Email List Rental Toolkit: How to Read a Data Card + Sample Contracts

This MarketingSherpa Toolkit comes in three parts, each of which you can download as separate PDFs. (Note: If you share the word about this resource, please give folks the direct hotlink to this page. It will remain good for years to come.)

Part I: How to Read a Data Card
Every list on the market has an official "data card" for shoppers to review. The data card may be available online and also may be postal mailed to you. Although data cards from different managers can look slightly different, most share similar information.

It's not everything you need to know to rent a list -- but it's enough to add the file to your "under serious consideration" pile. Discover what each part of the sometimes mysterious card means, and what critical questions you should ask in further research before making a buying decision:
How to Read a Datacard

Note: Yes, this is a real-life data card. We chose it fairly randomly and do not have an opinion as to the wonderfulness of the list it promotes.

Part II: Document of Legal Compliance
In addition to standard list rental contracts, some best-of-breed list owners and managers also distribute a Document of Compliance to elaborate on how their list gathering practices match the law and, most importantly, how they require your broadcast to be legal as well.

Laws are often shaded in gray until enough court cases define nooks and crannies of confusion. So just saying, "We obey the law and expect you to as well," is not enough. It's better to spell things out.

Most importantly, be sure to review the "Suppress File" information on page three. We recommend that no marketer or manager do rental business without agreeing to this.

Here's the PDF link:
CAN SPAM Compliance Document

Note: The Document of Legal Compliance we chose for this exhibit is a real-life document from a list manager we regard quite highly. It's extremely well worded, and we feel it could be taken as an example of best practices. That said, we're not lawyers. If you're considering signing a document or creating your own, please consult legal counsel first.

Part III: List Rental Contract
No one should ever rent you a list without requiring that you sign a contract first. Some things to be sure to look for in the fine print:

o Landing page requirements:

Is a hotlink to your privacy policy required on your landing page? It's a best practice … however, in our experience many Web designers forget to put that link on landing pages or registration forms. Make sure you conform.

o Advertisement disclosure:

If the list owner wants to include language on your creative making it clear your broadcast is an ad, that's fine and dandy. Except, the word "advertisement" may be filtered by content-based filters (especially a problem for B-to-B sends.) So, you may need to negotiate to a less problematic, albeit equally clear, word.

o Suppression list:

Are you ready to hand over your Do Not Email (DNE) list for suppression purposes? If you're renting with a reputable firm you'll be required to. However, you may be able to negotiate using a third party merge/purge house to run the suppression on your behalf as an intermediary if you are extremely concerned about security. Also, be sure to check your own privacy policy wording to be sure if you need to use that third party or if you can hand over the DNE list directly.

Here's the PDF link:
List Rental Contract
(note: sample is as of April 2007)

Note: This real-life sample is one of the more thorough contracts around. Many are only one page long. Those are not bad at all -- we chose this one because we wanted you to see the full realm of contractual possibility. If your legal team is cool with this, getting them to sign off on shorter contracts will be a breeze.

More Useful links related to this article:

Companion Sherpa Tutorial on renting email lists:
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=29930

List managers and brokers that assisted with this toolkit:

Bethesda List Center:
http://www.bethesda-list.com

DM2-DecisionMaker:
http://www.dm2decisionmaker.com

IDG List Services:
http://www.idglist.com

Millard Group:
http://www.millard.com