If a business plans to buy an email list, it is, preparing itself for broader outreach. Buying an email list is one of the best ways through which a business can rapidly increase its user base and reach new prospects as well. However, are all these emails really worth purchasing?
Although using such e-mail lists can help to reach potential customers, the list itself must contain valid e-mail addresses to make that possible. Taking that into consideration there are a few factors that directly affect the true value of an e-mail list.
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In simple words, an email list would be a collection of email addresses. Of whom? It can be individual consumers, professionals like executives and CEOs, or official businesses. What’s more important is that the email addresses are of recipients (people) who are interested in your services, products, or content.
One of the most effective ways to gather such contacts is through email marketing - for which, dedicated email lists are helpful. However, many businesses also try searching emails with names to get the contact info of prospects. A business might use an email list for various purposes:
An email list usually comes with segmentation features. What does that mean? It means the email addresses in the list are characterized based on several factors, for example:
Whenever a user subscribes to a newsletter, discount code, or anything similar, they are submitted into the email list. In that sense, this can therefore be regarded as an information-exchange with consent, something many first-time email list buyers continue to worry about.
In the event that there is a list of email addresses, it allows a business to send subscribers personalized email messages. In this regard, a company gets an opportunity to offer its products and services. It can be "running a sale" or "sharing discounts and offers".
These targeted email lists potentially allow companies to interact more personally with their target markets. Statista reports that return on investment for email were as much as between $32 and $45 per $1 in 2020.
A typical email list can cost anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to thousands of dollars. Usually, a consumer list can range from $100 to $400. Likewise, a business list could be around $600 or more than $1,000 dollars.
That will purely depend on what kind of quality and size the email list is, and that would make the price higher or lower. Then other factors come into play, like total revenue through that email and engagement rates and list cleanliness.
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If it contains valuable contacts that are relevant to the buyer, then costs for an email list might be a bit steeper. In order to bulk verify emails that contain relevant communications quickly, many businesses utilize a bulk email verifier like BookYourData.
Should a business invest in email lists? A list of benefits that have something to do with high-quality email lists can help answer that question a little better.
First, a business can reach out to more customers. The email list increases the brand's visibility, thus reaching out to even more prospects for engagement. That's also why lead generation specialists are employed by many businesses to collect prospect contacts.
Moreover, purchased email lists usually give options for segmentation. This way, businesses can leverage it and send emails that meet the preferences of customers and other criteria. For example, the company can use the segmented list for B2B lead generation.
The more 'engaged' subscribers in the targeted email list translate into higher conversion chances. Of course, this all depends on how well a business can keep an email list. Still, it is among the best tactics for outbound lead generation too.
For instance, when a quality list is already available, businesses can target higher-value prospects. This can make it not only increase the brand visibility but also hike up the engagement rate of marketing campaigns much more. In turn, the business would have greater chances of making more sales.
The most important reason for determining the value of the email list is that it allows a business to optimize its marketing efforts. Those "efforts" are the email marketing campaigns that dramatically benefit when the business knows the revenue it can potentially generate through a specific list. Knowing the value would allow the business to strategize and allocate its resources well to maximize returns.
The most important thing one should know when buying an email list is that the value of an email list varies based on a pretty wide range of factors including actual quality of email addresses, list size, and segmentation rate. Below, each of these is described in further detail.
One of the best ways to determine a list’s value is through the quality and relevance of email addresses in it. If high, then the list is up-to-date. To make sure that’s the case, businesses consider multiple listing building services to find the one with the highest quality lists like BookYourData, for example.
Sometimes, email list costs also include acquisition and maintenance. That means finding a high-value list is even more important.
The recency of the “email list update” also matters. It tells whether the list was updated a long while ago or recently.
An email list is automatically more valuable if it indicates higher engagement rates among subscribers.
Although large lists look appealing, it’s really the quality of the list that matters. However, a large list could be more valuable if it enhances targeting capabilities through segmentation.
Moreover, a segmented list is an excellent tool for personalized messaging. It not only helps with identifying different buyer personas but also helps learn about subscribers’ preferences.
If the email list has more relevant subscribers, it is more valuable. By relevant subscribers, it means people who are genuinely interested in the business’s offerings and likely to convert.
As indicated earlier, the more recent the email list is, the higher the chances of finding quality and relevant subscribers in it.
In case the email list provider uses the “opt-in methods”, the chances are most subscribers are highly relevant and better quality. They have given their consent to be included in the list. Hence, the list has a higher compliance.
One of the most important factors is the bounce rate. It shows how many email addresses were invalid or inactive - because they didn’t receive the message. Hence, a higher bounce rate means a less useful email list.
It refers to the practice of regularly cleaning a list. If the list goes through frequent cleanups, it means that the business is removing invalid/inactive addresses to make sure there are only valid and engaged subscribers on there.
Through detailed demographic information, a segmented list makes targeting easier. It has already characterized subscribers based on individual demographic info. That again means, a list is valuable.
Many times, providers offer email lists segmented based on the purchase history of subscribers. With that information, the marketing team can send relevant offers and promotions to reengage previous buyers.
There are many ways to determine the value of an email list. There is one easy formula, though, that most businesses use to obtain an easy-to-read answer
It will probably be easiest to begin with the 12-month revenue of the selected email list-how much sales it generated.
Then subtract the list maintenance fees and the costs of email marketing software from that 12-month revenue.
Now, determine how many active subscribers are currently on the email list.
Finally, dividing the net revenue by the number of active subscribers will determine the actual ROI - i.e., the value of each subscriber.
The actual value of an email list would be highly dependent on the level of ‘maintenance’ it gets. For example, if a business maximizes email marketing efforts through personalized and engaging campaigns, the email list could be worth more to the said online business.
Why is it important to choose the right email list provider? Because it directly affects the success of the email marketing efforts. For instance, if a B2B email list provider is not reliable and usually sends poor-quality lists, the overall costs might be higher than the potential revenue - and vice versa. This is where signing up with the best email list provider like BookYourData can help significantly.
First thing to look at is the reputation of the email list provider. Do they have a lot of positive reviews or negative ones online?
Is the email list provider compliant with regional and international data protection laws like the CAN-SPAM and GDPR? It can save a business from a lot of legal trouble. That’s why many businesses wonder if it is legal to buy email lists.
Additionally, what types of email lists does the provider offer? For example, it could be a database of B2B emails or B2C emails. If most email lists are high-quality, it’s a potentially reliable provider.
Next, the opt-in methods. The chosen provider should be using ethical opt-in methods to include subscribers in the email lists they sell.
Does the provider offer segmented lists or lists with easy segmentation features? That way, the business can easily target specific audiences with tailored content.
The deliverability rate indicates that the emails are reaching their intended recipients. If that rate is higher with the provider, it’s typically a good sign.
Lastly, a business must consider the total price of the email list against the value it offers to make a better decision.
So, the value of an email list depends on different factors. If it contains high-quality and relevant email addresses, it might cost a bit more than the one that doesn’t. Additionally, the email list is more valuable if it leads to higher engagement rates and conversion rates.
These factors help a business calculate the potential revenue they can generate through the email list. Hence, it helps them assess the potential ROI by weighing the expected revenue against the actual cost of specific email lists.
Based on a quick internet search, the typical range of email lists is $100 to $600. That could be per 1,000 emails or so, again, depending on the quality and segmentation.
The best way to calculate the email subscriber value is to divide the net revenue generated through that list by the number of subscribers (i.e., active ones) in that list.
The simplest way to answer that is: a business only buys access to the email list, not necessarily the ownership of it. However, the access to the list also depends on the compliance with legal regulations.
While email lists can hugely boost your email campaigns, quality is always more important than quantity. Using a reputable provider like BookYourData is truly worth the investment, and brings a better ROI and peace of mind.
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