1.) Duplicate and
Invalid Email Addresses: Make sure your CRM is deduplicating all
list subscribers; email is the best record to use for dedupe since it is
unique. Every email address should be checked to confirm that it is a real,
working email address during the deduplication process.
2.) Unsubscribes: If
someone unsubscribes, they must come off your email list. It's the law!
3.) Contacts Who
Didn't Opt In: Whether you're replacing a less than scrupulous
marketing manager or you've just learned about the error of your sketchy email marketing
ways, anyone who is on your list because of list buying, list scraping, or any
other illegal or legal-ish email address collection method should be removed.
This will not only help keep you out of the clinker, it will help improve your
sender reputation, email deliverability, and open and click through rates.
4.) Alias Email
Addresses: Alias addresses are things like support@company.com or
team@company.com. Many ESPs don't deliver emails to these types of addresses
successfully because not all of the email addresses associated with the alias
have opted in to receive communication from you. And chances are, not all of
them want to, either.
5.) Bouncing Email
Addresses: There are two types of bounces to consider when
scrubbing emails that bounce: Hard bounces, and soft bounces. If someone is
bouncing for a permanent reason, like an invalid or blocked email address,
they're a hard bounce that should be removed from your list. But if they are
bouncing for a temporary reason, like an autoresponder or a full mailbox, they
are a soft bounce who should remain on your list. Soft bounces should, however,
continue to be monitored. If their bounce rate does not decrease, they should
be removed from your list because their email address is likely inactive.
6.) Disengaged Email
Recipients: If someone has stopped opening or clicking through
your emails, they shouldn't be scrubbed from your list immediately. But they
should be part of a re-engagement campaign that asks them for feedback, gives
them the opportunity to change their opt-in settings, and lets you work to
better tailor your email marketing
to their interests and needs. If after your re-engagement attempts some
recipients are still disengaged subscribers, it's to your benefit to
proactively remove them from your list before they mark you as SPAM and damage
your sender reputation.
7.) Some of
Your Old Email Contacts: The older the email address, the more
likely they are to be a good candidate for removal; the email address could be
abandoned, or the recipient could have lost interest in your product or
service. But you don't want to nix some of your oldest, most loyal email
subscribers, either. So how do you tell the difference?
Segment your list based on age of subscription, and monitor
the open rates, click through rates, unsubscribe rates, and bounce rates of
your older lists as compared to your new lists. The contacts on your old list
who have similar performance metrics as those on your new list are active, and
should not be removed. But those email addresses that appear to be abandoned,
giving complaints of SPAM, or who are bouncing have either changed email
addresses, or are probably disinterested in your product or service. Remove
those who are bouncing or marking you as SPAM, and enter the disinterested
recipients into a reegnagement campaign. If the results are dismal, say
goodbye.
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