Best Practices for Improving Engagement Rates by Auditing Your Customer Email Lists
Best Practices for Improving Engagement Rates by Auditing Your Customer Email Lists
Most companies and websites make use of emails in order to promote their products and services. Emails are a great way to reach customers without being too invasive or overbearing, and regularly communicating with your clients this way can improve your brand’s visibility and keep you at the top of consumers’ minds when they decide they need help.
However, if you’re seeing low open and click-through rates, it may be time to perform maintenance on your contact list. Low engagement rates can decrease your credibility with internet service providers (ISPs) and result in your communications ending up in the spam bucket.
Consider our top tips for increasing your engagement rates through email list cleaning.
Get Rid of Any Duplicates
Frequent visitors may accidentally sign up to your website more than once, resulting in a duplicate email address on your list. Most recipients aren’t going to open the same email twice, which results in a lower email open rate for your organization.
Look over your mailing list and see if you have any duplicate subscribers. You should be able to export your contacts into a spreadsheet that will allow you to sort through the list in search of identical addresses quickly.
Focus on the Lists that Regularly Perform Well
Suppose that you have several different emailing lists you use for various purposes. If that’s the case, carefully audit lists with higher engagement rates. Higher-performing email lists will have a history of regular opens, clicks, and replies.
Take careful note of the subscribers who regularly engage with you, and separate them from those who don’t. If you have a long history of subscribers who never actually read your emails, it’s probably time to let them go. They may no longer find your services relevant to your needs, or they may no longer monitor the inbox your communications are ending up in.
Be very careful when removing subscribers who don’t interact with your emails. If you leave them on your list despite their low levels of engagement, they’re more likely to report you as spam — something you definitely don’t want.
Get Rid of Spam Email Addresses
Sometimes, people provide false email addresses or ones they don’t use very often to gain something in exchange for their contact information. For instance, if you regularly offer a coupon to new subscribers, they may take advantage and provide spam accounts to re-obtain a discount they need.
Eliminate any spam email accounts you have on your lists. Often, you’ll be able to spot them immediately. Rather than using a legitimate name or phrase, they may use a list of nonsensical letters or an ISP that you don’t recognize.
Look for Typos in Your Contacts
Sometimes, people do legitimately want to hear from you, but they type in their contact information incorrectly. While not all typos are obvious, some are more apparent than others. For instance, a space before or after the @ symbol is a common slip-up, as is an incorrectly spelled ISP-provider, like tahoo instead of yahoo.
If the typo is obvious, correct it on your list. If you’re unsure whether you have a typo or the correct address, check to see if the email address properly received your initial emails. If it didn’t, and you’re unsure how to fix the typo, it’s best to remove the address from your mailing list altogether.
Need Help with Your Promotional Emails?
LaneMKTG is a dedicated marketing agency that can help you with all of your digital marketing needs, including your promotional emails. Contact us to schedule your consultation and drive your engagement rates up today!
