Why I Hate List Rentals
Dec 19 2008
I had to use that title for this post as I know that many of you out there are always jaded when it comes to list rental campaigns. Now I am not talking about buying lists, but partnering with other like brands or list managers that have double opt in lists where they have allowed subscribers to opt in for emails from like or relevant brands.
Now here are 4 reasons why I dislike them (yes I changed my mind from hate).
1. They often will not perform to the expectations. Many brands expect these lists that are so well found and segmented to give them the same reach and performance from their own lists. This will not happen, ever. These are lead generation campaigns and if executed right can drive new subscribers to your lists and even sales/conversions. But don’t expect miracles.
2. They are not from your brand. And they should not be. They should be sent from the brand that has the relationship and contain your offers. Many times they are sent from that brand and the disconnect with the user is bad for all. They can result in more list attrition from the list owner in the end if done wrong.
3. They can impact your brand reputation. If you are doing list rentals you need to be aware that they can have a negative impact on your brand. People can and will in some cases now consider you a spammer. Tough break but it is the truth of the matter.
4. You can get a spam complaint. Yes this email although not technically sent from you or your ESP platform can cause you to be blacklisted due to your domain(s) being in the links of the email. Are you ready for that impact to your programs? I hope so.
In the end, what really gets to me is that people actually buy from emails like I have included in this post. Really would you trust an email like this to partner with? I hope not, but some do and this overall is overwhelmingly negative to the entire email marketing industry. So think carefully if you take this approach to list growth.
There are so many other ways to do lead generation campaigns that might connect more and resonate in a best practices way with your new subscribers. Be smarter about how you approach a relationship and not an automatic sale.
Funny thing is that many ESPs use list rentals as well. Take a look at the example email to the left. Now this is just one ESP using email as a lead capture device and using list rentals. They will take the high road of publicly condeming them as the worst thing ever, but they actually use this technique behind the scenes. Sure it can be effective… but for how long? And will they result in a long term relationship? That is to be decided still. And what does this say to those brands and ESPs that use this to acquire new customers? To me it simply says we do it so it must be ok. But then flip the switch on their customers not allowing them to do the same.
Be the bigger person in email and drink the kool aid you pass out in your own best practices, webinars, media statements and more. It will help us all. Or just go find the source of this email in this post and throw the anchor overboard without a line attached to it.
- Posted by Dylan Boyd
- @dtboyd
- at 8:08 AM
Published in B2B E-Mail Marketing, Behavioral Marketing, Best Practices, Brand Marketing, Conversion, Deliverability, E-Mail Delivery, ISP Relations, Lead Capture, Spam Emails, The Spam Cops, Worst Of Email
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December 19th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
great points, Dylan. I also dislike list rentals, and you articulated it quite well.
December 22nd, 2008 at 5:44 am
On the VerticalResponse mailing, it’s possible that the mailing came from an affiliate, isn’t it?
Having said that, I would agree that the company should find the affiliate and terminate their agreement (if that’s what happened).
December 22nd, 2008 at 7:41 am
@Dylan: Very interesting post. While I agree with all 4 of your points, I am a bit confused as I could have sworn that we’ve had conversations in which you said you were a fan of list rental. Maybe I am confusing that “discussion” with the many other debates we’ve had in the past. Either way…glad to see that you and I are on the same page on this one.
I think that – in general – the list rental practice is a bad one…for all 4 reasons you detail above. However, like anything else in email marketing, there are good ways to do it and bad. There is CAN-SPAM and there is best practice. Even within best practice, there are bad, good, and better ways to rent lists.
Looking at your last example (above), I would say this falls into the notsogood category of list rental.
Do you have any examples of a list rental campaign that a company (or maybe even an ESP) has done that has returned fantastic results? This is not an area that I specialize in, but I have to believe that companies have seen success in list rentals or they wouldn’t still be executing them, right?
I’d add #5 to your list of 4 above: Lost control. When you allow someone else to send an email out on your behalf (i.e., with your content), you are taking a potentially enormous risk. What if they don’t include an opt-out? What if they send through bad IPs? What if the copy they send is not the same as that which you approved? In my opinion…these risks also (may) outweigh the gains.
Let the discussion begin. Who else is ready to jump in?
dj at bronto
December 22nd, 2008 at 9:53 am
So to clarify I hate list rentals for the above reasons. I do not think that as a whole that they do not work with expectations are set, lists are clean and permission only, and creative and landing pages have been built for a rental campaign. (The creative has to be spot on, on point and tested thoroughly.).
They do work, but often times they carry more risk than reward.
I would only have examples of bad ESP list rental campaigns gone wrong as in my opinion if I get them @eROI then they did not do a good job on suppressing the list. End of story. There is this one ESP in the south I have seen from for but I doubt that they perform as the creative is weak.
Just this point, as ESPs lets not do list rental to acquire customers. Seems wrong to me in so many ways as a group that is trying to take everyone’s practices higher.
December 23rd, 2008 at 6:41 am
@Dylan: To your last point, “as ESPs lets not do list rental to acquire customers”…I agree with you 100%.
dj at bronto
December 23rd, 2008 at 10:59 am
DJ I know you agree but the fact is we all need to get out marketing teams to agree. Not eROI in this case as we do not do this, but there are some great ways to walk the talk.
Our latest study drive 1000s of new leads, and our holiday card did the same. All in a good nice opt in way.
December 29th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
List rental is a BAD thing and a sure fire way to get your email/affiliate/ISP/ESP accounts terminated not to mention you open up the door to lawsuits, fines and other such things. Be smart, build your own list and let others do the same. It’s soooo easy, why on earth would you want to risk both your personal and business reputation by mailing to a third party list? It’s not going to make you rich overnight, the reality is it might just put you “out of business” overnight. ;-)
Expect Success,
Shannon D. Denniston, CEO
Contact Buddy Email Marketing
859.498.4729
http://www.contactbuddy.com