Buying a ready-made list
If you are just starting to interact with clients by mail, a saving thought may come to mind to pay for a ready-made list of addresses or collect them from open sources and not suffer. Just a few years ago, this was a common practice. But today, let's say right away, this is a very bad idea that will bring many unpleasant consequences. Starting from a negative impact on your reputation and ending with problems with the law. It sounds scary, but it is the pure truth.
So don't even try to ask Google where to buy a customer base for email newsletters, and repeat like a mantra: you can only collect users' emails using legal methods. Fortunately, there are quite a few of them, and in this guide we will tell you about each one in detail.
Risks of Purchasing and Using Free Email Lists
Let us explain why you shouldn’t buy a list of email addresses and what consequences this may have for you:
You may receive a hefty fine . According to the law on personal data, you cannot use users' emails without their consent. Otherwise, Roskomnadzor may fine you a large sum of 100 to 500 thousand rubles.
To get explicit consent from users, use Double Opt-In. This is a two-step subscription method. First, the user needs to leave their contact information in the form, and then confirm the action by clicking on the link in the letter. Of course, the list of email addresses for mailings will accumulate more slowly, but you will definitely know that only interested and loyal customers get into the audience.
It is also important to use a person's contact for the purpose that was stated. For example, if you took the address to share test results and then started sending promotional offers, the person may complain about them.
People will start complaining about your emails. Remember how you feel when you receive another email from an unknown company. It’s unlikely to be curiosity. If you contact people who are not familiar with your brand, they may regard the emails as spam.
Get a low-quality base. Purchased lists can contain many surprises, such as non-existent emails, duplicates, and spam traps. It would be a shame if you spent time on design and content, launched a message, and it never reached the recipient. Even if you collected contacts legally, the email list for mailing will still have to be cleaned from time to time. For this, you can use special validator services .
You will interact with a non-target oman business email list audience. An illegal base is a pig in a poke, anyone can end up in it. So you can’t be sure that your offers and proposals will interest anyone. In order for subscribers to interact with letters, click on links and perform target actions, you need to build relationships with them and strengthen their loyalty.
Spoil your relationship with mailers. Mail providers closely monitor your mailings. If you send messages to suspicious addresses, they can easily end up in spam or even be blocked. As a result, your domain's reputation will also suffer.
Comparison of paid and free email databases
If you are growing your email list through legitimate means, you can be sure that:
Your audience only contains valid emails from people who are familiar with your company and want to hear from you.
You will have much less problems with deliverability.
People will be more likely to open your emails. But that doesn't mean they won't unsubscribe. So make sure your content remains interesting to them and that the frequency of your emails doesn't irritate anyone.
Roskomnadzor will definitely not fine you.
It is important to understand that building up a database is not a quick process, but there is good news – you don’t have to collect addresses manually. There are many cool ways to speed up the process of collecting contacts. For example:
Lead magnet
People are skeptics by nature and do not like to share their data, especially if they are persistently asked for it. The best way to gain a subscriber's trust is to give them something nice. It can be anything: a useful instruction, a training video, a demo version of an application, a book, a discount on the first order. And in return, you can ask the person to share their email.
It is important that the gift is truly useful, valuable and relevant. Therefore, before coming up with lead magnets, study your target audience and find out what their desires and needs are.
We will show you some successful magnet options:
In one of our cases, the AST publishing house came up with the perfect gift for new subscribers — in exchange for an email, a site visitor receives five books as a gift. After filling out the form, the user receives a link and can download any novel they like from the electronic library. In six months, the company managed to get 15,000 unique subscribers.
Example of a pop-up window from AST publishing house
The North Face brand gives a 10% discount on the first order in their online store. And this good old method attracts people very well, because hardly anyone will refuse the opportunity to buy a down jacket or a backpack cheaper.
And the service of templates for landing pages and websites on WordPress Bluchic gives not only a discount, but also access to a library of templates that can be used for free.
Example of a pop-up window from the Bluchic service
Affiliate mailing list
There is another great way to understand where to find email addresses. If you want to get more new subscribers, collaborate with other brands. You can create thematic letters and talk about each other's services and products. In the block about your company, you can add a welcome promo code or any other nice bonus to motivate the audience to get to know you better. And don't forget to place a link to your website and social networks.
An important point is that it is better to negotiate partnerships with companies that have a similar target audience. It is unlikely that subscribers to an online English school will be interested in receiving a discount on buying an aquarium for fish. If you sell airline tickets, you can agree on cooperation with housing search services, restaurants or tour agencies.
