Was your last product launch a success? Not really sure? You’re not alone. Hubspot’s 2017 State of Inbound Survey showed that 40% of businesses don’t know how to prove the ROI of their marketing activities. And if you don’t know how to determine your ROI, it’s hard to say whether your product launch was a success or failure. Without being able to prove your success, you’ll have a harder time asking for a bigger budget for next year’s marketing activities.

Does this conversation sound familiar?

“Hey Bob, have we implemented marketing automation yet?”

“Do you mean Salesforce?”

“Well, Salesforce can be part of it, but I mean the software that automatically sends out our content?”

“What content?”

It’s perhaps the most common conversation I have with prospective clients, and it goes something like this: Tim, I really need to communicate with potential new customers, but I don’t have a database list to send to. Where’s the best place to buy a list? Oh, and by the way, I need it fast and I don’t have much budget to work with.

As I interrupt the question, I respond that there is no place to safely buy/rent/gather/assemble a safe email list at any price. A look of despair ensues. 

Huh?

I repeat: There is no place to safely buy/rent/gather/assemble an email list at any price.