As online marketing strategies evolve, email marketing continues to hold its ground as a vital tool for businesses. A staggering statistic from Forbes shows that for every $1 you spend on email marketing, you can expect an average return of $42. This impressive ROI highlights the importance of effective email marketing.
A healthy email list is at the core of any successful email marketing campaign. Your organization can improve its email deliverability and open rates and reduce spam risks by maintaining proper email list hygiene.
Email scrubbing is a widespread practice in maintaining good list hygiene, although it is also an area where ethics and relevancy are often challenged. This article will unpack the concept of email scrubbing, discussing the ethical considerations and how to navigate them.
Understanding Email Scrubbing
Email scrubbing is a process that involves removing inactive, invalid, or irrelevant email addresses from an email list. This procedure is crucial in maintaining the quality of your email list and optimizing your email deliverability. Other terminologies synonymous with email scrubbing include email list cleaning, email hygiene, email verification, and email validation.
Email scrubbing involves using tools such as Excel and the statistics from your email delivery platform to manually remove invalid addresses. Some email platforms can automatically remove addresses after multiple bounces or easily segment and remove inactive subscribers.
Email scrubbing tools can also verify the validity of the email addresses on your list. However, this could raise questions about relevancy if your organization only sends emails to individuals who requested to receive them.
This brings us to the ethical considerations surrounding email scrubbing.
Email Scrubbing Ethic 1: Opt-In Consent
Under laws such as the Data Protection Act (UK), GDPR (Europe), and CAN-SPAM (US), organizations should only send emails to individuals who have given their consent. Some marketers argue that email scrubbing or extensive email list hygiene would be unnecessary with adherence to such best practices. The belief here is that there should only be people on the list who want to receive emails.
However, this is not always the case. Even an originally valid opt-in can turn into an inactive account over time. Internet Service Providers calculate complaint rates based on active subscribers, not total subscribers. Expired email addresses can trigger deliverability problems, which can, in turn, result in your emails being marked as spam or blocked entirely.
Therefore, while it is essential to only send emails to people who want them, an opt-in list may still require periodic scrubbing to ensure list health.
Email Scrubbing Ethic 2: Transparency
Transparency is vital in building trust with your customers and prospects. An ethical challenge of email scrubbing is removing inactive subscribers from your list without their knowledge. Some argue that subscribers should be aware when removed from an email list as they initially consented to receive emails.
Organizations can mitigate this by sending a re-engagement campaign to their inactive subscribers. A re-engagement campaign entails sending an email to subscribers who haven’t engaged with your emails over a specific period, asking them if they still want to receive emails, and offering them the opportunity to update their preferences or unsubscribe.
Email Scrubbing Ethic 3: Compliant Processing Of Data
When choosing email scrubbing tools, it’s critical to consider compliance with applicable data protection laws such as GDPR, the Data Protection Act (UK), and CAN-SPAM (US). When dealing with third-party service providers, like list cleaning services, due diligence must be performed to ensure they comply with relevant data protection legislation.
Additionally, organizations must provide users with explicit information about how their data will be used and ensure they can comfortably withdraw their consent or update their preferences.
Email Scrubbing Ethic 4: Processing Limits
When it comes to email scrubbing, it’s important to be aware of the limitations and regulations surrounding data processing. One key principle is making sure that personal data is not processed in a way that goes against the original purpose for which it was collected.
In particular, when it comes to transferring personal data outside of the EU, there can be challenges and risks. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires organizations to ensure that any transfer of personal data offers an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data subjects.
It’s crucial to remember that if someone has given explicit consent to receive marketing communications through their email address, using that address for any other purpose would not only be unethical, but it may also be illegal.
Additionally, it’s important to exercise due diligence when working with third-party service providers. It would be inappropriate to share the scrubbed email addresses or to use them for other marketing activities beyond what was initially consented to by the owner of the email address.
This principle highlights the importance of understanding the boundaries when handling user data and stresses the need to treat such data with respect and integrity.
4 Benefits of a Clean Email List
Email list hygiene is crucial for the success of email marketing campaigns. Your organization must have a clean and up-to-date email list to reach the right people with the right message. Below, we explore some of the key benefits that come with maintaining a clean email list:
1. Lower Bounce Rates
When emails are undeliverable, they bounce back to the sender. High bounce rates can harm your organization’s sender reputation and decrease email deliverability. This can be a major issue for email marketers because, as stated earlier, a poor sender reputation can lead to your emails being flagged as spam.
2. Better Open Rates
A clean email list ensures that your organization’s emails reach active subscribers genuinely interested in their content. These subscribers are more likely to open and engage with the emails they receive, leading to higher open rates.
According to Campaign Monitor, a healthy open rate can vary based on the industry but generally ranges from 15% to 25%. High open rates can enhance the sender’s reputation and increase the effectiveness of their email marketing campaigns.
3. Reduced Risk of Being Marked as Spam
When organizations send emails to inactive subscribers or those who have not engaged with their communications, they risk being marked as spam. Many spam complaints can significantly harm your sender’s reputation, decreasing email deliverability. Organizations can mitigate the risk of being marked as spam by maintaining a clean email list and regularly removing inactive email addresses.
4. Reduced Costs
Most email delivery platforms charge based on the number of emails sent or the number of subscribers on the list. Therefore, a bloated list with invalid, expired, or unengaged email addresses can incur unnecessary costs. By consistently performing email hygiene and removing such email addresses, your organization can significantly cut costs while improving the overall effectiveness of your email marketing efforts.
4 Types of Email Addresses to Remove during Email Hygiene
Email scrubbing involves pruning your email list to remove certain types of email addresses that could negatively impact your email deliverability and open rates. Here are the main types of email addresses you should consider removing:
1. Bounces
Bounces occur when an email is undeliverable and is returned to the sender’s inbox. There are two types of bounces – hard and soft. Hard bounces are permanent delivery failures for reasons like a non-existent email address or a closed email account. Soft bounces are temporary delivery issues that may arise from a full mailbox or an unavailable server. Such email addresses should be removed from the list to maintain a low bounce rate.
2. Inactive Email Addresses
These are email addresses that have not engaged with any emails sent by your organization over a specified period. Engagement includes opening emails, clicking links within the email, and responding to the email.
Performing email scrubbing to remove these email addresses will help improve your engagement rates and help prevent spam complaints. But before removing these addresses from your list, consider sending a re-engagement email. This allows the subscriber to show interest in your content and continue to receive emails.
3. Duplicate Email Addresses
Sometimes, for various reasons like signup errors or importing contacts from multiple sources, you may end up with multiple email addresses for the same recipient. Sending the same email to the recipient more than once can be confusing and annoying, leading to lower engagement rates or even spam complaints.
4. Invalid Email Addresses
Invalid email addresses are those that do not exist or have been deactivated. This category also includes addresses with typographical errors, made-up addresses, and addresses that don’t conform to standard email format.
Emails sent to such addresses will result in a hard bounce. Removing these email addresses will help to improve your email deliverability rates and prevent your emails from being marked as spam.
How to Ethically Complete the Email Scrubbing Process
There are different methods you can use when email list scrubbing, depending on your specific needs. Let’s explore some of the most common methods to help you complete the process effectively and responsibly.
One way to scrub an email list is to manually review it for invalid or inactive addresses. Although this method can be time-consuming, it’s a good option if you have a smaller list or if you want full control over the process.
Another method is to take advantage of the built-in functionality in your email delivery platform. Many platforms offer bounce management and can automatically remove inactive subscribers. For instance, if you’re using Simplelists, it has features that can improve your email list hygiene. It automatically removes members if their bounce rate exceeds 75% or if they have more than 30 bounces in a month. Simplelists notifies the List Manager of any deletions and sends a warning if any members have a high bounce rate.
Using an email scrubbing tool is another option. These tools automatically check each address on your list for validity and remove any invalid or risky email addresses. Keep in mind that when choosing a tool, make sure it complies with local regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Also, these tools should never be used to clean a list of email addresses that has poor hygiene or is made up of unknown sources.
Take the time to thoroughly research these methods and choose the one that best suits your needs. By completing the email scrubbing process, you’ll ensure a clean and effective email list.
Improve your Email Deliverability Ethically with Simplelists
Keeping your email list clean and updated is essential for the success of your email marketing campaign. It not only improves email deliverability but also ensures that your message reaches engaged subscribers who are interested in your content.
But it’s not just about deliverability; it’s about doing it ethically and complying with legislation. Sending emails only to those who have willingly opted in shows respect for their rights and follows ethical marketing principles.
When it comes to email scrubbing, the tools and technology you choose can make a significant difference. That’s where Simplelists comes in. With its built-in features, Simplelists can automatically remove bounced email addresses, making the email scrubbing process much easier. This ensures that your email list remains current, clean, and effective. No more worrying about bounced emails or damaging your sender’s reputation.
Maintaining a healthy email list doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Simplelists simplifies the process, helping you keep your email marketing on track. Don’t just take our word for it; you can try it for yourself with their free one-month trial.
Experience the benefits firsthand and start improving your email marketing ethically with Simplelists today.