A thriving contact database is the goal of every email marketer, and when the data is accurate and complete, it can help generate leads and engagement. However, when your list isn’t growing, it can be tempting to purchase email addresses from list vendors so you can get your marketing campaign underway. A purchased email list also allows you to reach out to people you may not have the opportunity to otherwise. These reasons alone are enough to make a marketer want to reach for their credit card. But like any opportunity that sounds too good to be true, the risks far outweigh the benefits.

There are plenty of reasons why the process of creating your own email database triumphs over using purchased email lists.

Ensuring Compliance with Privacy Laws

Email lists can be purchased or rented from third-party vendors. You may even come across offers to purchase an ‘opt-in’ email list, which means that the people on the list have agreed to receive emails from an individual or an entity at some point in time. What is overlooked is that these individuals haven’t agreed to receive emails from you. This can lead to a serious violation of privacy laws like the GDPR.

When you include zero-party data collection into your email marketing strategy, you can take steps to ensure the data privacy of your customers. This also gives you the opportunity to build an ethical, transparent, and compliant relationship with them.

Improving Email Deliverability

Purchased email lists are not always vetted for their accuracy or subscriber information. They are more than likely to contain outdated or defunct email addresses. This can result in high bounce rates affecting your email deliverability.

Email addresses collected from opt-in methods like post-purchase surveys, newsletter sign-up forms, or marketing landing pages allow you to personalize your emails to ensure they are read and worth engaging with.  

Avoiding the Spam Folder

Go straight to spam without passing Go! That’s likely to happen when you use purchased email addresses as they may contain spam traps.

Additionally, providers like Google and Yahoo are becoming increasingly strict with email sender regulations. Google requires senders to keep reported spam rates below 0.1%, with an upper threshold of 0.3%. Too many dormant or inactive users can also lead to your emails being sent to spam.

However, when you own your email database, you can use plenty of email marketing strategies to re-engage such users, including opt-in campaigns that jog users’ memories about the value you have continuously offered them over time.

Keeping Your ESP Happy

Companies that provide email marketing software typically require you to use high-quality lists. Reputable email service providers (sometimes abbreviated ESPs) don’t work with purchased email lists for many of the same reasons that marketers shouldn’t use one. Email providers have higher stakes to ensure their deliverability and metrics remain clean, since one customer’s poorly sourced list can hurt the deliverability of other customers using the same IP Address.

Collecting your own database of email addresses negates this risk, and you can continue to enjoy a fruitful relationship with your ESP.

Improving Returns on Marketing Efforts.

As a marketer, you want real people to be reading your emails instead of just having a huge database of email addresses with low engagement. Very often, with purchased email addresses, you won’t know if the receiver is a part of your target demographic or not. For example, if you have purchased a list of email addresses segmented by location, the owners of some of those email addresses may have moved years ago. Sending unsolicited emails can also turn potential customers away even if they are the perfect fit for your products and services.

People who have opted in to receive your emails are genuinely interested in what you have to say and the services you have to offer. They are also more likely to share more meaningful information than simply their email addresses. This zero-party data (data collected directly from potential customers) allows you to concentrate your efforts on effective marketing campaigns that drive conversions.

Individuals who have voluntarily shared their contact details with you are likely to open and read your emails giving you a better ROI on your marketing efforts. They can even turn into spokespersons for you by sharing interesting emails with friends and colleagues.

Are you wondering how to grow your email database while still complying with customer consent and privacy regulations? The experts at 4Thought Marketing can help. Contact us today to learn more.