How to Optimize Your Email List

Without a doubt, the most efficient way to boost your email marketing success is to divide up your list. More likely than not, your subscribers fall into multiple categories, from people who never open the emails you send to subscribers who are loyal and convert. This email list marketing strategy boosts ROI because by dividing up your list, you are able to customize the experience for each email list segment. Here are a few tips for dividing up your list in a way that will lead to profit.

Segment 1: Your Responders

If you’re using good email marketing software, you should be able to record which subscribers actually open your emails and click on a link (see our best email marketing software review to find software which can do this). These are your responders, and this group definitely deserves their own segment. In order to boost your email list marketing ROI, add these subscribers to a separate list. Because they open your emails and indicate interest in what you offer, this group should be treated exceptionally well. Offer them special rewards for their loyalty to keep them coming back for more. Ideally, you want to make sure that these subscribers are very satisfied so that they will continue to buy from you. If you follow email list marketing best practices, this segment will grow.

Segment 2: Newbie

Individuals who just signed up for your list in the past month deserve their own segment. Why? Because you do not yet know how these subscribers are going to respond to your emails. Plus, first impressions will make or break your campaign, and thus, you must make sure you pull out all the stops for a subscriber’s first few emails. Although not every person will react the way you would like, catering to this group will increase your ROI in the long run by raising subscriber’s perceived value of your email list marketing campaigns. Obviously, at some point these readers must be moved to another segment, but by paying special attention to these people while they’re new, you will quickly be able to optimize your email list over time.

Segment 3: Invisible Subscribers

More often than not, this segment will be your largest, and it is made up of subscribers that open your email but never take any action. Because of the large potential of this group, they deserve their own category. With this group, you will probably be doing most of your email list marketing testing. The key to getting these users to convert is simply to try new, sometimes adventurous strategies. Be creative! Eventually you will see some of your experiments getting clicks, and when this happens, utilize that technique until you find something better. Once they move on from this list, it will be easier for you market to them because you will know their interests already.

Segment 4: Deadbeat Subscribers

There are many reasons why a person may never open up one of your emails, which we won’t go into here. But one thing is for sure, these subscribers belong in their own email list segment. Similar to the Invisible Subscribers segment, you are going to have to try many different things and see what sticks. Although it’s unfortunate, there will be some readers that simply will never react to your hard work. You should set a time frame you are willing to keep a customer in your list, and once that time has passed, do yourself a favor and save some money by deleting them.

See our best email marketing software review to find software to help manage your email marketing list.