Buying an Email list, advice needed

[DuaneJackson]

I'm considering buying an email list so I have a few questions.

Has anyone heard of or dealt with http://www.lbm.co.uk/ ?

What's a good price per 1000 addresses? They actually have all data (name, phone, address, etc) But I am only interested in names and email addresses.

They also say they can deal with sending out the emails for me.

Is 1% the expected conversion ratio from targetted unsolcited mail to an opt-in list?

Is there a reccomended approach fro the email? ie: plain txt vs html - narrative approach or bullets of benefits?

Wow, I don't think I've ever asked so many questions in one post!

[annethedonn]

Duane

We can give you some advice on this - I'll get back to you when I have something for you.

Anne

[fridayteam]

Duane

I have a growing community of businesses that recieve my Nottinghamshire Emagazine and am shortly to launch an Emagazine for the Event Industry.

Would you not be interested in advertising?

The latest Notts Emag is here:

www.fridayteam.com/N01/nottsnews.htm

[Rob Holmes]

Hi Duane - My advice comes from 5 years of running an email marketing system - I'm very anti-spam and very opt-in orientated so my answers will be on the safe 'legal' side with a marketing slant.

Has anyone heard of or dealt with http://www.lbm.co.uk/ ?

Yes and we've used them - IMHO they are one of the most professional list brokers

What's a good price per 1000 addresses? They actually have all data (name, phone, address, etc) But I am only interested in names and email addresses.

Well the name and email part is the most expensive part of the record but negotiate hard, promise more business if the lists are clean, spam complaint free and responsive to your offer - this is just electronic info that they already have - they will be supplying it to you in no more than an excel spreadsheet which is fine but you'll realise as soon as you see it that it's comprehensive data but also they could have sold it to you for less. I remember getting at least 50% off their 'book' price for a single mailing and negotiating other terms into the agreement like extra fields of information, permission for repeat contacts via email etc

They also say they can deal with sending out the emails for me.

Depends on cost but certainly saves hassle - we never used this feature. BUT be sure your datacentre allows you to have your web address mentioned in a bulk mailout. In the US it's called 'spamvertising' - the UK datacentres are generally ok but it's worth a squizz at their T+C and AUP.

Is 1% the expected conversion ratio from targetted unsolcited mail to an opt-in list?

Well that depends on the message and the audience and if the right mesage goes to the right audience then you're rocking. I really think it's worth spending the extra cash to have a direct marketing guy (A Steve Gibson type of bloke) either tweak or write your message for you for maximum impact to your selected audience. I guess you'd have to choose the audience - but I know you've done a survey recently and hopefully that helped.

Is there a reccomended approach fro the email? ie: plain txt vs html - narrative approach or bullets of benefits?

Well a recent survy on here showed 75% of people received HTML email (from memory) - but if they mailout for you then you could request the HTML messages are sent as multipart which means there is a text version sent too so everyone will be able to read it.

The other issue is you only have 1 crack using this sort of system - so whatever happens you need to capture your visitors data as potentially you'll have thousands of extra visitors. Of course your main response you would like from the visitor is for them to signup to your system but there may be others that like the look of it but are rushed or timing just 'isn't right' for them at the moment - you need to cater for them too and find a way of capturing their data - e.g. a newsletter or even a 'can't do it right now but remind me in a week system' !

Hope this helps a bit,

Rob

[DuaneJackson]

Thanks for putting so much time into your response Rob, very useful. I'll read it again ina bit when the coffee kicks in!

Does your system at www.ecust.co.uk handle sending out multipart emails? Is this a viable alternative to having them do it?

I've negotiated to well below 50% of the rate card and I'm now trying to get it lower if they can let me do the fulfillment (ie, send the mails myself) but I don't think they'll budge any lower. I've never bought email addresses before so I've no idea what a good price per thousand is so I don't know if I've got a great deal or not. It's good to know I'm dealing with the right firm though.

There are about 12,000 addresses in total so it adds up to a fair few quid. I might try and get just half first and try it to see if there is any return to be had and if all works well then I'll buy the other half.

It's very true what you say about having one shot at this so I think I will retain Steve to write it for me.

We have out own servers at Harbour Exchange so I think we should be OK, but I'll double check - thanks for the heads up.

Roz - it sounds interesting. I'll take a closer look and get back to you.

Anne - I look forward to it.

[Rob Holmes]

Duane - eCust would do this BUT it requires an opt-in as the first email to the customer but if they opt-in then they are on your list and you can mail them as much as you like. Ecust also does multipart as standard.

With whatever you do I would recommend a structured release of emails - you don't want 500 enquiries in 1 day !!!

Other things you can negotiate on are a double contact (re-mailing) and a 2-for-1 on any bounced emails over a 15% bounce rate :)

Rob