Why isn’t bigger always better for your email list?
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Why isn’t bigger always better for your email list?

Published : July 26, 2022

Despite the best efforts, email campaigns sometimes don’t perform as expected. Email marketers often find it tough to get the audiences to engage with their emails.  For successful email marketing, you have to assess, track, and streamline several moving points, beginning with your email list.

What is email list hygiene, and why is it important?

Email list hygiene is about keeping the list free of inactive, discontinued, or wrong email addresses. A hygienic email list gets you better opens and clicks, and improves your email marketing ROI. Mailing recipients that don’t engage leads to a loss of reputation with the mailbox service providers and impacts deliverability.

While email can be 40 times more effective* in turning prospects into customers than Facebook, having the right kind of email list is the first step to making it come true. (source:campaignmonitor)

What are the common problems with bulk email lists?

  • Declining open and click rates
  • A bulk email list that has not been regularly cleaned up and maintained is one of the biggest causes for the fall in the open and click rates. Email addresses that are no longer in use, not being checked, or are unresponsive send negative signals to the mailbox service providers and affect inboxing.

  • Emails end up in the spam folder
  • Most mailbox service providers like Gmail, Yahoo, and others continuously tighten their spam filters through machine learning and feedback. A bad email list contains spam traps, addresses that permanently bounce, or users that mark your emails as spam.

  • Misleading negative signals for MSPs
  • Bulk email lists, especially those built over a long time, tend to have several email IDs that are no longer in use. Mailbox service providers will share if an email is undelivered, but they will not automatically delete the bounced email addresses. Having such addresses in your list affects open rates and impacts the domain/sender reputation.

  • A rise in the unsubscribe rates
  • A widely accepted average unsubscribe rate falls between 0.2% and 0.5% for every email sent. If you fall into this category, it is not a problem. When the unsubscribe rate climbs higher, it is time to start cleaning your mailing list. In general, email lists undergo attrition and fall at around 22.5% annually.

    How to develop a ‘quality over quantity’ email list?

  • Clean your mailing list
  • The sunset policy in email marketing involves the removal of inactive subscribers from your email list after a specific period. You can define the duration for which you want to keep the inactive subscribers in your list. As a thumb rule, if they haven’t opened any of your emails in the last six months, it’s time to let them go.

    Send the inactive subscribers a heads-up email letting them know you plan to remove them in the coming days. You can also work on a personalized re-engagement campaign to win back your inactive subscribers.

  • Go for double opt-in
  • Once the users sign up on your website, ensure they re-confirm their subscription through an email link. By getting the subscriber to click on the confirmation URL, you get assured that they want to engage with you.

    About 75% of customers assume a welcome mail after registering. Use the welcome mail as an opportunity to request subscribers to include you in their safe senders list.

  • Segment your list
  • If the subject line you have used doesn’t interest your subscribers, they will not open it. A hygienic email list will help you send relevant content by better segmenting demographics, psychographics, and purchasing behavior. Maintain the list regularly, use an email verifier to check the accuracy of email addresses and update any changes in subscriber preferences for frequency or type of emails.

    Summing it up

    Maintaining email list hygiene is an ongoing process. It may shrink the size of your list, but by choosing quality over quantity, you will set yourself up for success in the long run.

    A small email list of engaged users is better than a big list of uninterested subscribers. 76% of companies choose customer lifetime value as a critical consideration for their business. The possibility of selling to an existing customer is 60-70% and to a new potential customer is 5 to 20%. (source:invespcro)

    A quality email list can help increase your open and click-through rates, give you a good sender reputation and lead to a higher conversion rate. The success of an ROI-driven, revenue-boosting email marketing campaign starts with getting the email list right.

    How Netcore can help

    Several top-notch brands across industries and geographies partner with Netcore Cloud’s AI-powered email platform to uplift their email revenue and boost ROI. Our email experts partner with you to achieve your KPIs and email marketing goals. Connect with us to understand how you can benefit from our expertise and experience – we send over 18 billion emails a month on behalf of businesses across 18 countries.

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