Before looking at the costs of business email marketing lists, let us provide you with a brief introduction into email marketing. That leads to the question, what is email marketing and why is it important? As the name suggests, email marketing is the promotion of products through the sending of emails to current and potential customers within a mailing list. The main purpose of email marketing is to connect the merchant with its customers in order to strengthen the bond between them and create repeat business.
Whether you’re planning to promote your next product or setting up a multi-channel campaign, you’ll require some form of mailing list. When reviewing the costs of business email marketing lists, we must understand that there are multiple ways to acquire a list, either through renting, buying, or building that list. As you may have guessed, each of these options cost differently.
1. Buying a List
As you may know, buying a mailing list has a bad reputation in the marketing landscape due to its poor contact quality. Having said that, it is still a preferred method for many companies because of the relatively low cost. Costs can range from $0.50 to $1.50 per contact for the paid list, although some sources offer lists for as high as $3 per contact.
You should consider purchasing a list(s) if:
- You are sure that you will need the information throughout the year.
- The targeting options match up with your marketing requirements.
2. Renting a List
Renting a list is, in many cases, the only way to access lists from many trade publications because the data is quite widespread and industry-relevant. Renting lists can help you connect with a larger portion of your target audience, as opposed to buying lists. Costs can range from $0.15 to $0.60 for a one-time use of contact.
You should consider renting a list(s) if:
- You do not have any email marketing platforms yet.
- You are promoting a one-off event.
- Your program is very limited and will only use the list(s) a few times a year.
3. Building a List
The third, and often most worthwhile, list type is building a list from targeted, collected data. While this option is the most expensive, it does have many benefits. You are surely going to reach a far greater percentage of buyers here compared to what could be achieved by buying or renting a list. Costs can range from $5 to $20 on average, per contact, and provide the most specific data available.
You should consider renting a list(s) if:
- You are targeting specific roles or businesses.
- Your aim is to reach the highest ROI that requires clean and concise data.
Before jumping to any conclusions, your business should ensure that a list is required and once it is determined that one is needed, review which option will fit best. If you want to either market a new product or set up a multi-channel campaign, your business will need to start with a B2B mailing list.