As an eCommerce business, you\u2019ll likely have different contacts. For example, your contact database may include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Visitors to your site who want to learn more about your business<\/strong><\/li>
- Leads (people who are likely to become customers)<\/strong><\/li>
- Existing customers<\/strong><\/li>
- Past customers<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
So don\u2019t wait. Here are the five signs that it\u2019s time to clean your email list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Falling open and click rates<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
One of the most obvious is a decline in open and click rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every email marketing service provides stats on what percentage (and how many) of your subscribers opened your emails and clicked on the links,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Email open rate benchmarks vary by industry, but from your perspective what\u2019s most important is whether email open rates are static, improving, or decreasing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mailsnap.ai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/email-open-rates-2006-2018-1-850x453-15.jpg\")
Courtesy of Super Office<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n Rising unsubscribed rates<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Another sign that people don\u2019t want to subscribe in your emails is an increase in the number of them leaving your subscription.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019ve all unsubscribed from an email list at some point, so seeing people dropping off your list is pretty normal. The thing to look for here is the unsubscribe rate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For most email lists, the average unsubscribe rate is between 0.2 percent and 0.5 percent per email sent, so if yours is within this range, there\u2019s no cause for concern. But if your unsubscribe rate is above 0.5 percent, you\u2019ll definitely want to look at leaning your list to get back into the normal range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mailsnap.ai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/unsubscribe-by-type-15.png\")
Courtesy of Smart Insights<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n Flying bounce rate<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Try to check the bounce report in your email marketing software. That\u2019s where you can see if your emails aren\u2019t delivered because the email address was wrong, the mailbox was full, or a host of other technical reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your bounce rate is increasing, it means you\u2019ve got a high percentage of bad email addresses and that will affect your open and click rates, too. Ultimately, high bounce rates can hurt your overall email deliverability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mailsnap.ai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/from-name.png\")
Courtesy of Jilt<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Increasing spam complaints<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s worth looking out for spam complaints. Your email service provider will alert you to these and you want to keep them low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Note that more spam complaints doesn\u2019t always mean that subscribers see you as a spammer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mailsnap.ai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/unsubscribe-issues-15.png\")
Courtesy of Litmus<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s simply that many will do the easiest thing when they get an email they don\u2019t really want, and clicking the \u201cSpam\u201d button in Gmail is easier than scrolling to the bottom of the email, finding the unsubscribe link, clicking through to your website, and completing the unsubscribe process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Existing poor deliverability<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Email deliverability is about the ability to get your emails into people\u2019s inboxes\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If many people mark your emails as spam, email providers will reject your emails before they reach the recipients. If your deliverability is over 90 percent, that\u2019s a good thing but if it isn\u2019t then you have a problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here’s a brief explainer video on improving email deliverability from Mailjet’s Vice President of Delivery, Lauren Meyer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Leads (people who are likely to become customers)<\/strong><\/li>