You’re still buying lists? Seriously?!

That’s just a joke, there is a little more to it than my worried expression. 

Your mailing list is actually crucial to sender reputation, and a purchased mailing list is probably one of the quickest ways to destroy yours. 

Not only will the recipient’s email addresses have been collected/sold illegally (hello, anti can-spam act), they have not signed up, nor are they expecting to receive an email from YOU (you being your company). This is going to lead to extremely low engagement rates, unsubscribes and, worst of all, spam complaints. Once this starts to happen, your emails will then be filtered into the spam folder by the incoming mail server, or worse, binned on arrival. 

From this point forward, you can wave goodbye to your sender reputation. And, oh yeah, that sticks with you. So when you decide to genuinely build a list after realising your mistake, it may be too late! The stigma attached to your domain/IP address could continue to cause damage. 

More importantly, you are going to come across a few tools that are designed to catch spammers (yes, you are considered a spammer if you’re using a purchased list   Spam traps! There are many different types of spam traps out there and you won’t be able to spot their innocent disguises, so you need to be careful. If you send just one email to a spam trap, you might as well call it a day. 

I can’t stress enough the importance of building a genuine mailing list, and it’s not as hard as you might think. Simple strategies, such as ensuring the sign-up link is visible and creating lead generators, are the best ways to go. 

If you have any further questions about this topic, feel free to contact me at teresa@smtp2go.com, and of course, you can connect with me on LinkedIn. 

Thanks, and happy emailing!