Today, at AffDays, we want to discuss how to collect email addresses for your own database. Many webmasters may say that it’s double work and their doubt sounds convincing: why collect a new database when there are dozens and hundreds of such collections of email addresses for sale on the internet?
Some affiliates collect emails manually. But we haven’t met many experienced guys among them who know the appropriate source for such a task.
We decided to write an article on this topic to explain all the details to you. Should you buy a ready-made database? Which advertising source is best suited for database collection? What niches are most profitable for email campaigns? Let’s try to answer all these questions.
Why It’s Not Profitable to Buy Ready-Made Databases
Buying a couple of thousand email addresses, driving traffic to them, and profiting – all that is achieved by very few. There are several reasons for this:
Ready-made databases contain spam traps. Email providers use spam traps to find spammers. Usually, they use abandoned email addresses or emails created specifically to catch scammers. Developers deliberately add such addresses to platforms where user data leaks most often. Only spammers can send email to spam traps, so the email provider adds the buyer’s IP address to the blacklist.
Ready-made databases are inefficient. No one will sell a quality database because it is unprofitable. With hot leads, you can make much more money than just selling the data of their email addresses. Therefore, such databases are half full of abandoned emails or people who do not want to buy services or goods. Technically, the webmaster is spending money on people who probably will not give him profit or may block him. After several complaints, the email provider will block the affiliate.
Ready-made databases are unprofitable. On average, a database of 10,000 “quality” email addresses costs about $200. Most likely, someone has already set up an email campaign based on this database because unused sets of emails are even more expensive. Statistics show that the conversion rate of a manually collected database is around 3%. For ready-made databases, this metric rarely rises above zero.
How to Choose an Advertising Source for Collecting Email Addresses
The potential profit of a webmaster depends on the size of the email campaign. However, at the same time, no one wants to spend several months collecting emails. Therefore, the advertising source should be simple, user-friendly, and cheap.
- Simplicity. Setting up advertising on Google Ads or Facebook Ads is quite complex – you need to know how to pass moderation, warm up the account, and be able to target the audience accurately. Also, it’s difficult to collect email addresses through contextual advertising because users won’t click on an ad just to enter the email addresses. That’s why we recommend using push notifications. Even a beginner can handle setting up an advertising campaign and targeting the audience.
- Convenience. If the advertising is too intrusive, the lead will get annoyed, ignore the ad, or even file a complaint. If it’s too subtle, the person will scroll past it. Therefore, you need a format that strikes a balance between these characteristics. Push notifications are also a good solution. The audience of this source is updated quite slowly – by a maximum of 5% per day. The webmaster can adjust the frequency of ad displays as needed. For example, for Tier-1, 2-3 times a day is sufficient. Moreover, entering an email through a push notification is more convenient than clicking on a contextual ad, loading a landing page, and entering the email.
- Price. Collecting email addresses is not your goal. Therefore, an affiliate shouldn’t spend a lot of money at the preparation stage for the advertising campaign. Because of this, the advertising source should generate leads that are cheap enough and high quality.
Push notifications are a popular choice for collecting email addresses because they offer advantages such as unmoderated advertising, global reach, and a large potential audience for various promotions.
There are plenty of networks online that help with collecting email addresses. But there is an important criterion that helps us filter out dozens of unsuitable ones – the presence of different advertising formats.
Push notifications are not always a panacea for collecting emails, and it’s necessary to test different formats. For example, it’s more useful to embed video ads on video hosting sites. Sometimes users cannot load a landing page due to weak internet connection, so it’s more convenient for them to enter their email through pop-ups.
We think that you may have already asked yourself where to work in affiliate marketing. If you have, then our article on best niches for affiliate marketing is just for you.
In Which Verticals is it Easiest to Collect Email Address Databases
Using push notifications, you can build an email database in any vertical. However, users are more willing to provide their data in the following niches:
Sweepstakes
For a user, a sweepstake represents a chance to win money or gadgets for free, while for a webmaster, it’s another potential lead. To get a brand-new iPhone or the latest Samsung, all one needs to do is enter the email, and the lottery organizers will contact the winner via email.
Nutra
In this direction, products are predominantly purchased by people aged 50 and older: products for joint care, skin rejuvenation, and reproductive system supplements. The same audience segment uses email more often than social networks and messengers. Therefore, they are more accustomed to receiving collections of new products in email format. Additionally, Dimitrios Zoutos, a digital marketing specialist, did research and found out that 73% of consumers prefer email communication from health and wellness brands.
Nutra verticla always will be profitable because the desire for quick and easy solutions to health issues is everlasting. Read our article and know how to promote nutra offers in 2024.
Dating
Users of dating apps and websites receive notifications either on their phones or on the website itself. However, the chance of missing an attractive partner is significantly higher in this case—repetitive notifications with the same content rarely appear. Therefore, it is more convenient to browse through the selection from email, where the necessary information is easily accessible, and you can thoroughly read about your potential date.
Gambling
Gamblers willingly agree to receive emails with deposit bonuses, winning strategies in certain games, and news about new events in the industry. Thanks to this, obtaining the email address of a hot lead is not a problem.
More Effective Strategies
We also want to share some additional strategies for email database creation:
- Lead Magnets: Offer downloadable resources like ebooks, white papers, or cheat sheets in exchange for email addresses. This provides value upfront and incentivizes signups.
- Referral Programs: Encourage existing subscribers to refer friends and family by offering rewards for successful referrals. This leverages your existing audience for list growth.
- Content Marketing: Create informative and engaging blog posts, articles, or infographics that users will find valuable. Include signup forms to capture email addresses from interested readers.
- Webinars and Events: Host online or in-person events relevant to your target audience. Offer registration forms that collect email addresses for access or follow-up materials.
Instead of Conclusion
We’ve prepared a couple of tips that will increase the chances of getting the desired email address through push notifications:
- Use the effect of limited time. Often, you can see on websites that a particular discount or offer expires in 15 or 30 minutes. This is not accidental. Marketers know that the fear of losing out on a deal is much higher than the desire to own something.
- Highlight the benefit for the user. A person should understand why they should enter their email. So, tell them in a couple of sentences what awaits them: a selection of products, helpful tips, or private dating profiles.
- Add vibrant images. This will help users notice the push notification and leave their email if they are interested in the affiliate offer. Colorful design is always more attractive than a black-and-white background.
P.S. This guide explores ethical methods to build an email database. Remember that user consent is crucial and aligns with data privacy regulations. Sending emails to unverified addresses or spam traps can damage your reputation. By prioritizing ethical practices, you’ll build a valuable asset for email marketing success.
