Should You Or Should You Not...Buy That Marketing List?
Buying a marketing list is easy, and anybody can do it, but does that mean you should do it? A ready-made marketing list can be tempting for MSPs, especially when leads are running low. Have you been tempted to buy a marketing list lately? It sounds easy, doesn't it? You just purchase a marketing list and start contacting random people. So you should definitely go ahead and buy a marketing list, right? In short, no.
Many businesses have fallen victim to this mindset. They were lured into purchasing cheap marketing lists just to fill their sales machine. However, caving to the promise of a cheap marketing list can only hurt your MSP business in the long run. I know you could just enter your payment information and instantly have access to thousands of new contacts, and it will only be a matter of minutes for you to add your new contacts to your MSP marketing campaign.
What type of harm can buying a marketing list actually do to your business? More importantly, how can you build your own marketing list instead of buying one?
You Can't Trust the Quality of a Purchased MSP Marketing List
The people who sell marketing lists aren't necessarily very truthful. The person who creates a marketing list can make many claims about the quality of the marketing list, but there's always a chance you'll find that the marketing list you purchased has a variety of problems, such as:
- Missing or incomplete data (i.e. containing the wrong names for contacts on the list)
- Outdated information (inactive email addresses or email addresses that no longer exist).
- Email addresses that belong to people who have not agreed to be on anyone's list
While you might love the idea of getting thousands of names, email addresses, and phone numbers in a matter of hours, what good is it going to be if the list is just an outdated list filled with junk data that has the contact information of people who never wanted to be on the list in the first place? What if the email list was illegally mined from a website, and you have no way to verify any of it? You could be subject to fines and penalties for each separate email you send. Yikes!
Other MSPs May Be Using the Same Marketing List
Have you ever considered that when you buy an MSP marketing list, other MSPs could use the exact same list as you? If you buy a marketing list, what makes you think another MSP won't do the same? Just like you, they might be sending out a flurry of emails to the same recipients.
What are the chances that the individuals on your purchased marketing list are already irritated by the number of marketing emails they have been receiving? You are unlikely to have a positive reception to your offers. Some recipients on the list may have even enabled filters or abandoned the email address so that your emails do not show up.
There is a high chance that email recipients who are suddenly inundated with emails from a variety of MSPs will unsubscribe and possibly report the emails as spam. If you receive multiple spam reports, there will suddenly be a spike in email complaints, which will give ISPs a reason to be cautious of future mailings. Your ISP will also inform you about the spam complaints that have been submitted by recipients of your emails.
You May Receive a List of Unqualified Leads
When you buy an MSP marketing list, you will receive a list of names, phone numbers, and emails from people who are likely unaware of who you are and what you do. In other words, they're unqualified.
How many phone calls or emails have you received from companies you never knew existed? How did you feel when you received that phone call or email? There is no guarantee that a lead from a bought marketing list will want to listen to marketing or sales communications from a random business that obtained their contact details from a purchased marketing list. What if the leads don't want to hear from you? What happens next?
Even if you buy a marketing list that you believe to consist of qualified leads because you believe the leads are all a part of the industry you are targeting, it will not take long for you to find out how many emails and phone calls you will have to make just to get a follow-up. Can you imagine how much more success you could have if you were to spend that time communicating with people who are actually interested in your MSP services?
Why Should You Build Your Own Marketing List From Scratch?
You can search for new potential clients, instantly. Using Google's search engine, you no longer just have to find contacts individually using LinkedIn or another website. Instead, you can search for leads in specific roles and industries. Eventually, you will unlock so much data like verified emails, phone numbers, job positions, social media profiles, and more!
One thing to keep in mind when putting your list together is to make sure that the people you add to your list will actually want to hear from you. Will the people on your list want to hear about Managed Services? A great way to know if you are putting together a great list is to ask yourself, "Would this person be annoyed to receive an email from us about our Managed Services?"
Creating and growing your own marketing list is one of the most important things you can do to positively impact your MSP business. Keeping track of your contact database is not difficult. There are several ways to do it, and Microsoft Excel is one of the best ways to do it. You want to use the Excel spreadsheet to keep all your contacts in one place.
To create a clear Excel spreadsheet, never place multiple data points in one cell. The First Name and Last Name should be entered in their own cell. Additional contact details such as email address, phone number, and email should also be stored in separate cells. If you choose to import your marketing list into a CRM or an email marketing service, these details will need to be in their own fields in the contact database. So you might as well make sure you do it cleanly now so that you will not have to edit your list when the time comes for you to import it.
Would you rather have a list of leads that don't want to hear from you? Would you rather have leads who have been waiting for someone like you to reach out to them? There is no reason to buy a marketing list. It is not only a poor alternative to organic marketing list building, but it can do so much more harm than good. Don't believe that it's impossible to build a list of qualified leads in your industry because that is just another excuse.
Find out how Ulistic builds lists of targeted leads for MSPs. Let us help you protect your brand and help you deliver a memorable experience for your prospects, leads, and clients.
Thanks to James Sanford at Atlanta IT Service company Teampspring for his insight into this article.
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