Do I really need to have a discussion with you all about why buying an enewsletter list from someone else is a bad idea? Apparently so…
Today’s Public Service Announcement:
Adding new subscribers to your enewsletter is not as simple as buying a list off of someone else. Even if that someone else is local and in a complimentary industry.
It can be bad for business branding and worse, it could also get you banned from sending e-newsletters through certain systems like Constant Contact, MailChimp or even blacklist your website / hosting server if you’re sending through something like SimpleNews with Drupal or Mailman.
A large unsubscribe rate as well as messages being flagged as spam by recipients can trigger you to be banned because it indicates you did not get people’s permission to send messages / market to them.
What to do if you’ve bought an email list, for example, from a failed (local) competitor:
- If you must go this route, ask the list seller to instead send a letter via their system to their customers asking them nicely to sign up for your enewsletter, listing several reasons why they think it would be a good match and why they might be interested in doing so. Have them include a link to your double opt in signup form and possibly a link to your e-newletter archives as well.
- If they are not around, do you have their logo? Do you have the rights to use their logo? If so, follow the above instructions BUT NOT FROM YOUR ENEWSLETTER SYSTEM. Follow the instructions I have here:Â What should I do with an older enewsletter list?
Also make sure you send an version of YOUR e-newsletter within a reasonable time frame after this request so people don’t forget that they signed up with you! 🙂