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What are the benefits of using an email list marketing service?
Our company is considering hiring an email list marketing service. What are the pros and cons of such a service? Have you achieved good results with a list marketing service?
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2 Answers
A lot depends on the segment you are in and your objectives. Here's my perspective:
Pros:
1. You get a ready made list to market to at presumably attractive pricing.
2. The list mostly is an opt-in list so your message doesn't get classified as spam.
3. You can measure and scale the effort based on the outcomes.
4. You can get started instantly.
Cons:
1. You have no relationship with the contacts in the lists so the response rates can be very poor.
2. You are told its an opt-in list but its usually very tough to verify that and may lead to spam complaints.
3. Even if the list produces good results, you don't own the data and are restricted to use it sparingly and pay for it every time.
4. You know very little of the exact composition of the list so you can't segment and personalize your messages, which means you are most likely loosing out on potentially higher response rates.
5. Finding a good list marketing provider is not trivial and may lead to overheads not worth the outcome you may get from the effort.
Overall, I would recommend you rather invest your efforts in building a targeted list of your own and monetize it over time by building a relationship with contacts who you know are good prospects for you.
Hope this helps.
Vaibhav Domkundwar
Founder & CEO
408.223.1075
http://www.readycontacts.com
http://www.nurturehq.com
http://www.emailifiedhq.com
http://www.datadoctorhq.com
Hi John -
Email lists grown organically by your brand are the most reliable sources of customer data. With engagement emerging as a critical new factor impacting email deliverability and sender reputation, knowing your customers content and frequency preferences to send relevant messages at the right time, is more important than ever. If you opt to use a list service agency, ensure list quality and pick a vendor that provides lists specific to your industry. Vaibhav outlines some excellent pointers on what to consider when evaluating lists and list providers.
Thanks,
Judith Soto
Community Manager
StrongMail
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