list purchasing

Another day brings us another simple reminder that buying lists will cause you trouble. Toshi Onishi, writing for the Dotdigital blog, succinctly shares with us the three major issues around transparency (and consent) that comprise insurmountable roadblocks when it comes to purchasing email lists. And if you need more ammo to help explain to a boss or marketing manager why buying lists isn’t cool, don’t forget to check out https://www.shouldiuseapurchasedemaillist.com where you’ll find more links to articles that break down why it’s a bad practice and so broadly prohibited.

Ask Al: We’re a restaurant that just opened. We signed up for an email service provider (ESP) platform and we’re looking to buy email lists to get started. Where should we start?Hey! Thanks for reaching out, but I wanted to warn you that email list purchasing isn’t the way to go here. It’s problematic for multiple reasons (poor deliverability, angry recipients, poorly targeted traffic) and just about every email service provider prohibits use of purchased lists. Run away from vendors telling you that their lists contain people who did really opt-in to hear from you — they’re typically lying. Here is just one example of why you should avoid this.An organically grown email list for a restaurant or entertainment venue is a valuable asset and people don’t usually give away that asset to others, not even for a modest fee. Meaning if somebody is offering to sell you a list,…