How to rent a rockstar marketing list

It’s an ugly industry truth: it’s extremely easy to rent a dud email list. Whether it’s a downright scam or simply poorly compiled, list rental can be hit-or-miss if you don’t know what to look for. Luckily, after 16 years in the industry, I do know what to look for, and I’m going to tell you in the five simple steps below. Enjoy!

The proof’s in the permission

When renting an email list, you’ve got to make sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that your list is fully permissioned (meaning the recipients have consented to receive email). To truly make sure, you need to ask for proof. This isn’t the Old West. A hearty handshake and a booming verbal assurance from a list broker is not sufficient anymore. Instead, ask to see the audit trail, which should consist of consent forms that look like this:

Quick list permission questions to ask:

1. Is the font a reasonable size?
2. Is the wording clear?
3. Is it opt-in (as opposed to opt-out)?
4. Is it a single source?

If the answer is yes to all of the above, then chances are you are getting a legitimate list. If the list provider said they can’t share that information because it’s confidential, walk away. If they are willing to offer their list, they should be able to divulge their list permission strategy, period.

What’s in a brand name?

In the list rental industry, going with a well-known brand name is key. Pay very close attention to the source of your list, because there is a world of difference between “Tennis Magazine list” and “Tennis-lovers email masterfile.” A newbie may look at these two lists and think they are scoring big by renting essentially the same list at a lower price, similar to buying a generic over a brand name at the grocery store. Unfortunately that usually isn’t the case.

The Tennis Magazine list is a list of subscribers to Tennis Magazine, pure and simple. You can pretty much bet anyone who subscribes to that list is a die-hard tennis fan. The “Tennis-lovers” list on the other hand, could be a mish-mash of names scraped from various sports publications, emails captured from anyone who ever bought tennis balls at Target, or really anyone under the sun.

These generic lists tend to operate more under the “Who Doesn’t Love Tennis?” mindset, and that’s exactly the kind of list you want to steer clear of if you don’t want to deal with terribly disappointing ROI at the end of the campaign. NOTE: When I use the term “branded,” I don’t mean only go with big-name lists. There are a ton of great small niche lists out there, as well as first-to-market lists which I highly recommend. When we talk about branding in this context, I just mean check into our list’s provenance and make sure it comes from a single legitimate source.

Yes, but does it dance?

When considering whether or not to rent a list, make sure to ask about the list’s past performance. There are three major metrics you need to know before you rent: open rate, delivery rate, and click-thru rate. Now metrics are their own beast, so I have linked each term above to a great corresponding article on the subject so you can learn what constitutes a good rate for each metric. Suffice to say, rented email lists metrics do exist, they are very specific, and you do need to see them before you make a call. If the email list provider isn’t able to cheerfully produce these metrics and speak knowledgeably about them, something is off. Last but not least, when you are talking about list past performance, you need to talk about both past and performance. A list might have an average 70% open rate, but what if it’s only been rented twice. Not quite as impressive right?

Debunking the myth of creative

I don’t know what it is about the Internet, but sometimes it makes perfectly smart people get duped into scams. For example I have heard many people fall for the “Oh, I can’t show you any performance metrics because it completely depends on the quality of the creative!” list broker line. Now, of course your success will somewhat depend on the quality of your creative, but mostly it depends on the quality of the list (that’s why you’re bothering to rent one). If someone tells you this, they are most likely just looking for a “trap door” to avoid having to present metrics that will prevent you from buying a bunk list.

Remember, there are no magic bullets or loopholes with renting lists. The list marketing industry is just like anything else: if you want quality, you have to pay for it. For example, one of our clients has a list that is going for a $300 CPM because it’s high quality and they know they can command that price. If someone’s offering you 50,0000 names for $30 per click, your Spidey sense should go off. It’s exactly like a 2009 BMW that’s selling for $1000 on Craigslist, too good to be true! Run!

Apply the list marketing “petri dish” approach

Even if you think you’ve found a great list that meets all of the above criteria and is going to make your company millions of dollars, it pays to start small. Do a ten or twenty thousand record test as a “petri dish” marketing campaign to  make sure that it meets your needs. Even the best lists may not perform when push comes to shove. And if it  goes great, well, you can always rent more records later . The bottom line is, never go into a list rental without testing it first, because just because it’s a good list, doesn’t mean it’s the right list.

Dave Scott is the Founder and CEO of Marketfish, a tech start-up created to make list marketing less annoying. With sixteen years of experience in direct marketing, Dave has served as the Vice President of Global Marketing at Intermec and the Vice President of Marketing at PeopleSoft. A Wharton MBA grad, Dave is also an avid sailor, scuba diver, and nationally ranked board game champion. He was recognized by Puget Sound Business Journal as “40 under 40″ award in 2007.

email lists, list marketing, renting an email list