purchased Mailing Lists
Unfortunately, any reputable email marketing software won't allow you to send emails to purchased mailing lists.
Not only do they know how spammy these mailing lists are, but they also know about the poor deliverability that can occur as a result of even a single ill-gotten email address list.
So, there you have it. While it is possible to seemingly cut corners and purchase a mailing list from a provider, it's not a good idea to do so.
Buying a mailing list can be costly, non-compliant to GDPR rules, will make your emails appear like spam, and can completely damage your IP reputation.
For the sake of your website's reputation, it's best to not purchase a mailing list.
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