Email Scrubbing – Why and How to Clean Out Your Email List
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The goal of every business owner is to build an extensive email list to consistently pitch to new customers—right?!
Well, kind of..
Yes, you want a nice long list of subscribers, but if they’re not engaging—what’s the point?
In order for your email marketing strategy to be successful, you will want to ensure your audience is really in it and not just throwing your emails in the spam folder every week.
Is There a Way to Scrub Your Email List?
A good thorough email list cleaning from time to time is important! It’s necessary to take a pulse on which subscribers desire to continue receiving your content and which just haven’t found the unsubscribe button.
Here are a few reasons to consider scrubbing your email list:
Avoid Being Marked as Spam – If your emails often go unopened or get marked as ‘spam’, your email service provider (ESP) will begin taking note and you may find yourself in more and more subscribers' spam boxes by default.
Increase Open and Click Through Rate – Take a pulse of your list and see if there are any no longer engaging with your emails.
Unengaged Subscribers – You should be creating content that engages your current audience. Keeping a cleaned-up list will help you better understand what type of content your subscribers are looking for.
Reduced Costs with Your ESP – A lot of ESPs charge more the more subscribers you have. Removing subscribers that clearly no longer want to be there will save you from unnecessarily paying higher fees.
How Do I Clean Up My Email List?
Ready to start tidying things up? It’s time to utilize your email data!
A good starting place is to filter your subscribers to find out who is no longer opening your campaigns.
If you’re using Klaviyo, they recommend creating a segment to identify unengaged subscribers using these three criteria:
- Received 10 Emails Over All Time
- Opened and Click Email Zero Times in The Last 365 Days
- Someone is Not Suppressed
Rather than deleting a subscriber altogether, suppressing them allows you to access their data while still reaping the benefits of a neat, low-cost email list.
Other subscribers to consider removing (if your ESP doesn’t do it automatically for you), are:
Hard Bounces – Hard bounces are caused by an email not being delivered duer to an incoreect email address or a domain that no longer exists.
Duplicates – When you have the same email address on your list more than once.
Spam Subscribers – Spam email addresses are pretty easily identified.
Unsubscribe – Last but certainly not least—if someone unsubscribes from your emails, you are legally required to promptly remove them from your list.
Your Email Marketing Solution
Are you looking for support as you navigate how to best utilize your email marketing strategy? Mama Hen Media is a high-touch content marketing agency that works with other mama-owned businesses to support them as they work towards building a successful business. Ready to improve your email marketing strategy?
