Know-How Exchange : E-Marketing

I do not like your odds of success with this.

I do not know specifically how InfoUSA obtains its email addresses. Most of the databases with email addresses appended use negative consent; they send an email that says, "If you don't opt out, we're going to add you to our list." While that's marginally better than nothing, most people aren't going to open that message, let alone respond to it. So, the permission level is questionable.

Legal, mind you -- at least in the US -- but questionable.

And even if by some magic happening they obtained full on permission, what is it that the recipient has expressed a willingness to receive? We have no real idea that they are into getting anything on your topic or business. It's just a semi-educated guess. Now, in marketing, we make semi-educated guesses all the time, but given what InfoUSA charges for its email deployment (I recall that it's not "cheap"), you need to go into this with a better understanding of what you're getting.

If you are a name brand, *maybe* this will work for you, assuming it's a free offer. If you're thinking about doing a paid offer, forget about it. This is not going to work for you.

What you really need to do is come up with what you think an acceptable cost per response is, then back into whether or not you can hit your number using that list.

I don't know specifically what InfoUSA charges, but for illustrative purposes let's say it's $150 per thousand or $150 CPM. That's $0.15 apiece.

At best (and I mean at BEST), you're going to get a 20% open rate. Chances are it will be more like 10% or even less, but let's use 20%. That means you're paying $0.75 for each opened email, which is basically one impression.

Then let's say that 20% of those people (again, a LOT) click through the email to your landing page. That's $3.75 per click. (How does that compare to the cost of a click with a PPC model? It should be about the same or something is amiss.) Now, of those who click, let's say that 10% actually complete the form. (Again, I have no idea what your offer is, but this is just for illustrative purposes.) That's $37.50 per response.

Does that work for you?

Again, keep in mind that these numbers are for illustration only. You need to plug in better numbers based on what you're trying to do. For example, a free offer will usually pull better than a paid. An offer where the recipients actually have some idea who you are will do better than one coming from a company they've never heard of.

And so on...

If you share some more specifics, you're likely to get even better feedback.

Good luck. And tread carefully.

Paul

Paul knows his stuff and provided you with good input. Here are a few examples of the range of comments re: InfoUSA services ...


https://www.recruitingblogs.com/forum/topics/is-infousa-a-scam
https://www.squidoo.com/infoUSA-and-businesslist5
https://www.tamingthebeast.net/articles8/buying-email-lists.htm

InfoUSA is a respectable outfit. Whether that kind of broad blast will deliver results depends on your product, message and so on.

Dear Levon,

First of all, I've never used InfoUSA, nor do I have any affiliation with them.

That said, I have it on good authority that they claim to have
the agreed, double opted-in thumbs up of over 14 million US consumers, and 2.3 million business executives to receive e-mail. They also claim that their e-mail addresses constitute the most accurate and powerful database of emails on the market.

They'll also offer you HTML custom design; what they call a "Test Blast" (which is basically an e-mail that ensures your e-mail and links work properly and that recipients that open your e-mails can click through to the web pages you're linking to. They also say they'll send a test blast to a group of addresses from both their company and yours.

They also offer e-mail deployment and link tracking. Their fees
are based on delivered e-mails, which means you don't pay for bounced or undelivered messages (but if their lists are double opted in, I'm not sure why they'd need to offer this because in theory, ALL the e-mail addresses on their list should elicit a result.

On top of all this they'll charge you more if you want the name, business, address, and telephone number for the businesses or consumers that they deliver your e-mail to.

And how much do they charge for all this? Well, that depends on what you want:

For consumer e-mail campaigns (including HTML design: $100/HR)

For all e-mail addresses, (private or business) they have a sliding scale:

Private (consumer) e-mails:

5,000: $800
10,000: $1,200
25.000: $2,375
50,000: $4,250

For business e-mails:

2,500: $950
5,000: $1,825
10,000: $3,300
25,000: $6,875

These figures are accurate as of early July, 2010.

But there's a short cut to at least see some of their lists—and
the good news is, it won't cost you a dime.

If you're based in the USA, use your local library's website and find the section called DATABASES.

Scroll through their list until you find REFERENCE USA.

Click on that link.

Then you'll come across a form that asks you to log in. Here, simply use your library card number and your PIN - if you have neither, signing up's easy, just visit your local library, offer proof of ID, and join for free.

Once you're logged in to REFERENCE USA, search for residential or business and just basically, play with the system.

I've just logged in and picked a category at random, in this case bakeries. I now have the mailing addresses of 18,414 bakeries around the USA, including (for a fee) over 2,000 e-mail addresses.

Were I launching a product or a marketing campaign aimed at bakery owners locally, regionally, even nationally, THIS is the database I'd use. Personally, I'd use direct mail, NOT e-mail, and I'd have the direct mail piece as a letter or postcard with coupons and offers that DEMAND attention, and that are too good to pass up on.

From this database you can download or print the contact names, business names, addresses, ZIP codes, and telephone numbers
of THOUSANDS of businesses. And for a fee, you can also get their e-mail addresses.

It's not possible to copy and paste from this site, you must download the file, but doing so is a piece of cake. Let's go back to our bakery friends for a moment. If I send a mailing to 18,414 bakeries and pull in a 3 percent return on my sales letter for an information product that tells the bakery owner how they can sell more bread, cakes, and pastries for very little outlay, and if all this sells for $39.95, I make $22,052.40.

And if 30 percent of those bakery owners opt for my monthly e-mail newsletter for $9.95 per month, I build my e-mail list by 165 people and I make $ 1,641.75 per month in recurring revenue.

This resource is a GOLD MINE of list building loveliness and it's all free.

I hope this helps.

And for anyone out there bitching and moaning that they don't have a list and that no one's signing up, use this system and you'll create an automatic list that's targeted to the niche YOU choose.

Gary Bloomer
The Direct Response Marketing Guy™
Wilmington, DE, USA

Levon,
I know of companies that have used InfoUSA and have been happy with the size of the list. Results are a different issue.

As with anything, the campaign will decide whether it works for you or not. They'll follow the rules for sure but a badly written campaign isn't really solved by larger numbers. You can end up spoiling the fruit, as they say.

In the absence of a larger in-house database, look for a complementary business with whom you can co-op.

Michael

If you have a feeling that the economics are right, do a test.

I think that InfoUSA is a reputable company. I'd ask for a small test at a negotiated rate.

Can you share a little insight as to what you're trying to accomplish?