One of the biggest concerns we hear from our clients is that their emails are not getting delivered to the contacts on their lists.
And that's utterly frustrating when a large part of your marketing model comes from email marketing.
Now ‘fess up…we all want to brag a little (ok, a lot) when we have big lists. Nobody wants to broadcast their list size to their peers when their list is tiny.
Folks, here’s where size don’t mean a thing when your list ain't clean – it doesn’t matter that you have 40,000 contacts when 75% or more don’t even open your email.
In fact, if you repeatedly email people who don’t open, read, or click on links in your emails, you run the risk of tarnishing the reputation of your company’s domain.
Domain reputation is a big factor when it comes to getting into in-boxes...so when your "From" address is perceived as unclean, your contacts' providers don't want you near them. They don’t trust you and go into protective mode – your emails never make it to their in-boxes.
And what most people don’t know...your domain reputation can follow you to different providers. So even if you hop from one email provider to another, you’re not fooling anyone.
So what can you do?
This may seem harsh, but based on experience we recommend that you make it a quarterly task. Yep…just like spring cleaning and winterizing your car, put list scrubbing on your to-do list.
Why every three months?
First, sending emails to a group of people who haven’t heard squat from you in six months is risky business. The likelihood that 2 in 1000 people will hit the SPAM button is high.
And with the industry guideline mandated from ISPs being 0.1%, you’re placing a tough burden on your email provider by playing Russian Roulette. The odds are that no one will get your emails – I don’t think you want to take that risk.
Yes, your provider’s ISP health rate does protect you somewhat, but ultimately we are all responsible for our own reputations. Piggy backing on your provider's rating will only get your so far.
Now since the average email list depreciates by about 30% a year (people switch jobs, email providers, or unsubscribe) cleaning out your list every three months will decrease the bounce rate, the number of unsubscribes, and the dreaded SPAM complaints.
Your email deliverability is improved. Your open rates soar. Your bounce rates decrease. Everyone is a happy camper.
So what exactly is email scrubbing? Simply, it’s removing certain contacts from your database.
Think of it as pruning… difficult to chop off limbs, but the plant will thrive because of the tough love.
Here are 4 scenarios when you'll want to scrub/delete contacts immediately from your email list:
Check for hard bounces.
Merge duplicates if possible; otherwise, de-dupe contacts in your CRM and purge the duplicates.
They're just not that into you.
Shame, shame 🙂
Permission-based marketing means that you follow up with only those who have expressed interest in what you are offering. Buying lists and emailing to people who have not confirmed their permission is risky business.
You’ll notice I didn’t include email addresses of contacts who have stopped opening or clicking on email links.
They can be salvaged with a good re-engagement campaign where you ask for feedback, offer the opportunity to reconfirm their interest in getting your emails, and segment so that you can speak more appropriately to their unique interests and needs.
And if they’re still disengaged after those attempts, it’s best to proactively remove them from your list before they mark you as SPAM and damage your sender reputation.
Guard your reputation – it’s your most valuable asset!
Looking for a way to take the overwhelm and mess out of list hygiene? Go here...
https://barronmarketingsolutions.com/engagement-maximizer/
Seize the day!
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