Should I Buy Email Lists for Marketing?

If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me this question… well, let’s just say I wouldn’t be looking at a price tag ever again.

Seriously though—this one comes up all the time:

“Should I buy an email list for my marketing?”

Let’s cut to the chase: No. Nope. Never. That’s the short answer, and it’s a big, bold, all-caps kind of no.

But let me explain why that is—because it's with good reason. Understanding the “why” can save you a lot of time, money, and headaches down the road.

Let’s talk about why buying an email list is basically lighting your marketing budget on fire.

1. You’re emailing strangers who didn’t ask to hear from you. These people have most likely never heard of you. They didn’t sign up. They didn’t opt in. So when your email lands in their inbox, they're not saying “Hey, cool! Add to cart!” - it's more like “Who is this, and how did they get my info?”

Best case? They ignore you.

Worst case? They report you as spam, and your sender reputation takes a hit. (We'll get into that a little further down).

I'm not saying that nobody has ever had success from emailing ice-cold, unsuspecting strangers, but I am saying that it's not a good practice. I can personally say that I have never received an unsolicited email that made me buy something.

2. The quality just isn’t there.

Most purchased lists are outdated, inaccurate, or full of contacts who are nowhere near your ideal customer. Even if a few seem relevant, the odds that they’ll convert into paying customers are slim to none. It’s like trying to sell surfboards in Kansas.

So what happens when you send an email to a list full of bad email addresses? Bounces and spam complaints. That's what happens.

Which brings me to my next point...

3. Deliverability becomes a nightmare. Email platforms like Mailerlite, Mailchimp, Kit and others are not fans of buying email lists for marketing. In fact, many of them strictly prohibit it in their terms of service. If they catch on (and they usually do), they can suspend or shut down your account. Not ideal.

The reason being that when you email people who don't want to hear from you, or try to deliver emails to addresses that don't exist, your sender reputation suffers.

If you aren't familiar with the term, your sender reputation is like a report card that tells email servers that you're legit (or that you aren't). Your open rates, click rates, bounces and spam complaints all contribute to your overall sender reputation.

When your open rates are high, your emails aren't bouncing and nobody is reporting you for spamming them, your sender reputation is golden.

But when your emails aren't being delivered, and the ones that are being delivered are sitting unopened or being reported as spam, your reputation is down the tubes. And email marketing providers don't want anything to do with that, because it can cause a ripple effect for their other customers.

Should you buy an email list for your marketing? No. Here's what to do instead:

Building an email list is a slow burn. Getting people to subscribe, nurturing them and getting them poised to purchase from you is a long process, and wanting a shortcut to that is completely understandable. Believe me, I get it.

But building your list organically means attracting people who actually want to hear from you. These are your real fans - people who are curious, interested and already taking steps toward becoming your customer. It will take more time, but it is 100000% worth it in the long run.

How to build your list organically:

• Put sign-up forms on your website

• Give people an incentive to join. Special information, discounts, freebies...make it worth the exchange of information

• Share that incentive everywhere! Your website, social media, even in person

• Give customers the opportunity to be on your list. Add a check box in your intake form and let them know what type of information you send out so they can decide if they want to join

Because when people choose to join your email list? That's where the real magic starts.