The option for buying business email databases is a very lucrative one. The convenience alone is enough to make you fork over loads of cash for that email list. But buying business email databases comes with a different type of price as well. Not everything about it is great, which is why you should continue reading. If you have been thinking about it for the sake of your business, here is a breakdown of the good and bad sides.
The Good Things
There are several benefits that make this offer so lucrative. They include:
– A Quicker Way To The Top
The point of any business is to keep growing. The moment it stops developing you run the risk of reversing any growth you had. But in the modern world, the competition is incredibly tough. Depending on what you are selling, there might be thousands of others selling the same thing.
The challenge to reach some kind of edge above the competitor can get very expensive, which is why buying business email databases can come in handy. In fact, consider it a tiny boost that could’ve taken months (if not years) to build up. Basically, the most attractive part of buying an email list is how quickly it can get you to compete.
– It Expands The List That Already Exists
If you have been running your business for a little while, you probably have a small email list already. But if you buy other lists, your list will continue to grow. Apart from just giving you a quick edge, it helps to expand what you already have.
– Everyone Is Used To It
While you might just be thinking about buying business email databases, it has been going on for a while now. That means people are already quite used to receiving emails from a sold list, and you won’t be catching them off-guard. In fact, the people on the list will either react, ignore or unsubscribe. But the point is, everyone knows about it by now, especially if they have several subscriptions.
– Target Audience
Some of the email lists on sale will be specifically focused towards a target market. And just like buying the email list saves you time, you can choose one that targets your type of audience. Of course, you need to know exactly who your target market is, but the option is still there.
The Bad Things
While buying business email databases can be very beneficial, it doesn’t come without its share of challenges. And this is especially true with anything that is supposed to help you skip the line so-to-speak. Shortcuts aren’t always full-proof, so keep the following bad things in mind as well.
– Angry Subscribers
Assume for a moment you subscribed to a sports site. You like what the site is about, you love the information they provide, and you can’t wait to get regular email updates from the site.
Now, imagine waking up to an email that has nothing to do with sports. Instead, you are getting offers to lose weight or get rid of all your body hair. All the interesting emails you once received, you now regard as spam.
This is one of the risks you take when buying a list that is too far off. And to make it worse, you can’t see who the target market really is. All you have to go on is the person selling you the list.
– Tainting Your Reputation
Let us say you have been working on your brand and business for two years now. You feel people are showing interest, they are paying attention to what you do, and they actually start to “believe” in the brand.
Then you think it might be a good idea to give your business a boost by buying an email database. The only problem is, how many people on that list are you going to irritate to the point till they come after you? A ticked-off subscriber can quickly announce to the world that your new brand is nothing but a quick scam to get ahead. And this can great damage to the reputation you tried so hard to build.
– Lower Conversion Rates
There is a good reason why businesses who build their own email lists get many more conversions. It is because the people who subscribed were interested in what the business was selling.
They aren’t getting what they subscribed for anymore, which results in much lower conversion rate. And this is most likely going to happen, so you can’t go on the statistics provided by the business who created the list in the first place.
Instead, you have to ready yourself for fewer conversions, and the odds of people unsubscribing altogether.
The Bottom Line
When it comes down to it, buying an email database can be beneficial. But you need to buy a list that is filled with people you are trying to target, and it doesn’t necessarily mean they are going to like it. And unless you are selling the exact same product or service, there is still a lot of risks involved. Plus, you never really know what you are going to get. All you can do is trust what the seller tells you, and hope he or she wasn’t lying.
The question is whether it is worth the money, and possibly losing your reputation. Remember, a business is all about building solid relationships. The customers and clients you have are people you want to retain as customers and clients. At the same time you want to expand and grow the business, but there is a “quality” way of doing it. Simply buying an email database does not count as one of those quality methods.
If clients don’t trust you, and they probably won’t after finding out the email list has been bought, what is the point of doing it in the first place? The risks of simply losing money are higher than boosting your business.