Do you have a mailing list? It’s one of the most effective ways to promote your business and the return on investment is huge when compared to other marketing strategies. And an email marketing strategy is relatively easy to create. But a good strategy will only be effective if your mailing list is a healthy, loyal one – and that’s not so easy to achieve.
A healthy mailing list is one that contains active, loyal and engaged subscribers. It’s all about the quality – but how can you achieve that? Here are ten of my top tips for helping you improve the quality of your list, so you can reap the benefits of a good email marketing strategy and ultimately get more engagement and sales.
#1: Clean your mailing list regularly
A clean mailing list in a quality mailing list. Make it a regular task to go through your list and carry out maintenance on it. So what do you need to clean? Start by fixing any email typos and names. You can then remove duplicate email addresses. You’ll also find some additional tasks listed in the points below.
#2: Actively engage your subscribers
There’s no point building a list if you’re not going to engage with your subscribers. Make it a non-negotiable to stay in touch with your list and actively engage with them. How? By asking questions and asking for their feedback and help. And of course, always respond to any responses you receive.
#3: Remove bounced and unengaged contacts
These will really drag down your open rates. Bounced emails are easy to solve and removing them should be part of your regular clean up routine. For unengaged contacts, set up a re-engagement campaign. At the end of that sequence you can then decide if you unsubscribe them or not.
#4: Encourage opens and clicks
If you want to encourage people to open your emails and click on links, you need to always provide value and turn the action you want into a habit for them. How? By staying in touch, offering value and creating micro actions for each email! Micro actions are minor tasks that get them doing something – like hitting reply, clicking a link, following you on social media etc. And always place at least two different link for each action – like a button, text link or an image link.
#5: Make it easy to unsubscribe
If someone doesn’t want to hear from you anymore, don’t make it difficult for them to leave. Having them stay on your list may make you feel better, but it won’t help your open and read rates. You can usually add an automatic unsubscribe link to the bottom of every email you send, but it also pays to reference it occasionally too. And if you’re worried about losing a subscriber, set up a ‘sorry to see you go’ page, with a simple feedback form so you can find out and fix the real reason they’re leaving.
#6: Always send relevant content
As mentioned above, relevant content is a must. Not only does it help keep engagement high, but it also helps cement your position as the expert. Running out of ideas on what to send? Ask your list – it’ll be a great opportunity to use micro actions and create engagement!
#7: Read your stats
Another great way to improve the quality of our mailing list is to read your stats. There’s so much useful information within them, including what headlines are working for you, the type of emails that are getting the most attention and the links that are resonating with your audience. You can then create split tests to further grow on what you’ve learnt.
#8: Be mindful of where you’re getting subscribers from
Never buy subscribers from anywhere, as you’ll end up with a high number of totally inactive and uninterested subscribers. Be mindful of where you promote your mailing list too, always opt for sites that are relevant to your audience and a good fit for your business. If you want help growing your list, why not create a joint promo or collaboration with another similar business? It would help you both and gives you the opportunity to offer value to a new audience.
#9: Deliver what you promise
When someone signs up to your list the initial email you send out should state what they can expect from being on your list. Are you living up to that promise and are you sending the type of content you stipulated? If not, you need to fix this fast! Either send an updated breakdown of what you’re about or start delivering what you promised.
#10: Stay in touch with your subscribers
And the final tip for improving the quality of your mailing list is to stay in touch with the people on it! Pick a frequency that works for you, so you can keep it consistent and keep the promise you make. It gets your subscribers used to seeing you in their inbox and also shows that you’re someone they can trust.
If you’re finding it a struggle to create, grow or maintain your mailing list, why not reach out? We’re a team of dedicated people ready and willing to help you with all of your marketing and administrative needs. You’ll find out more about our marketing support options here, along with details on how to get in touch with us for an initial, informal chat about your needs.
