Email Marketing: What To Do With an Old Email List
Every email marketer recognizes the importance of a strong email list for success. A list full of invalid addresses and disreputable domains will increase your bounce rate and put your business at risk. This is why marketers spend so much time building their lists organically using subscription forms and other proven methods.Buteven the most carefully created lists are not static in time. The reality is that many people choose not to keep the same email address for life. They can change jobs, change Internet providers, or simply create a new email address to solve spam and other problems. Regardless of the reason, over time the email addresses on your list will simply stop working.
HubSpot estimates that about 25 percent on average of the addresses on each list expire each year.This can put the marketer in a tough spot. Should they just abandon a list that has previously been so valuable, or should they continue to use addresses and risk high email bounce rates? Using an outdated address list can be very dangerous, especially these days when spam and blacklists are everywhere. This is why it is so important for marketers to build their own lists and remove invalid addresses on a regular basis.
Verifying the quality of your email lists is critical, as is knowing the exact source of any email address sources that you may acquire. These days it is only safe to use permission-based email lists. If you are not sure about the origin of the list, you should not use it. You should instead spend your time building your own email address lists.
Use your lists at your own risk
If you really need to revive an old email list, it is best to proceed with caution. Using an old email list can be dangerous for a number of reasons - you could even be labeled a spammer. Before you dust off your old email list and use it to send a marketing message, just consider some of the many things that can go wrong:
Subscribers to your list may have forgotten who you are. The average reader gets dozens of emails in a typical day - and some get hundreds of messages. With so much volume, it is easy for readers to simply forget that they have opted to receive your newsletters. This could cause readers to report your message as spam, and this can have serious repercussions for your reputation.
A large number of readers may have changed their addresses. Millions of people retire, and leave their jobs every year. This means that many of the work addresses from an old email list may no longer be valid. People also get new email addresses by switching Internet access providers or opting for a web-based email service. You cannot predict which addresses are still valid and which will be returned.
Permits originally granted may have expired. Permits shouldn't last forever, and many of the addresses on your old list may have reached their expiration date.
Reviving an Old Email List
If you want to try reviving an old email list, it is important that you take the time to get it right. There are a few things you can do to get back valid subscribers, while identifying and removing invalid addresses.
The keys to success in repurposing an old email list include:
Send list members a personal and business introduction email to remind them about you. A simple introductory message will suffice. Use this introduction email to ask members for permission to contact them again.
Contact list members by phone or mail. Hopefully you've taken the time to gather as much information about your subscribers as possible. This means that you can have your phone numbers and postal addresses along with your email. Use this information to mail a card or make a phone call. Encourage readers to visit your website and subscribe to your mailing list with their new email addresses.
Provide list members with valuable and up-to-date information. Make sure to provide useful content to subscribers. The quality of the content will encourage readers to respond - and update their contact information if necessary.
Make a special offer. Including a coupon, promotion or other type of special offer to introduce your business to your contact list again. You can offer a discount for updating the information to capture your new email addresses.