The short answer to this question is yes, mailing lists are legal. They can be a great way for businesses to put together a customer base, particularly when they’re first getting started. But they can also be a double-edged sword. Like anything in life, few things are as simple as they seem. We’ll look at how mailing lists work and whether they’re actually worth buying. 

Your List IS Legal 

The actual information — whether it’s being used for direct mail or email — is legal to buy, but that doesn’t mean that you can contact anyone you feel like contacting. Ideally, you’re contacting people who are at least vaguely interested in what you have to offer. 

If you’re sending unsolicited emails, it’s unlikely to result in any kind of legal claim (after all, the legal system has bigger fish to fry), but you might annoy people to the point where the recipients choose a competitor just to teach you a lesson. Plus, if you’re marked as Spam enough, it can affect your sender address, to the point where you end up on a blacklist. 

Using Your Mailing Lists 

Marketing isn’t about spamming your customers. In fact, these days, it’s about speaking directly to your customers. So much like Uber sends you (and only you) a message about when your driver will be there, this is the ultimate goal of marketing in 2022. How can you be as specific as Uber? Well, odds are you probably can’t. But you might be able to get closer with the right list. 

It all comes down to having better information at your fingertips. If you buy the right list, you can end up talking to people who actually do want to hear what you have to say. So the question is: do you know your target demographic?

Does your ideal customer:

• care if they have to spend more for a quality product or service?
• go straight to your competitors because they’re the only name they know?
• prefer to interact online or in person?
• have an inherent curiosity in your market (in other words, are you in a relatively unknown field)?

If you can’t answer these questions, it might be difficult to get anywhere with your mailing list. Mail is a great way to let people know what you’re doing, but it’s also a great way to get lost in the mix. 

Thinking Differently 

If you’re still thinking that a mailing list could be for you, don’t discount the use of your data. Try a few different ads (e.g., different email subject lines, different territories, different income brackets, etc.) and see what comes back. Even tepid responses can tell you a lot about who you should be talking and what you should be saying. 

If you want an even better experience, talk to the experts at Conversion Marketing. Our experts are here to help decide what you want and then figure out how you can go about getting it. We’re here to help you craft messages that don’t fall on deaf ears. 

Here, we understand that marketing is just one part of the equation. Your business is more than just a few gimmicks and buzzwords. Some companies are able to get ahead on nothing but word of mouth, but if you’re finding that that’s not quite enough for you, you might need to try a different approach. We work incredibly hard to create lists that won’t leave you hanging at the end of a campaign. If you want to know more about how our lists are curated and why we end up with such quality data, contact us today for more information.