The Pros and Cons of Coreg Leads
Coreg leads are among the least understood and most underused tools available to the email marketer. Many have simply never heard about co-reg leads, while others are simply confused about what they are.
Ironically, coreg leads are used by some of the biggest businesses, yet small marketers are reluctant to use them, often because they mistakenly think that using co-reg leads is tantamount to spam.
Probably the best thing about coreg leads is their low price. Some vendors sell coregistration leads for anywhere from .10 to $1 apiece, but you can actually get them for as little as 1 cent per name. Buying in volume at extremely low prices allows you to convert only a small percentage of a coreg list and still turn a profit.
Another advantage of using co-reg leads is that you know that they are looking for something. If they took the time to check the box on the coreg form, they have indicated they want that kind of information.
Finally, coreg leads are plentiful and easy to get. Few people understand how big the lead generation business is, and how ready vendors are to sell their leads a second or third time as coregistrations.
On the con side, however, are several factors.
First, some unscrupulous vendors use “opt out” rather than opt IN methods to gather coregistrations. An even more unscrupulous tactic is to “harvest” emails by using special software that trolls the net looking for email addresses posted on web sites, or in the WHOIS database, or to simply buy CDs full of harvested addresses and resell them as if they were legitimate coregistration leads.
Another common practice is to resell coreg lists many, many times, even after the list has become “stale”. Be sure that the vendor that you are dealing with clearly states how many times the list will be sold.
At my site that sells co-reg leads I clearly state that I will sell a list a maximum of five times. In practice, though, I generally only sell a lead two or three times, and “retire” the leads when they are more than a few days old.
Frankly, you as the customer have no way of knowing whether these tactics have been used, so it behooves you to deal with a reputable vendor, or risk getting spam complaints the first time you attempt to contact your coreg leads.
One final negative factor to be aware of when using co-reg leads is the fact that the leads most likely will get bombarded with offers shortly after they submit their information, so you need to take steps to “stand out from the crowd”.
More about that in a later post.
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