Why you should clean your mailing list
Last updated Jan 2024
What is "Email List Cleaning"?
Cleaning your mailing list means checking every email on the list to ensure it's real, active, and in use. Regularly cleaning your mailing list ensures you reach the right people and avoid harming your email marketing efforts. Here's why:
Inbox Delivery: ISPs (Internet Service Providers) like Gmail or Outlook track your sender's reputation. Bouncing emails (undeliverable addresses) hurt your score. A clean list means fewer bounces and more emails landing in inboxes.
Engaged Audience: Inactive subscribers aren't interested in your emails. Cleaning removes them, improving your open and click-through rates. This shows ISPs you're sending valuable content, further boosting deliverability.
Reduced Costs: Many email marketing services charge based on subscriber count. A clean list saves you money by only paying for engaged recipients.
Fights Spam Traps: Spam traps are fake email addresses used to catch spammers. Sending to them can severely damage your reputation. List cleaning helps identify and remove risky addresses.
Boosts ROI (Return On Investment): Your campaigns will be more effective by reaching engaged subscribers, and you'll see a better return on the time and money you invest in email marketing.
How Often Should I Clean My List?
If your lists are not automatically maintained when you send out a campaign, you should clean them every 3-6 months.
If you are using Caffeine Injection's newsletter service and sending regular campaigns, your lists are cleaned on every send. Therefore, your list only needs to be cleaned once before sending your first email blast.