Email List Size: Why Bigger Is Not Always Better

Email list size: Why bigger is not always better

Some small business owners have the perception that email list size determines how much money can be made. But that’s not entirely true. No matter how large a list is, if subscribers aren’t opening emails, clicking links, and more importantly, responding to offers, it’s an email marketing fail.

Email list size doesn’t determine how successful you are with email marketing. The foundation of successful email marketing is having a good sender reputation. Once you have the tactics in place to maintain a good sender reputation, then focus on list growth.

What is sender reputation?

Sender reputation is a score that indicates how trustworthy a sender is. There is no global sender reputation. Each email service, such as Gmail and Outlook.com calculates and applies that score differently.

One of the factors that can impact sender reputation is email engagement. Email services pay attention to what recipients do with emails from each sender. Engagement includes opening emails, the time spent reading an email, replying to emails, selecting email links and flagging emails as spam.

If recipients aren’t engaging with a specific sender’s emails, the email service may put future emails into the spam folder. The service then monitors what the recipient does with those emails. If they remain in the spam folder, this is considered further evidence that the recipient isn’t interested in emails from that sender. Future emails may be rejected.

It’s not only about engagement from one sender. If enough recipients follow the same pattern of non-engagement, the service may deliver all emails to all recipients into spam folders. If emails continue to arrive and recipients continue to not engage, future emails may be rejected.

This means that even recipients who are engaging with emails may have your emails delivered to the spam folder.

List quality and sender reputation

If you’re not attracting the right subscribers, you will struggle to improve email engagement. The wrong subscribers are people who didn’t know what they were signing up for or only wanted your lead magnet.

Indicators of a low-quality list include:

There are three primary causes of a low-quality list.

A low-quality list is a sign that the focus was on list building. Not on subscriber engagement.

Start with a quality list

Good engagement starts with a quality list—a list full of people who are interested in receiving your emails.

A quality list is a list full of people who want to hear from you. They engage with almost every email. They also do other things such as visit your website and make purchases. They refer others to you. They share your posts.

To make sure you have a high-quality list:

Use email address verification

Email address verification ensures any submitted email address exists and belongs to the person who asked to be on your list. Verification is important because unverified addresses can increase bounce and spam complaint rates. An increase in bounce and spam complaints can damage sender reputation.

There are different ways an email address can be verified.

  • Typographical errors. Errors such as invalid characters. Addresses with typographical errors are not passed to the email marketing service.
  • Does the email domain exist? The email domain is the part of the address after the ‘@’ sign. If it doesn’t exist, the address is not released.
  • Does the mailbox exist? The mailbox is the part of the address before the ‘@’ sign. The verification service tries to confirm if the recipient’s mailbox exists.

Using any one of these methods will help reduce invalid email addresses. Using all three will give the best results.

Ask permission

Don’t assume that anyone who contacts your business wants to receive marketing emails. Making that assumption could see an increase in spam complaints.

For instance, an e-commerce store that automatically adds new customers to their email list. Always ask if they want to be sent marketing emails and give them reasons to say yes.

Be clear about what they’re signing up for

Your sign-up forms should make it clear what the prospective subscriber will receive when they submit their details. For instance, they will receive an email every Tuesday with your best tips. On the first Tuesday of each month, they will receive a newsletter with business updates and industry news. And if you don’t plan on sending a regular email, tell them.

Make it hard to subscribe

If you know your products or services are suitable for a very niche audience, make it harder for someone to subscribe. For instance, ask them to complete a quiz. The result may tell them that the product or service may not be suitable for them but includes the option for them to subscribe anyway. Another example common in online services is sending a code needed to continue the sign-up process.

Segment subscribers

Segmentation is grouping subscribers according to common characteristics. Ideally, add a new subscriber to a segment when they sign up. This can be done using the form or in the first email sent to that subscriber.

Sandy creates two segments. One for subscribers interested in her wedding photography service. Another for subscribers interested in her family portrait service. She sends an email promoting a wedding photography special offer. This is sent to subscribers interested in her wedding services. She also sends a family portrait promotion to subscribers interested in her family portrait service.

By segmenting her list in this way, she’s increasing the likelihood that readers will engage with her emails. This has the added benefit of reducing the risk of recipients unsubscribing or marking the emails as spam.

How to improve email engagement

They’ve made it to your list and have been added to a relevant segment. Now it’s time to start encouraging them to engage with your emails.

Send relevant content

If the email content isn’t relevant and of value, recipients are likely to unsubscribe. If the content doesn’t relate to their situation, they may even flag the email as spam. Segmentation is a powerful tool for sending relevant content.

According to a Marigold article, 47% of recipients have felt frustrated when they receive email with irrelevant content.

Sandy is a wedding and family portrait photographer. She sends a promotion for her wedding photography services. Would people wanting photos of their family be interested in receiving this promotion? How might they react? A few may engage with those emails but most wouldn’t.

One tactic you can use is to give subscribers the ability to choose the types of emails they receive and when they receive them. For instance, do they want a weekly email or a monthly digest?

Sandy is a wedding and family portrait photographer. She sends a promotion for her wedding photography services. Would people wanting photos of their family be interested in receiving this promotion? How might they react? A few may engage with those emails but most wouldn’t.

One to send relevant content is to ask subscribers to choose the types of emails they receive and when they receive them. For instance, do they want a weekly email or a monthly digest?

Create a personal connection

Engagement is more likely if there is a personal connection between the sender and recipient. Content that helps the recipient is one way to do that.

Personalisation is the tactic of including personal information in the email. This usually starts with using their name at strategic places but don’t stop there. One way to personalise and create a strong emotional connection is to ask your subscriber for their birthday. To overcome data security fears, only ask for the day and month. Then, when it’s their birthday, send a birthday email. If you have an online store, send a special birthday discount.

If a subscriber feels a personal connection with your brand, they’re more likely to act.

Make it easy to change their email address

There are many reasons someone might want to change their email address. A common one is when they change jobs. Image your most engaged subscriber loves your emails and needs to change their email address. But there’s no easy way for them to do that. The only way they keep receiving your emails is to sign up again. They’ll get all your confirmation and welcome emails again. They may even lose all the benefits they were receiving for being a highly engaged subscriber.

There there’s the old address. Will it continue receiving emails? Will emails bounce or will someone else report your emails as spam?

Giving subscribers the ability to change their details continues the personal relationship you’ve worked hard to build.

Make it easy to unsubscribe

If someone isn’t interested in receiving your marketing emails you want them to unsubscribe. But if they can’t easily unsubscribe, they’re likely to mark future emails as spam. While many email marketing services require an unsubscribe link, these links can be formatted in such a way that they are almost deliberately hidden in the email.

Monitor engagement

The goal of monitoring email engagement is to identify subscribers who don’t appear to be engaging.

Don’t assume that because one particular subscriber hasn’t opened every email, or clicked every call to action they aren’t interested in your emails. There are other ways a subscriber could be engaging.

Are they:

If a subscriber isn’t doing any of these, they may be disengaged.

What to do with disengaged subscribers?

As I mentioned, engagement is a factor in how an email service calculates sender reputation. Continuing to send emails to recipients who aren’t engaging with your emails can damage your sender reputation. Then there’s the cost of that person being on your list. They’re also making it hard to make good decisions about improving email performance.

One option is to remove these disengaged subscribers. This can be scary for some people. There’s the fear that they might miss out on a sale. But it’s not the only option.

You may choose to reduce the number of emails sent to disengaged subscribers. For instance, John owns a motorcycle dealership. He segments subscribers who don’t appear to have engaged with his business for 180 days. Once identified, he stops sending these subscribers his weekly marketing emails. He does continue to send them his special promotions such as Black Friday and Christmas sales. If they’re not interested in these emails, they can unsubscribe themselves.

Wrap up

The secret to successful email marketing is not the number of subscribers you have. It’s how engaged your subscribers are. A relatively small list of highly engaged subscribers is more effective than a large list of subscribers who don’t engage with your emails.

Start with a quality list. Use email verification. Segment subscribers. Send content that recipients will see as helpful. Make it easy for them to unsubscribe and change their details. Monitor engagement and decide what to do with subscribers who aren’t engaging with your emails.

What are your thoughts on email list size? Have you seen an increase in engagement by implementing some of the suggestions in this article?

Head over to the Atomic Education Facebook page and join the conversation.

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