Cleanses are great. A good cleanse will clean out your body by removing unhealthy toxins and at the end you feel refreshed and energized. Just kidding, cleanses are horrible and leave you begging to chew solid food for a week straight. I would know, I’ve done a juice cleanse and the first thing I did when I finished was eat a plate of fried chicken and waffles. So where am I going with this? Well, not all cleanses are bad. Cleansing your email list for example is necessary and extremely beneficial to your marketing. Why? Keep reading.
Out with the old . . .
Cleaning out your email list will help get rid of email addresses that are clogging up your list and serve no purpose. Think of this purge as a way to cleanse your email list of old, toxic emails that are harming your email marketing instead of helping it. I know it’s painful to delete email addresses when you worked so hard to get them, but a huge list full of fake or bad emails is worse than a small list full of good, engaged email subscribers. Learn more about why bigger email lists aren’t always better here.
Bounce rates are important, so pay attention to them
Are you checking your bounce rate after you send a new email? Is the term “bounce rate” causing you to stare blankly at your computer screen in confusion? Let’s take a step back. Your bounce rate is percentage of people who did not receive your email because it was returned by a recipient mail server. Your bounce rate will tell you who gave you a fake email, unsubscribed or has a full inbox. Use your bounce rate to help you clean out email addresses that might not exist anymore. If you see some addresses that might have unsubscribed, but still use your services, give them a call and remind them about benefits of receiving your monthly emails.
Cleaning up your email list is easy. No matter what software you are using for your email marketing, you should always pay attention to the quality of your list. Keep an eye out for these common issues:
- Bad email addresses – These aren’t doing you any favors, so get rid of them. People change service providers and companies which results in a bounced or undeliverable email.
- Undeliverable errors – This may be a momentary glitch or a signal that something is wrong. If you see a sudden dramatic increase in undeliverable responses, try resending to that group. If the problem persists, contact your email provider.
- Blocked emails – Remind subscribers to add you to their address book to avoid being arbitrarily blocked by their service provider.
Getting rid of old or bogus email addresses will help improve your email marketing and clear up your list for better, more responsive email addresses and of course, a plate full of fried chicken and waffles.
Learn more about email marketing by registering for our webinar on February 24 or join us at the ‘Peg for a seminar on February 25.