8 Questions You Need To Ask When Buying a Marketing List
by Jason Stewart
Buying a marketing list can be a stressful process. With so many vendors out there, it is important to ask the right questions when you are making a decision. Here are 8 questions you should always ask when you are in the market for business contact data...
1. What makes your data unique?
There are many data providers out there, and many pull from common sources such as Dun & Bradstreet/Hoovers, Jigsaw or InfoUSA. It is important to ask what makes the data in the list you are considering unique, and be sure it is not compiled from sources you have already purchased from recently.
Each individual business contact record you purchase from Demandbase is unique. While Demandbase partners with leading data companies like the ones mentioned above (and is, in fact, the only company to partner with all of these providers), we also pull data from many smaller publications and data companies and play to the strengths of these disparate sources. Business contact records are built from the ground up, with data gaps from one source filled in with information from other partners and proprietary rules run against every contact to categorize them according to department, specialty, industry and more.
2. How often do you refresh your data?
It’s important to know how often your data provider adds names to their database, but it is perhaps even more important to know how often they remove names from their database and what steps they take to prevent “dead” names from being added back to the system. Don’t be impressed by claims of “tens of millions” of contacts unless you can verify that they are actually removing out-of-date information from their system in a timely manner.
3. How is your data priced? Is there a minimum purchase?
If you can get a per-contact price of less than $1 per contact (with email!), then you are doing very well – but if you are required to spend at least $5K then it might not be such a good deal. The dirty little secret of many data providers is the minimum purchase size. After you run the parameters for your list, you will likely find that your actual list size falls beneath the requirements for minimum purchase which could lead to a “back-fill” of contacts that you may not have wanted (or needed) in the first place. Your response rates will drop because you are campaigning to prospects simply because you paid for their info, not because you selected them. And your reputation may suffer as well if you are marketing to people who are not in your sweet spot.
Demandbase has no minimum purchase requirements, and our filters are the most advanced in the industry. This means that lists purchased from Demandbase can be highly targeted based on the needs of our customers, and that there is no need to purchase leads you don’t need to fill some sort of arbitrary requirements. Contacts start at $2 (if you are buying 1 record), however volume discounts are awarded.
4. How do you handle inaccurate data?
It makes no difference where you get your data, there is going to be some churn in the most accurate and highly marketed lists. Especially in a down economy. A key factor in dealing with your provider is to establish some sort of “return policy” in advance of the purchase. Ideally, the provider you use for your email campaigns will be able to differentiate between “hard” and “soft” bounces on the email campaigns you run, as proof of a “hard bounce” is a great basis for handling returns of inaccurate data.
If you send an email and it is not delivered, the recipient’s system typically sends back some sort of notification as to why. A “hard” bounce is when you receive a notification that the non-delivery is due to a permanent condition – like when the intended recipient is no longer at the company. A “soft” bounce is when the notification indicates the non-delivery was due to a temporary condition, such as a full mailbox or some sort of “out of office” situation.
Demandbase offers full credit back for all business contact data proven to be inaccurate as a result of a “hard bounce.” We then take your “hard bounce” information to help us maintain the accuracy of our database.5. Do you remove or credit duplicates for contacts I already own?
A common frustration when purchasing lists is acquiring contacts you already have in your database. Make sure your data provider has some sort of system in place to remove or to credit back contacts you already own, and also (if you are a repeat customer) remove contacts you may have already purchased from them.
Demandbase tracks all your purchases so that you will never buy a contact from us more than once. We also work with you to credit back contacts that are already in your CRM.
For Salesforce.com customers the de-duplication process is automated, as the AppExchange version of Demandbase is set up in a tab inside of Salesforce.com and runs a duplicate check against your database before you buy.
6. How are your lists targeted? Do I need to pay for any filters to refine my list?Some data providers charge you to run filters against their database that help you to target your list to your specific needs. For example, if you were looking for a list of marketing contacts at software companies you might be charged $300 to remove all non-software companies and another $300 to target the marketers. Data companies do this to try to discourage filters which might reduce the size of the list they are trying to sell you. Be aware of both the costs associated with building a more targeted list, and the hidden costs to your reputation and response rates if you don’t filter your lists and market to contacts that are not in your “sweet spot.”
Demandbase actually has a white paper dedicated to this topic called Microtargeting for Macro Results (http://www.demandbase.com/white_papers.html, near the bottom of the page), and has the most advanced filters in the industry -- allowing you to zero in on contacts based on geography, industry, sub-industry, seniority (level of contact), department, departmental specialty and more. Each contact in the database is individually "scored" against your specific needs so you can build highly targeted lists without worrying about hidden “filter” charges or minimum purchase sizes for your lists -- and you can build and filter your list before you even talk to a sales rep.
Demandbase Professional subscription services help you to target even more closely, filtering your business contacts based on prospect companies and their activities when they visit your corporate website.
7. Do we own the data, or is this a list rental?Data providers often rent out their subscriber lists for “one-time” mailings. You send them your creative, and they run the email campaign for you. They report back to you on opens and click-through, but the real measure of success is conversions – how many people filled out the form on the page that you sent them to in body of the email. This is the only way for you to capture the contact information of anyone in the list that you rented. Since it is a rental, the cost per lead is much lower than an outright purchase but you do not own the information and cannot market to them again without renting the list again. Make sure to clarify if the cost per lead is for a rental or for a list purchase.
Demandbase customers license all business contacts they purchase for multiple use.
8. Can I send email to the contacts I purchase from you? Are they “opt-in”?
If you are buying a list from a vendor and they claim that the entire list is “opt in” be very careful, and keep in mind that they have not “opted in” to receiving emails from you. Opt-in is the gold standard in email marketing, without a doubt -- but Can-Spam is the law and it does not cite “opt-in” as a requirement.
Email marketing is a very tricky business. I have received SPAM complaints from paying customers that I have spoken to on the phone, and I have closed business based on unsolicited (but legally “Can-Spam” compliant) emails. Be aware of the requirements for running email campaigns from your providers, as some may require you to be able to prove “opt-in” on every email you send while others simply require you to comply with the law. Agree on a policy internally that will both preserve your reputation, but also allow you to grow your brand and pipeline through the use of email. And consider paying extra for a dedicated IP address to handle your mailings, because if you are sharing email servers with other companies that do not observe the letter of the law as closely as you do, your deliverability numbers might suffer as a result of their bad practices.
Demandbase contacts include email addresses. Our contacts have agreements in place with our providers allowing for the distribution of their contact information, and Demandbase runs quarterly email campaigns to all contacts in our database inviting them to “opt-out” of being included in the Demandbase database.
Bonus Question: Do you carry data from companies outside the United States?
Accurate international business contact information is a very hard commodity to find, so if you find a vendor who has good international data you should keep them in your rolodex for when you might need them. Be very careful when purchasing international business contacts, and be sure to ask all of the right questions regarding freshness of the data, returns, and so on. There simply aren’t as many reputable providers of international data as there are those focused on the United States market, so you need to be cautious.
Demandbase focuses on United States businesses with revenues of $1M or more. We plan on slowly expanding into international business contacts when we identify and qualify reputable, accurate partners in the international business contact data space.
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You can create an account to try Demandbase free by clicking here. After you register, you will be prompted to tell us about your target markets, and there will be $20 waiting for you in your shopping cart to test drive for first contacts on us.
