There are more than four billion email users around the globe. It’s estimated that by next year there will be 4.48 billion active users.
Given this extensive level of connectivity, email is one of the most impactful marketing channels available to your business. It has a higher return on investment than channels like SEO and influencer marketing and is more effective than social media.
When your lists are clean, you can deliver relevant and customized messages to your most ideal recipients. But if the data becomes murky, your deliverability declines, along with your reputation. The only metrics trending upward will be unfavorable–things like bounce rate, unsubscribes, and the number of emails directed to spam folders.
Email list management is the ongoing process of refining the data and segmentation within your lists. It involves all aspects of your lists, starting with the proper enrollment of new leads. To keep everything accurate and legally compliant, it also involves the removal of duplicate and invalid addresses, as well as ensuring that those who unsubscribe are never contacted in the future.
Email lists begin degrading the moment they’re assembled. People get new jobs with new work email addresses or just create new email accounts with more reliable email service providers.
You can counteract this inevitable decay and gain competitive advantages by implementing the best email list management strategies.
Let’s look at some of the benefits you’ll enjoy when your list management is on point.
Cost savings: Email marketing providers often charge according to the volume of messages you send. So when your lists are clean, you’ll save money by excluding erroneous or unengaged contacts.
Better insights: Keeping your data in order helps you understand your customers and create the most impactful segments within your lists.
More personalization: The more you know about someone, the more you can connect with them. Well-managed lists enable you to customize your messages and foster better engagement with your audience.
Higher inbox deliverability: Spam filters monitor the engagement of your email recipients to determine the quality of your campaigns. When you reach the right people with the right messages, more people open your emails, ensuring you avoid spam folders in the future.
Improved growth and retention: All these efforts will improve the customer experience you offer with each email, which in turn prompts more people to sign up as subscribers and stick with you for the long run.
Legal compliance: The CAN-SPAM Act, which is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), requires businesses to include unsubscribe options in each email and then to respect the wishes of recipients who opt out of future contact. When your lists are managed effectively, you won’t make mistakes that incur the wrath of the FTC.
Want to capture these benefits for your business? You’ll need to put a comprehensive strategy in place because there’s nothing accidental about email list management.
Each email list is unique. But there are still best practices that apply in most scenarios. Let’s look at five strategies for keeping your lists clean and your emails as effective as possible.
1. Get your optins in order
It’s essential that your sign-up forms are user-friendly and secure so people feel confident using them. Making the opt-in messaging clear helps reduce user frustration and unsubscribes after the fact.
Another useful tactic is to limit the personal information you gather on sign-up forms. If you only seek the most relevant details, you’ll find that people are more willing to follow through. If you want additional information, such as birthdays, consider requesting it through a subsequent email.
2. Make tagging and segmentation your friends
As your list grows, it becomes crucial to identify the similarities that exist within it so that you can send customized messages. This organization process is done in two ways:
Tagging is when you label recipients based on their actions. For example, someone who joins your email list via a social media post could be tagged as such so that you know they’re active on that particular channel and are willing to take action on your posts.
Segmentation is more persona-based. You might label groups based on geography, gender, age, or shopping preferences. Using these segments, you can tailor messages to connect to your recipients on a personal level.
Dividing your email lists into smaller lists may take effort initially, but it positions your business for better results in the long run. Likewise, your email list management becomes more efficient because you’re not just dealing with one massive group of contacts.
3. Delete bounced addresses
Internet service providers may penalize you when a portion of your emails consistently fails to reach its intended destination. In some cases, this means your email deliveries will merely be delayed. Other times, you could be blocked as a sender.
Thus, it’s essential to remove any email addresses that aren’t receiving your messages. Most email management software handles this action automatically, so you won’t need to worry about doing it manually.
4. Focus on reengagement
Because internet service providers use recipient engagement to determine your email deliverability, it’s crucial to restore as many connections as possible with a win-back campaign. For example, you could offer an exclusive promotion to the segment of your list that hasn’t opened an email in the past 90 days. Highlighting the offer in the subject line would likely spur action from some of these individuals.
While reengagement is a worthy cause, don’t let your efforts drag on too long. There comes a point when you need to remove certain recipients from your lists. Doing so helps your sender reputation and ensures that people who don’t care to hear from you won’t continue to have your messages delivered to their inbox or spam folder.
5. Identify your key performance indicators
In order to manage your email lists effectively, you need to know what good looks like. Assess past campaign performance and benchmarks from your competitors, then outline the metrics you will focus on. Open rate, click-through rate, and unsubscribe rate are all vital key performance indicators. Whatever you decide to track, make sure you have the tools required to do so.
With the right email list management software and email list management services, you can work smarter and free up energy for other business needs. Here are a few that have earned high marks in the industry:
Wisepops: This user-friendly tool helps you create popups that catch the eyes of those visiting your website. With attractive visuals and a focus on contextual content, you’ll keep a solid flow of leads coming in and build more robust email lists.
OptiMonk: Here’s another pop-up tool that can generate a consistent inflow of leads. OptiMonk has a no-code editor that enables you to create ads and landing page content personalized to your high-priority customer segments.
Kickbox: Email verification helps you catch invalid or fake email addresses before they cause bounces and hurt your deliverability. Kickbox is a great tool for catching errors so that your campaigns get where they’re supposed to go. Just drag and drop your contacts into the system and you can scrub your list effectively.
Our comprehensive platform gives you all the email list management tools you need in one place. With Twilio SendGrid, you can:
Build signup forms
Import data to learn more about each contact
Track individual engagement with your emails
Clean your lists for optimal performance
Enjoy a holistic view of your campaigns
Ready to see what the right email management tools can do for your next campaign? Create a free SendGrid account today and get instant access to our list management resources.
