It seems an easy and profitable idea to collect lists based on location and sectoral information. You pay a reasonable amount to an external source and gain thousands of new contacts for your campaigns. But does this really work?
Buying databases has proven ineffective and even harmful for email marketing. Let’s explore why:
Email Marketing is a Permission-Based Marketing Method
Before discussing the strategic drawbacks of buying lists, it’s important to note the law. Email marketing is permission-based, meaning contacts must consent to being on your list through legal means, like web forms, transactions, or events. Without this, you risk legal action, with millions of dollars in penalties paid annually by those who violate this rule.
Major Email Marketing Companies Don’t Allow It (Including INBOX)
No major email marketing company allows sending to purchased lists. Messages sent to illegal lists harm the reputation of the sender’s IP address, and high bounce rates result in lower deliverability. Certified companies like INBOX follow strict legal guidelines and ask for proof of your database’s legitimacy.
The Lists Don’t Contain High-Quality Contacts
Would you sell your subscribers’ contact info to a third party for a small sum? The more an email address receives spam, the thicker its spam filter becomes. High-quality contacts are rarely found in purchased lists. Even if you buy one that seems good, it will likely degrade quickly as other marketers exploit it.
People in These Lists Don’t Know You
If you think you can meet new customers this way, you’re mistaken. People won’t open emails from unknown sources. In email marketing, trust is key, and permission-based marketing exists for a reason. Digital consumers are cautious, and receiving unsolicited emails from unknown senders makes them distrustful.
Your Deliverability Rate and IP Reputation Drops, Leading to a Blacklist
Because recipients will mark your emails as spam, your deliverability rate and IP reputation will plummet. This will eventually lead to your domain or IP address being blacklisted. Even worse, certified email marketing companies will ban you from their platform when you’re flagged as a spammer.
You Wouldn’t Want to Be Annoying
Beyond legal and technical consequences, think about the impact on your brand. If your marketing efforts come across as irritating, they’ll work against you. Sending unsolicited emails builds a negative perception of your company, making potential customers less likely to engage with your services.
There are many ways to build a clean and responsive database for email marketing. See this article to learn how to build one effectively.
