Listserv management is a crucial part of every business.

It can help you build a strong subscriber base, increase sales, and engage with your customers.

But how do you get started?

In this article, you’ll learn the benefits of using email list management software and how Simplelists will help you manage your listservs effectively from one interface.

What is a Listserv used for?

Listservs are used for a variety of purposes, such as

• keeping your customers informed of new products or services,
• sending out newsletters or updates from your organization,
• sharing information with other businesses in your field,
• and more

This makes listserv software a great tool for email marketing because it allows you to send out one message to your subscribers and reach them all at once.

This can be much more efficient than sending out separate emails to each recipient individually.

You can segment and grow an active and engaged list of subscribers using a listserv management system.

In the next section, we’ll cover some of the things you must take into consideration when using email list management to ensure you get maximum benefits from your investment.

3 Benefits of a Mailing List Manager

An invaluable tool for your business, a mailing list manager organizes your mailing list into a database so that you can easily send out emails to your subscribers at any time.

With the correct mailing list manager you’ll want to be able to:

• Increase Traffic and Sales
• Lessen Your Email Marketing Costs
• Increase Customer Retention

Available features in selected listserv software allow you to track your emails for performance, customize sent emails, automate your communication and avoid spam complaints.

But what does that mean for you?

We know they’re a great way to engage with customers, but they can also be a source of frustration for email marketers who don’t have the right tools.

Listserv management offers many benefits for businesses of all sizes. Here are three ways it can help:

Keeping your email list clean

The internet is full of spam, and it’s hard to imagine a time when it wasn’t.

As a result, many people have become understandably wary of unsolicited emails and may even consider them to be the work of evil spammers.

To be successful, you need a clean list of subscribers who are actually interested in your products or services.

A clean email list is one that has no duplicates, no invalid addresses, and no non-responsive subscribers.

Email lists are like a garden — if you don’t keep them maintained, they’ll become overgrown and unruly. But if you take care of them and nurture them, they’ll be beautiful and bountiful.

An email list manager helps ensure your emails reach their intended recipients and don’t end up in the junk folder.

It also helps you avoid ending up with a large number of unclaimed or dead email addresses on your list that can cause issues for both your reputation and deliverability rates.

Creating an engaged list

Creating an engaged email list is a goal for any business and the holy grail of boosting your ROI!

But it’s not always easy to achieve.

So, having the right listserv software is important to help you gain a number of engaged subscribers.

This means you can build relationships, send targeted messages, and create stronger brand awareness.

A better understanding of your audience will help you unlock valuable insights into what they want and how they like being communicated with.

To keep your email list engaged and growing, we suggest your email campaigns or updates are:

• Simple
• Relevant
• Have compelling CTAs
• Easy to sign-up/ unsubscribe
• Scheduled with consistency

(Ref: What is Email Bounce Rate? And 8 Ways to Reduce it (2023) (emailanalytics.com), What is Email Bounce Rate: How to Calculate & 9 Tips to Reduce (mailmodo.com))

Decreasing the bounce rates

In short, your email bounce rate is when an email doesn’t reach your intended recipient, also known as email delivery failure.

An email bouncing doesn’t sound too bad, right?

Unfortunately, email delivery failures can have a negative effect on your campaigns, ROI, plus domain and IP reputation.

This is why it’s important to choose a valuable listserv software that has:

• Virus protection
• Domain authentication
• Spam filters and checkers
• Email delivery reports
• Auto bounce handling

This allows you to maintain good email list hygiene and preserve your sender reputation, whilst having insights into what is successfully delivered, not delivered and what content is engaged with.

So what email list management software can give you all this and more?

Ready to jump in and get started now?
Sign up for our listserv management free trial

Simplelists as a Powerful Mailing List Manager: How it Works

As we’ve mentioned, Simplelists is a listserv management tool that allows you to manage your mailing lists with ease.

Offering a simple interface and a wide range of features, you’ll be sure to find a solution that meets all of your needs. Easy list creation with Simplelists can be from scratch or from an existing CSV file. Allowing you to effortlessly create, edit, manage and delete email lists.

But that’s not all!

Here is an overview of some of Simplelists key features:

Quick and easy interface

Some listserv software interfaces can be complicated, requiring special knowledge or skill and leaving even experienced users lost!

The interface needs to be as simple as possible!

Simplelists interface is extremely user-friendly. Designed to be clear, easy to navigate very easy to use.

You can create and manage your email lists with just a few clicks of your mouse.

And the best bit is, you don’t need any software downloads. All operations are performed within our mailing list manager online platform.

This also makes it possible for you to securely access Simplelists from any computer, as long as you have an internet connection.

Manage and review your subscribers’ list

Simplelists products can help you manage and review your subscribers list so that you don’t waste time sending emails to invalid addresses, or worse — spamming people who don’t want to receive any mail from you!

Simplelists’ robust email list management tools allow you to view statistics on each subscriber’s engagement with your emails; filter out inactive users or remove duplicate entries; remove spam addresses; and more.

You can set post permissions for different levels of access: from those who can post and edit posts to those who can only read them.

You can also restrict access by category or topic — for example, if you have multiple lists for different products or services, you can give each one its own categories and topics to prevent mixing up posts.

You can also use it to merge multiple lists into one unique list of contacts that are eligible to receive your emails (or newsletters).

In addition, all Simplelists products come with an advanced duplicate checker that will find any duplicates in your mailing lists and remove them automatically. This helps ensure that your recipients receive only one copy of any given message.

Moderate listserv emails

List moderation is a useful tool for having instant and automatic control over your email lists and discussion groups.

Simplelists email list manager allows you to set subscription parameters, plus posting restrictions to ensure that you’re aware of what is being sent.

You can choose to hold messages for approval by your recipient before sending them for delivery.

This allows you to review each message before sending it out into the world so that you can make sure it meets your personal standards as well as any requirements from your company or organization.

Under Simplelists list settings you can do the following:

• No moderation - all messages will be distributed to your list regardless of who sent them.
• Moderate all messages - all messages will be held for approval regardless.
• Allow specific members - in a Single List select either the whole list or detail specific email addresses. In a Multiple List, you also have the option to define lists whose members can post.
• Max message size - this value defines the maximum message size in kilobytes before a message is held for approval.

(you can find more on our FAQ support page)

Emails will be held for review by your selected administrators before being sent out. If you choose anything to be held for moderation, then Simplelists will send an email notification to let you know when a new message has been created so that it can be reviewed in a timely manner.

Archive your email list to a website

Whether you’re a small business or a large corporation, you need to keep your email marketing efforts organized and up-to-date.

It’s best to do this by archiving all of your messages in one place so that you know exactly what is being sent out at any given time.

The main benefit of archiving email is it helps you view the history of your business over time and gives you the ability to search.

Simplelists provides searchable web archives at no extra cost. Making it easier for you to find information and giving a more complete picture of what’s going on with your audience.

Archive pages can be password protected, with the ability to hide email addresses, and archive web pages can be customised.

Notify bounce emails

Bounced emails can affect your sender reputation and deliverability, which ultimately leads to poor performance of your email campaign.

Using Simplelists email list manager, bounced emails are processed automatically and email deliverability gains higher performance.

Simplelists automatically handles bounced emails and ensures that non-responsive email addresses are removed from your list. Listing them in the "Bounces" menu once you’re logged into your account.

To maintain a high delivery rate to ISPs and make it easier for you to manage your list, we delete any members from your list if either of the following occurs in any given month:

• Have a bounce rate higher than 75%
• Have more than a total of 30 bounces

The List Manager will be notified of any members that have been deleted and will receive a warning towards the end of each month if any accounts are over their bounce rate threshold (75%).

The same Bounces page can also be used to configure accounts to send daily messages detailing all bounces: it is then possible to use this information to create strategies for reducing email bounce rates in future campaigns.

Email list management is a key aspect of any business that interacts with customers online.

A well-managed email list can help you provide better services, improve your reputation, increase customer satisfaction and of course improve your ROI!

Simplelists here to help you grow your business and achieve these goals. By providing powerful and easy-to-use email list management software, you can create and track email lists, newsletters and campaigns with ease.

See what Simplelists can do for you
Sign up today for a free trial

Email is one of the most important communication tools for many organizations.

Even in the era of social media and instant messaging, email remains one of the most effective methods of communicating with large audiences.

A 2020 survey by Statista found that there was a return of £35.41 for every £1.00 spent on email marketing.

But these kinds of results don’t happen by accident.

A well-managed mailing list is essential as the foundation of an effective email marketing campaign.

In this article, we’ll discuss email list management best practices for building, segmenting, and personalising your electronic mailing list as well as strategies for keeping it clean and up to date.

What is an electronic mailing list and how does it work?

An electronic mailing list is a collection of email addresses from people that have opted-in and agreed to receive emails from your organization. A healthy email list is important if you want to see success from your email marketing activities.

In the early days of email marketing, it was typical for all the recipients of an electronic mailing list to receive the same message from a business.

But with modern email management solutions, it’s best practice to segment your mailing list using criteria like demographics, location and buying behaviour.

Working with email management solutions that support segmentation enables you to deliver more relevant emails to the recipients on your mailing list and improve the performance of your email marketing.

How to build an email list

Building an email list may feel like a daunting task to some people.

Generating thousands of subscribers is very rarely something that happens overnight. Patience and hard work are key.

We’ve put together a few methods that can help you build your electronic mailing list.

Newsletter sign-up on your website

Make it easy for people that are visiting your website and enjoying your content to sign up to your list.

Have a clear, attention-grabbing call to action that prompts people to sign up. Don’t hide your email list sign-up form at the bottom of your footer!

One email list management best practice is to include the use of modals or slide-in banners on your website that clearly state the benefits of becoming part of your email list, to help prompt engaged site users to sign up.

Social media promotions

Your social media channels can also help you build your email list.

Some channels like LinkedIn and Facebook give you the ability to run ‘lead generation’ ads. With a lead gen ad, a recipient will typically sign up for your email list in exchange for a valuable piece of content you’ve provided.

The success of Lead Gen ads really depends on the value of the content you provide as your ‘lead magnet’, but it can be an effective way to build up email subscribers.

Organic social media can also help you build your list. You might consider running a promotion that encourages your followers to sign up for your newsletter to receive an exclusive discount.

In-person events

If you ever exhibit at trade shows, exhibitions or conferences, make sure to collect email addresses from the people who visit your stand.

To keep data secure, it’s often email list management best practice to use an electronic device like a tablet to collect email addresses in person.

Email list management best practices

Once the number of contacts in your list starts building, there are certain best practices to follow to ensure you get the best out of your email marketing efforts and adhere to all relevant legislation.

Make sure you meet all legal requirements

The most important step in email list management is to make sure you comply with all local legislation.

In the UK, this means making sure you adhere to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive.

One of the important things to remember is that you should only process the data for customers that have directly opted into your email list, or that meet another legal basis for processing data under the GDPR.

You should also make it easy for any subscribers to opt out of your email list at any time.

Design an onboarding strategy

When subscribers first join your mailing list, your ‘welcome series’ of emails can really help set the tone for their experience with your organization.

The first email should ideally welcome them to your list and set their expectations for what they are likely to receive from you in the future.

You might use the next two emails to help illustrate your brand story, what makes you unique and the value you offer to customers. You might also introduce your email preference centre at this point, to allow customers to let you know the types of emails they are interested in receiving.

You can then tailor future emails based on the subscribers’ preferences.

Prioritise quality over quantity

Making sure you manage expectations properly and only send emails that are relevant to subscribers is the key to building long-lasting relationships with the people on your email list.

Sending a high volume of emails to an audience that is uninterested and disengaged is likely to lead to high spam reports and high unsubscribes. These are both things that can impact your email deliverability.

Sending emails that are highly relevant to each recipient is the secret to developing a healthy email list. You can achieve this through personalization and segmentation in your mailing list manager.

Personalise your emails and campaigns

By including personalized details such as the recipient’s name, or the products they have recently shown an interest in, you can build a more personal connection with the people on your email list.

Personalisation can also improve the performance of your emails.

A study by Campaign Monitor found that people were 26% more likely to open emails with personalized subject lines. So personalization within your email list manager is important.

Segment your email list

Segmentation is one of the most important things you can do to optimise the performance of your emails and maintain a healthy email list.

By tailoring your emails to your subscribers’ details and preferences, you can deliver more targeted content that really resonates with them. This will increase the relevancy and lead to more opens, clicks and conversions, as well as reduce spam complaints.

Common segmentation methods for email list management best practices include:

• Demographics (age, gender)
• Location
• Purchase behaviour
• Interests
• Stage in the customer lifecycle

Make it easy to unsubscribe

Including an easy, simple way to unsubscribe from your emails is necessary if you’re going to comply with current legislation.

Including an easy unsubscribe has the additional benefit of reducing the number of spam complaints which can have a positive impact on your overall deliverability.

Deal with inactive subscribers

Your sender reputation matters in email marketing.

If you continue to send emails to inactive subscribers on your email list, you are artificially reducing your own open rate.

If a subscriber is inactive for a period of time consider sending them a re-engagement email to try and encourage them to start interacting with your email again. This might include a personalized message such as “We miss you!...” with an incentive like an offer or promotion to get them opening and clicking through.

If the recipient doesn’t engage with this approach, you might consider moving them to an ‘inactive’ segment or removing them from your list completely.

Let users manage their preferences

Preference management is another email list management best practice that allows your subscribers to have control over the frequency and types of emails they receive.

Your subscribers should ideally be prompted to update their preferences in your email preference centre during their onboarding stage and reminded at regular intervals.

By understanding how often recipients want to be contacted and the type of email they would like to receive, you can improve your relevancy and overall email performance.

Track your results

You should keep an eye on important metrics like bounces and undeliverable messages, and take steps to remove these records from your database.

Tracking your email marketing results is also important for understanding what works and what doesn’t.

You should also ensure that any links in your emails have the correct tracking parameters for your chosen analytics platform. This can help you measure things like dwell time and the conversions that come from each of your emails

Some mailing list management platforms can also help you understand metrics such as open rates, click-through rates and the performance of different elements of your emails which can help you optimise even further and make data-driven decisions to improve your email campaigns.

What about using email list software?

Choosing the right email list software is important for helping you to effectively manage your email subscriber list.

It’s important to choose a mailing list manager that can help support you with subscriber forms, segmentation, and the analysis of important deliverability data.

At Simplelists, we pride ourselves on making email list management easy.

We’ve got everything you need to set up, build, and manage an effective electronic mailing list. And it’s simple for anyone to get started.

Curious to find out more?
Sign up for our one-month free trial.

Fast setup

With Simplelists, you can set up your list in just a few minutes. You simply log into your account and then add people to your list. All you need is their name and email address - you can add people manually or in bulk from a spreadsheet or CSV file. Once a person is added, they will appear as a list member. You can also download your list members’ details to a spreadsheet with a click of a button.

Set restrictions

You have the option to choose who can send messages to your list. For example, you can allow all members to send emails, select members who can send messages, or make sure it is just yourself that can send messages. You can also choose whether replies are sent to the whole list or just to the person who sent the original email. To ensure quality emails are circulated, you can opt to approve and moderate emails before they are sent to the list. The size of emails can also be limited, and attachments can be stripped if required.

Customise your emails

You can let list members’ email addresses be seen, or keep them hidden from other members. Other features include: the ability to add a personalised footer; send your emails in HTML rather than plain text; and personalise your emails by automatically adding details such as the recipient’s name in the email. Once sent, you can archive your emails and access them from a custom website at any time. If you have a busy list, daily digest summaries are a useful feature - instead of receiving emails when they are posted, members receive one email every 24 hours.

Customise subscriptions and integrate with websites

You can choose whether new members can join your list when they wish, or whether this requires approval. Similarly, you can set unsubscribe options, allowing members to leave your list when they choose. To allow members to join your list easily, you can add a subscribe form to your website (this form is fully customisable so you can match it perfectly to the design of your website) and you can easily replace the Simplelists branding with your own logo or branding on all landing pages (where members go when clicking on email/form links). An API is available to enable you to synchronise your Simplelists account with other websites and a multiple list account can be integrated with your domain so that users receive emails from your domain rather than Simplelists.

Automated list management

When an email to one of your list members bounces, you will receive a message to let you know. To save you time, list members with email addresses that bounce messages repeatedly can be removed automatically from your list. If a list member marks your email as spam, they will automatically be removed from the list. This ensures that emails are not repeatedly marked as spam, keeping delivery rates high.

Once your list is set up, you can email everyone on your list from your normal email address. Just send them message to [yourlist]@simplelists.com. It really is that simple. If you would like to try out Simplelists, you can sign up for a free single list account today.

It is possible to allow other people to manage your Simplelists account. This useful feature enables you to delegate management of your email lists, share the workload and save time. You can set permissions for each new user and you don’t have to give all users full control over your account. For example, a user can be allowed to approve messages and manage list members, but prevented from changing account settings. The ability to add delegated users means you’ll never need to share login details, which helps keep your account secure. New users can be added at any time, enabling easy expansion of your email management system as your organisation or business grows. If you’re making use of the Simplelists API, you can also add API users to your account. They can be added with either ‘read only’ or ‘full’ permissions.

Adding a delegated user

To add a new user, simply log in to your Simplelists account area and click on your username in the top right hand corner. A drop-down menu with a list of options will appear. Select ‘Manage Users’. On the Manage users screen, select ‘Add a delegated user’ and add a name and email address. It is important to use the correct email address as confirmation will automatically be sent to this address. You can edit the user permissions at this stage, by checking the relevant boxes. You can choose from one or more of:

• Account administrator (allowed to add other users)
• Allow user to manage list members
• Allow user to approve messages
• Allow user to manage settings

Adding an API user

To add an API, return to the ‘Manage users’ page (select from the drop-down menu by clicking on your username at the top right of the screen). This time, select ‘Add an API user’. Enter the username and password. You can leave the password box empty to leave this unchanged. Then, select whether the user is to have ‘read’ or ‘write’ permissions (check the box ‘user has write permissions’ if you wish the user to be able to change data in your account – leave it unticked for read only access). Select ‘Create user’. The API user will then appear in the list of users on the ‘Manage users’ screen.

That’s all there is to adding new users to your account. Simple!

You can watch these instructions in a short video in this post on our blog. The video also includes some screenshots to take you through the process.