{"id":21050,"date":"2023-03-20T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-20T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sanctuarymg.com\/academy\/?p=21050"},"modified":"2023-03-30T15:28:48","modified_gmt":"2023-03-30T19:28:48","slug":"importance-of-email-list-scrubbing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sanctuarymg.com\/academy\/email\/importance-of-email-list-scrubbing\/","title":{"rendered":"Importance of Email List Scrubbing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At this point in the evolution of digital marketing<\/a>, few people need convincing of the value of an email list. Having a strong list is a great way to connect directly with customers and potential customers alike, alerting them to sales, new products, and other promotions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That list, however, is only going to be valuable if it remains in good condition over time. If the quality of your list fades, the results you get from your email marketing<\/a> will fade, as well. Email list scrubbing is one tactic you can use to support your list, and it will only take a bit of your time on a periodic basis. Let\u2019s dive into this topic below to learn more about what it is, how it works, and why you should bother. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is Email List Scrubbing?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Email scrubbing is a term used to describe the process of removing subscribers from your list who are no longer engaged. This is different from removing people who ask to unsubscribe, which is something you also need to do. In this case, it\u2019s not that the individual asked to be removed, rather they are simply not engaging with your content anymore and can safely be ruled out as a potential customer moving forward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should easily be able to access your email marketing system to manually remove subscribers as you see fit. It doesn\u2019t take as long as you might think to go through this process, and you don\u2019t have to do it every week, or even every month. As a starting point, try to handle this task twice per year and then adjust as necessary. If you have a big, active list, it might be necessary to scrub it a little more often, while a smaller list could be fine with just an annual cleaning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Focus on the Right Numbers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"email-quality-over-quantity\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One issue that often comes up with email list management is falling in love with your raw subscriber count total. You feel good about your list building efforts as your number of subscribers grows, and you have worked hard for each of those new names that get added to the list. With such a connection to the idea of a big list, you might shudder at the thought of voluntarily dropping people in the scrubbing process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But here\u2019s the thing \u2013 having a ton of email subscribers doesn\u2019t really do you any good. There are no awards for having a big list, and you certainly don\u2019t get any additional revenue for having people that just delete your emails as soon as they arrive. The goal with email marketing is to make sales, of course, and only people who are engaged with your brand and your message are going to buy. So, looking at your subscriber count is putting your focus in the wrong area, and you\u2019d be well-served to pay attention to other numbers instead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, if you aren\u2019t going to concern yourself with total subscriber count on your email list, what numbers should you be tracking? Open rate<\/a> is a great place to start. Maintaining a strong open rate \u2013 something north of 20% in many market niches \u2013 will help you stay in good stead with email providers and will make sure your messages are being seen by an interested audience. When you think about it, maximizing the number of people who actually see your message is far more important than how many people receive it, anyway. You aren\u2019t going to get conversions out of messages that are received and immediately deleted, so turn your attention toward open rate and work hard at boosting that number. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of conversions, that\u2019s another vital metric to track along the way. Whatever you define a conversion to be \u2013 whether it\u2019s a sale, filling out a form to request a quote, etc. \u2013 you want as many of the emails that get opened to turn into conversions as possible. Once you start to think about email marketing as an endeavor focused on open rates and conversions rather than subscribers, you\u2019ll be headed in the right direction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Few Important Benefits<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There wouldn\u2019t be any point in going through your email list to scrub it of disengaged members unless you stood to benefit from that effort. Fortunately, you do stand to benefit, and some of the positive outcomes you may experience include those listed below \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n