The benefits of purchasing data for email marketing automation

All marketers know that to run any kind of marketing campaign, you will require a list of accounts and contacts. You also need specific filters for this data to ensure that you are connecting with people within the right industry and geo-targeted locations. All in all, you need contacts you can email, but you might not necessarily have an opted-in and consented data pot at your fingertips or readily available via your CRM.

A great and cost-effective way to quickly source data for email usage is to purchase a list. This purchased list will also aid in supporting your sales team when it comes to new leads and pipelines.

Acquiring an email list

Purchase an email list

Work with a list provider to find and purchase a list of names and email addresses based on filter segments such as, demographic, occupation and location. For example, you might purchase a list of 10,000 names and email addresses of people who live in London and work in the Fintech sector.

Rent an email list

By working with a list provider, you can identify and tailor a segment of people to email — however, it’s important to realise that with this option you’re never actually the owner of this list. Therefore, you can’t see the email addresses of the people you’re emailing, so you will spend more time working alongside the provider to send out your email.

Own an opt-in email list

You are given email address either online (via methods such as data capture) or in-person so you can send them emails. Often this involves the recipient selecting what types of email content they wish to receive. For example, specifically requesting email alerts for new items being in stock, a company’s latest offers or newsletters. Opt-in email addresses are the result of a company earning the interest, trust and loyalty of a contact because they value what the company has to say.

The reasons for purchasing email lists

The suggestion that anyone who buys an email list is acting out of desperation is hugely inaccurate. It defames many legitimate businesses that both provide and purchase email data successfully. With this in mind, we’ve decided to take a look at the main topics of debate when it comes to purchasing email data.

Careful supplier selection

Be careful about the companies with whom you choose to work. It is certainly true that purchasing email lists can cause difficulty if you aren’t selective. Therefore, it’s always best to opt for a longstanding, reputable businesses. When considering purchasing an email list it is important to make sure you choose a reputable data supplier. Do your research – there are a number of companies out there who operate under GDPR and provide a high-quality service. By working with a reliable and reputable supplier you can ensure that the data you buy is both accurate and responsive. Remember – no data set is 100% perfect, regardless of what source it comes from. People change jobs, change their names, see their roles evolve and their responsibilities change. Do your due diligence before making the purchase.

Effective prospecting and lead generation

Email lists represent a key component to an integral marketing channel which aids companies when it comes to generating business and increasing brand awareness. By optimising the target audience, keeping the content relevant and carefully managing the communication frequency, email lists can be very extremely effective. Email marketing provides an extremely useful way to reach larger audiences – all the while utilising a targeted and focused approach.

In an ideal world all businesses could survive and grow by solely communicating with just their existing customers, but in reality, this isn’t the case. For businesses that want to grow, it is essential to reach as many prospects as possible – especially when it comes to targeted prospects who would find the message, product and services relevant.

GDPR

Email marketers around the world are legally required to allow recipients to opt out of emails they no longer want to receive. Contacts must be able to do this directly in the email message. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), pays careful attention to the opt-in side of this relationship. The other way that GDPR is focused on recipients is their location. It doesn’t matter where the sender is based, if the recipient resides inside the European Union, they are covered by GDPR.

People on a purchased or rented email list don’t actually know you

This is something that is often debated when it comes to purchasing data. But look at it from another perspective. Consumers who view TV ads/social ads/billboards/branded T-shirts don’t know the company; this issue isn’t something that only happens with email lists. Remember that other people outside of your company don’t have the same level of engagement with your brand or your customers. Try and flip the situation on its head, when you’re reading content, training or searching for inspiration, do you mind whether you know the person directly delivering it? Or do you care more about the quality of that content? As long as the email succeeds in delivering quality and value, purchased contacts are just as likely to engage as opted-in ones.

You can come across as annoying

This is similar to the point above. Marketing messages are generally only annoying when they’re not relevant to the recipient. It’s the content that will drive the value for the reader, so as long as the content is engaging and useful the recipient won’t tend to focus on the source of gaining their email address.

Overall, purchased data is a perfectly legitimate way to generate a list of targeted recipients for your marketing campaigns. While there are some things to remain aware of and watch out for, none of these are of the illegal variety, and most are not unique to solely bought/purchased email lists. Find out how Iconic Digital can help with your CRM & Database Management and ensure you have the right nurturing strategy in place. Get in touch today, call us on 020 7100 0726.