One of the most frequent questions I hear is:
“How do I improve my [fill in the blank with your favorite metric - deliverability, open/render rate, click-throughs]?”
There are many factors that help to increase your metrics, however, it all starts with a healthy list. So, naturally, the next logical question is: “How do I ensure a healthy list?” Below are 5 (relatively easy) steps to ensure a healthy list.
1. Grow List Organically - There are several great examples from a 3-part series on the Bronto Blog:
- Grow Organically - It Is So Worth The Wait
- Grow Organically - Market Your Subscription Button
- Grow Organically - Sell Subscribers on Signing Up and Staying Subscribed
2. Send A Welcome Message Immediately - Set expectations around timing (when to expect emails), frequency (how often to expect them) and content (provide an example of what your messages look like as well as including a link to your message archives). Check out BrontoFire: Live - Welcome Messages.
3. Remove Bounces Immediately (hard bounces = bad username, bad domain) - Almost every ESP will do this for you automatically, but make sure you ask them the best method to clean your list - one that works for you. This one is critical.
4. Send Occasional Re-engagement Email Campaigns - See examples from Shop.org and SideStep (make sure you read the comments on this one).
And…most importantly…
5. Send relevant, timely, targeted emails to those who have asked to receive
DJ Waldow
Director of Best Practices & Deliverability at Bronto
Related posts:
- How Well Do You Know Your Email List? I bet you review your key email marketing metrics...
- Can List Rentals & Swaps Be Ethical & Effective in the Future? Bronto Weighs In Last week, Laura, of Word to the Wise, called for...
- Grow Organically: Market Your Subscription Button Grow Organically It Is So Worth The Wait: Part 2...
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Great points above. It seems most list holders are abusing their recipients these days, blasting them with tons of offers. I think opt-ins will probably decline over time as people will begin to guard their email addresses more each year.
A welcome message is a crucial element during those first 30 days of the subscriber’s experience with your email program. Unfortunately, 60% of marketers fail to leverage this tool as a way to engage new subscribers with their brand immediately.
http://www.returnpath.net/downloads/resources/GreatSubscriberExperiences.pdf
@SEO Expert: Agree 100%. That is why relevancy is really the key, imho.
@Bonnie: Thanks for the pdf. Not sure why I didn’t plug that study in the post. I send that to my clients and reference it on the phone *all the time.* Shocking to me that the “big guys” still don’t send welcome messages!
dj