There are many misconceptions concerning email lists, with some more severe than others. These are the five most notable mistakes people make when designing email lists.
Number 1: Email addresses are valuable. Many businesses and start-ups don’t see value within each of the email addresses that choose to join their mailing list. Bogging down their inbox with spam, promotional emails, and nothing of actual value to the person on the receiving end. However, when managing a mailing list, you need to take into account the people who hold those email addresses. Behind every one of those emails is a live person, and you shouldn’t annoy them into unsubscribing from your mailing list.
Number 2: You need to maintain a schedule. When managing a newsletter, you want to stay out of your recipient’s hair, but maintain a strict schedule. You can’t send a volley of emails at a routine pace for a month or so and then disappear, as some internet service providers (ISPs) can flag such activities as suspicious and spam-like. You need to find a perfect mix between upholding your reputation and not annoying your recipients, to ensure you don’t lose them.
Number 3: Quality is always better than quantity. 1000 emails with a 50% audience engagement rate are more valuable than 10000 with a 4% engagement rate. Pure numbers don’t matter. You can have an infinite number of emails, but if they aren’t interested in your product, they are worthless. Do not base the success of your newsletter on numbers alone, but rather examine the statistics of the engagement rates, and look for ways to boost these numbers.
For more of these tips on how to manage newsletters, we recommend this incredible article from entrepreneur.com.
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