Email list management - Part II

Manage Your Email Lists

It’s essential to manage and clean your email lists as this helps to create an efficient and well-organized campaign. With list management, you can add new contacts, import your current lists, archive and update information and group contacts by the criteria you choose.

1. First create a database of email addresses, names, locations, interests etc. Label the column you want to use as the primary e-mail address as "Mailing address” if you have multiple address fields. This will help you better manage the data for future mailings and eliminate mistakes.

2. Break the list into separate mailings. Decide the delivery sequence – which states, regions or customers should be emailed first, second, and so on. Sort or split the list based on your plan.

3. Create a new email list for contacts that opened or clicked through your email campaign. Add their addresses to your database under interested prospects.

4. With customers that have opted out, try and learn from unsubscribe patterns. Try to understand opt outs by campaign. Understand what drives the opt outs and try to manage it to a minimum. When someone opts out, you’ve lost the opportunity to market to him forever. Did you do something different in the most recent email that led to opt outs? Maybe you didn’t do anything and that’s your problem. They may have unsubscribed because they didn’t like getting so many emails, for example. This can be solved with a ‘subscribers preference page’, placed prominently next to an unsubscribe link.

5. Review and manage email address bounces. Add, delete, and update as needed with reference to bounces and sign-offs.

6. Allow receivers to subscribe and unsubscribe and make a ‘preferences page’ to let contacts choose what they prefer.

7. Scan all email messages for viruses before delivery
With email marketing, your list is everything, so building, managing and cleaning your lists are essential to sell, promote and further your business.