Don’t Buy an Email List or Mailing List Without Checking these Tips

To buy or not to buy, that is the question. And by any chance if you have made your mind to buy, don’t ignore the reasons you were thinking not to buy it. That’s the doctrine you must follow before buying a mailing list. When you are purchasing an email database, you must analyse a lot of factors and buy it from a trustworthy database provider who has in depth knowledge of the specific industry you operate in.

Most of the mailing list providers follow a ‘one size fits all’ approach in serving clients, which is not right. You may have specific marketing needs which may not be met using a pre-packaged list. And therefore, your list provider must be flexible enough to customize the list based on your campaign specific requirements and truly help you in executing your marketing strategies in the best ways.

Here are four of the most important guidelines that you must follow while buying a mailing list.

• Your List Purchase Must Align with Your Campaign Requirement

A good marketing database is the one which aligns well with your campaign requirements. It is not just about buying data, but to be able to execute your marketing strategies that counts. This is why; marketers should never source data from those who hardly understand your marketing requirements.

• Ask the Right Questions

Any Marketing Data provider will have huge promises to make about the quality and uniqueness of their database. Do not fall for that. Ask relevant questions, compare their lists with that of their competitors and make sure you get what you ask for. Also know from them to guarantee a low bounce rate to ensure reliability of their data. This is important as you speak to the sales team and not the data specialists most of the times.

• Know the Source of Your Email List

It is very important for you know the different sources from where the data has been collected to create your Email List. You should also ask how your database provider keeps the data up-to-date and what cleansing process does the database go through. Not only will it indicate the authenticity and reliability of data, but also if your data is relevant to your current marketing needs.

• Email List Samples Are Not Gospels

Your actual list may not meet the standards of the sample list that may be given to you by a list seller.  You must realize that a sample list would generally be qualitative as it helps data companies increase their sales. Be cautious in dealing with your data provider and do not enter into a long term contract unless you are satisfied with the quality of actual deliverables.