We don’t need to tell you how much of a positive effect a good email marketing campaign has on a company’s bottom line. And if you’ve been in the game for long enough, you know that a clean email list is not just a nice-to-have; it’s a must-have for successful email marketing.
Not only does it improve deliverability, engagement metrics, sender reputation, and compliance, but it does so while helping you connect with your audience on a deeper level. By keeping your list clean, you’re setting yourself up for long-term success and better results from your email campaigns.
Getting there may feel like a slog, but rest assured that there are plenty of tips and tools to help along the way. Below, we’ll dive into the hows, whys, and why-nots of having a clean email list.
The science behind email list cleaning
Aside from avoiding spam complaints, the benefits of maintaining good list hygiene include improved email deliverability, a better sender reputation, and higher revenue from the email channel.
Unfortunately, many different factors contribute to poor list hygiene that could be hindering your success, namely:
Inactive subscribers
Of course, your definition of inactive will depend on your business and how often you send emails. As a best practice, contacts that have not engaged with your emails in three to six months should be removed.
Role accounts
A role account is designed to be a specific, task-oriented email address. These accounts don’t belong to any one person and are most likely being monitored by a group with their own individual addresses.
Role accounts typically don’t sign up for email lists intentionally and aren’t worth the risk to your sender reputation to keep them in your list.
Low engagement
If your email subscribers aren’t interacting with your campaigns, it’s best to turn them loose. Mailbox and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) tend to look for:
- Recent opt-ins (have your contacts given their explicit consent to receive your emails?)
- Recent purchases (have they engaged with your brand by making a purchase in the last 120 days?)
- Recent opens and clicks (have they recently engaged with your content and/or clicked any links?)
If the answer to any of the above is no, drop those contacts from your list.
Spam traps
These are email addresses with the sole function of identifying and catching spammers. They can be broken into three categories––typo, recycled, and pristine.
Because ISPs and blocklist operators use spam traps to identify bad actors, getting caught in one can have a range of serious consequences––from getting emails sent straight to the spam or junk folder to getting outright blocklisted by mailbox providers.
Anyone can fall victim to a spam trap if they aren’t careful about contact list hygiene
Simply put, when you neglect regular list cleanups, issues can arise that make it harder for emails to reach subscribers. This in turn makes you less likely to receive positive engagement and can tank your email program altogether.
The negative impact of a dirty email list
Now that we’ve talked about what goes into a dirty email list, let’s get into the impact one could have on your email ROI.
Decreased email deliverability
Sending emails to outdated, inactive, or invalid addresses negatively impacts your deliverability rates. ISPs may flag your messages as suspicious, causing them to land in recipients’ spam folders or not reach their inboxes at all.
Low open and click-through rates
A dirty email list includes disengaged subscribers who are less likely to open your emails or interact with your content. This leads to lower open and click-through rates, diminishing the effectiveness of your email campaigns.
Diminished sender reputation
A high number of bounces, spam complaints, and unsubscribes tarnish your sender reputation. This reputation directly influences whether your future emails will make it to the inbox or end up in the spam folder.
Increased risk of being marked as spam
A dirty list often contains spam traps and inactive addresses, which can trigger spam filters. If your emails consistently hit spam folders, it damages your credibility and reduces the chances of legitimate emails reaching your audience.
As you can see, maintaining a clean email list is essential to avoid these negative consequences and ensure the success of your email marketing efforts. Regularly scrubbing and updating your list will lead to better deliverability, engagement, and sender reputation, ultimately maximizing the effectiveness of your campaigns.
Why is a clean email list so important?
Just in case you still aren’t convinced, here are some benefits of cleaning up your email lists.
1. It increases email deliverability
A clean email list ensures that your emails reach the intended recipients’ inboxes. It reduces the risk of being flagged as spam, leading to higher deliverability rates and increased chances of engagement.
2. It improves open rates
When your emails reach the right audience, you’ll likely see higher open rates. A clean list filters out inactive or disengaged subscribers, ensuring that your messages reach those who are genuinely interested in your content.
3. It drives better engagement
Clean lists contribute to improved click-through rates and reduced bounce rates. Engaged subscribers are more likely to interact with your emails, leading to higher overall campaign performance.
4. It positively impacts sender reputation
ISPs and mailbox providers (MBPs) closely monitor sender reputation. A clean list helps maintain a positive sender reputation, which in turn enhances your email deliverability over the long term.
5. It helps reduce costs
Sending emails to a clean list prevents wasted resources on uninterested or non-existent addresses. This means you can optimize your email marketing budget and achieve a higher return on investment.
6. Regulatory compliance
A clean email list ensures compliance with anti-spam laws and regulations. Avoiding legal issues and penalties is crucial for any reputable email marketer.
7. Fine-tuned personalization
Knowing your subscribers’ preferences and interests can create more personalized and targeted campaigns. A clean list makes it easier to segment your audience and send relevant content.
8. Customer trust and loyalty
Consistently delivering valuable content to engaged subscribers builds trust and loyalty. People are more likely to engage with brands they trust, leading to long-term customer relationships.
Regularly performing list-cleaning exercises will help you maintain a healthy and engaged subscriber base. By keeping your email list clean and up-to-date, you’ll ensure better email deliverability, higher engagement, and ultimately, more successful email marketing campaigns.
8 Signs it’s time to scrub your email list‌
As an email marketer, keeping track of your metrics is a great way to clue into the fact that it’s time to scrub your email list.
1. Declining engagement metrics
If you notice a consistent decrease in open rates, click-through rates, and overall engagement over time, it could be a sign that your list needs cleaning. Disengaged subscribers can negatively impact your sender reputation and deliverability.
2. High bounce rates
A sudden increase in bounce rates, especially hard bounces (permanent delivery failures), indicates that some email addresses may be outdated or invalid. Regularly cleaning out hard bounces is essential to maintaining list hygiene.
3. Increased spam complaints
If you receive a higher number of spam complaints from recipients, it’s a red flag that your content may not be relevant to the recipients or that some addresses on your list didn’t give proper consent.
4. Stagnant or shrinking list size
If your email list hasn’t grown or is shrinking despite your marketing efforts, it’s time to assess the quality of your subscribers. A stagnant list might be indicative of inactive or uninterested subscribers.
5. Low conversion rates
If you’re experiencing low conversion rates despite decent open and click-through rates, it may be a sign that your list needs cleaning. Irrelevant or unresponsive subscribers can negatively impact your campaign’s effectiveness.
6. Obsolete subscriber information
If a significant portion of your subscriber information, such as names or preferences, is outdated or incorrect, it might be a sign that your list needs cleaning and updating.
7. Inconsistent list segmentation
If you struggle to segment your list effectively due to unclear or incomplete subscriber data, it’s an indication that cleaning and organizing the list is necessary.
8. Compliance concerns
If you suspect that some email addresses on your list have not given explicit consent or may have been added without permission, it’s crucial to scrub your list to ensure compliance with anti-spam laws.
In short, declining engagement metrics, high bounce rates, increased spam complaints, and a stagnant or shrinking list size are key indicators that email marketers should promptly clean their lists. Moreover, obsolete subscriber information and inconsistent list segmentation can be addressed through regular list-cleaning exercises, ensuring that email campaigns target the right audience with relevant and personalized content.
Best practices for maintaining a clean email list
A clean email list serves as the backbone of any email marketing strategy, contributing significantly to improved deliverability, engagement metrics, sender reputation, and compliance with anti-spam regulations. If you’re looking to maintain your email list hygiene, try the following best practices:
1. Regularly removing duplicates
Periodically scan your email list to identify and remove duplicate entries. Duplicates can skew your subscriber metrics and lead to unnecessary redundancy in your campaigns.
2. Verifying email addresses before sending
Leverage email tools to validate email addresses before adding them to your list. This helps prevent fake or mistyped email addresses from cluttering your database.
3. Regularly removing hard bounces
Monitor your email campaigns for hard bounces, which occur when an email cannot be delivered permanently. Promptly remove these addresses from your list to maintain list hygiene.
4. Regularly removing role-based email addresses
Avoid including generic addresses like [email protected] or [email protected] in your list. As previously mentioned, these role-based addresses are often managed by multiple people and tend to have lower engagement rates.
5. Suppressing unsubscribed email addresses
Always honor unsubscribe requests promptly. Maintain a suppression list to ensure that unsubscribed addresses are not mistakenly re-added to your future campaigns.
By following these best practices, you’ll keep your email list clean, engaged, and responsive. This will result in improved deliverability, higher open and click-through rates, and a positive sender reputation, ultimately contributing to the success of your email marketing efforts.
By regularly scrubbing their email list and following the above best practices, email marketers can ensure that their messages reach the right audience, resulting in enhanced deliverability. Removing duplicates, verifying email addresses before sending, and promptly eliminating hard bounces and role-based email addresses are essential steps in maintaining list hygiene. These tactics help prevent outdated, invalid, and unengaged subscribers from cluttering the database, ensuring that the delivered content is received by genuine and interested recipients.
Winning strategies for a winning email program
A clean email list also has a direct impact on your sender reputation, a crucial factor in email deliverability. High bounce rates, spam complaints, and unsubscribes can damage sender reputation, leading to emails ending up in spam folders or not reaching the recipients at all. By promptly removing hard bounces and suppressing unsubscribed email addresses, email marketers demonstrate their commitment to maintaining a positive sender reputation, ensuring that future email campaigns are more likely to land in recipients’ inboxes.
Additionally, a clean email list ensures compliance with anti-spam laws and regulations, safeguarding email marketers from potential legal issues and penalties. By verifying email addresses before adding them to the list and honoring unsubscribe requests, marketers demonstrate their commitment to ethical email marketing practices and respect for recipients’ preferences.
Catch the culprit of poor email performance
Maintaining a clean email list is not just a best practice; it is an essential aspect of successful email marketing. A clean list directly impacts deliverability, engagement metrics, sender reputation, compliance, and overall campaign effectiveness. As email marketers, we have to be proactive about adopting best practices, periodically scrubbing our lists, and staying vigilant for any signs that suggest our lists need cleaning.
By doing so, we can maximize the potential of our email marketing efforts, build trust and loyalty with our audience, and achieve long-term success in our campaigns. With a commitment to list hygiene and strategic email marketing, we can continue to deliver meaningful content and foster stronger connections with our valued subscribers.
If you’re ready to take your email program to the next level (and stay ahead of the competition), download our ebook, Clueing in on List Hygiene, for more tips on how to put an end to your email performance woes.