How to clean your email list
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You may have heard the term “scrub your email list” but what does that mean exactly and why should you do it? In this post I’ll be taking you through the process of why you need to regularly clean your email list and how to do it effectively too. Read on!
How to clean your email list
Hopefully you already know how valuable your email list is to your business – if you’re yet to create an effective email strategy for your e-commerce business, then I’d recommend you find out why you should be using email marketing here.
With that said it’s worthwhile taking care of such a valuable asset because the healthier it is, the more money you can make – and in the process create more change in the world with your products.
So how do you keep an email list healthy, and what does that really mean?
Here’s why you need to regularly scrub your email list
As your email list grows you ‘ll accumulate email addresses that are either spam, typos or disengaged users, and to be frank, that can hurt your reputation.
And by that I mean your reputation with the powers-that-be that control whether your emails land in the inbox, get flagged as spam or end up in email purgatory being bounced all over the internet.
So to keep on top of that you’ll need to clean your email list on a regular basis to make sure bounced email address, ones with typos and those readers who are no longer interested in your products or information you send don’t continue to prevent your emails getting through to those that matter – your customers and potential customers.
What happens if you don’t keep your email list healthy?
Affects credibility
When your list is full of email addresses that bounce or contain spam addresses (random strings of letters that are created by bots and weird humans on a sabotage mission) then the platforms that deliver your emails to their recipients (Google, Yahoo, Microsoft etc) recognises these addresses as “bad” and starts to associate your email sends with spam.
And even though you know you’re not sending spam, the more random emails that don’t get delivered the more likely it is to harm your reputation.
Deliverability issues
These platforms that deliver your emails try their best to filter emails through their system to deliver the most relevant messages to the right places. Take a look in your spam folder to see many of the random emails you may have been sent. This means your deliverer is doing their job, but if you have a bad reputation then it’s more likely that your emails will end up in the spam box or the promotions tab rather than the inbox.
Higher spam and complaint rates
When you’re sending your emails to people who may have signed up to hear from you, but have later disengaged because they’ve either lost interest or solved their problem then you’re at risk that they’ll flag your emails as spam. You want to do your best to make sure that who you are sending to are subscribers who want to read your emails and not get annoyed and say that your messages are spam.
Lower open rates
The more disengaged your readers are, the lower your open rates, and the less emails arriving in people's inboxes means your open rates are affected by this also. Low open rates also send signals to the powers-that-be that your emails aren’t relevant so it creates a vicious cycle of your reputation tanking and deliverability issues occurring which further affects your open rates.
And we all know that while open rates are not the main metric to judge your emails by but the fewer people opening your emails, the fewer people have eyes on your offers. At least give your readers the opportunity to buy from you by getting them to see what you're selling.
Related content:
2 simple things to improve your email open rate
A quick and easy way to increase your open rates (by up to 50%)
Costs you $$
Not only do extra email addresses in your system cost you money since most email service providers charge you per email address, but if you’re emails aren’t getting through to your customers then that will impact your sales, so it’s in your best interest to make sure your email list is as healthy as can be to get your messages and offers in front of the right people who are ready and willing to buy your products.
4 ways to keep your email healthy and hygienic
Consider a double opt-in
If you find that your list is being flooded with spam email addresses, then it may be time to consider using a double opt-in so that your readers confirm their email address before receiving any further information from you. That way you know that those that confirm have used their correct address and WANT to hear from you.
The downside of double opt-ins is that not everyone confirms their email address which prevents you from continuing to market to them to capture their attention and offer your products as a solution. You’ll need to weigh up the pros and cons of implementing a double opt-in for your list.
Related content:
Remove bounced email addresses and/or fix typos
Depending on the size of your list, you may want to take the time to scan your recipients email addresses and check for typos. People can often misspell their email and sometimes it’s quite obvious when an email address is wrong, especially when it concerns the suffix of the address, like @gail.com instead of @gmail.com.
Your email service provider may also flag the email addresses that are bouncing which you can scan for typos or remove from your system if you feel this is causing problems for your deliverability. You’ll also want to check for email addresses that are quite obviously spam like RneOkdLc@gmail.com. The best thing to do is delete them from your system rather than archiving the contact.
Re-engage your subscribers
We all know that it’s a fight to get the attention of readers in their inbox (the average person receives about 81 emails a day apparently!) so it’s possible that your subscriber may have become disengaged with your emails.
A disengaged reader can be someone who hasn’t opened your emails for the last x amount of days – you can define that number for your business depending on the frequency of your email schedule, but a good rule of thumb is 90 days.
The best thing to do is segment your disengaged readers and send them specific “re-engagement sequence” to attempt to get them re-engaged and buying from you. This could use a variety of tactics like offering a discount on your products, sending curiosity provoking subject lines that get your readers to open, or even being very direct to say they’ll be deleted if they don’t respond.. A good subject line to use for this is “Is this good-bye?” or “are we breaking up?”. Of course this will depend on your brand voice, but giving your reader a direct message that makes them realise
Get creative
Sometimes readers disengage because they find your emails boring, so perhaps using a more creative strategy of storytelling or persuasion can get them more interested in your message and offers.
Also consider what type of emails you’re sending. If all you send are sales and promotion emails, your readers may become “blind'' to your emails. But if your emails contain engaging copy with story, personality and useful information then they’re more likely to continue to find your emails valuable and look forward to reading them.
How often should you clean your list?
A good practice is to do this every business quarter but it will depend on the size of your list and the size of your team or your availability to implement this process. Whatever is the case for you, know that it really is worth the time and energy to do this to keep your list healthy and engaged.
If you have any questions about this or other email matters, please feel free to send me a message through my contact form here.