Email Rental: Is It In Your Acquisition Toolkit?

I attended an Email Service Provider (ESP) seminar today and a small business owner asked if it was possible to rent and use email address lists the way businesses currently rent mailing lists. The speaker answered "not using our application."

And it's true - most ESPs won't allow you to deliver 3rd party email lists using their software. Their email policies imply that it is akin to spamming.

Well, it's not spamming - it's legal and it's ethical, as long as you follow some basic rules.

Many individuals will allow their email address to be shared with 3rd parties. Sometimes they do it to collect rewards points, other times it is because they are interested in everything related to a particular subject.

When selecting a vendor for your 3rd party email addresses, you need to confirm that their list was gathered using "confirmed opt-in" or "double-opt in" methods. You should look at the website(s) the list was compiled from to ensure that it reflects your target audience. There are other things to evaluate, but it's not a difficult process.

Once you have selected a list, how can you distribute it if your ESP won't let you use their software? It's easy - most legitimate email list providers won't let you use an outside email service - they create the email with you and send it on your behalf.

The real question isn't whether you should rent 3rd party emails. As a marketer, your responsibility is to test email list rental against other customer acquisition alternatives to determine which approach provides you the most favorable ROI.