Signs You Should Be Using an Email Checker

An email checker will be the greatest asset to your email marketing campaign because you know that your emails will get delivered to the right inboxes. But, there are many more benefits that come with using an email checker. In this article, we will discuss some of the main signs that you should be using an email checker.

An email checker will save your campaigns

Studies have proven time and again that email remains one of the most effective forms of marketing. But sending emails to half-engaged, not really interested recipients will damage your sender reputation score. Many marketers make the mistake of thinking, a bigger list will have a higher reach and more engagement. Unfortunately, this proves to be untrue.

Sending relevant communication and updates to those who actually want to be kept up to date is proven to deliver better results than inundating uninterested recipients. Continuously, tired recipients are more likely to report messages as spam rather than clicking ‘unsubscribe’. Which negatively impacts your sender reputation score.

Is there any solution to this dilemma? Yes, by having a clean list. Over 65% of an average company’s business comes from existing customers. And the likelihood of selling to an existing customer is 60%-70% while the probability of selling to a new customer is only around 5%-20%. So it is important to take care of your already loyal customers.

But we want to make sure to avoid any unnecessary damage to sender reputation scores or anything other repercussions that could happen from an unchecked list.

It’s time to clean your list and use an email checker

1. Your bounce rates are increasing

Nothing says neglect more than an increase in bounce rates. A bounce rate in email marketing refers to the percentage of email addresses in your subscriber list that never receives your message because it was returned by the recipient mail server. You can run a report through your email marketing software to detect any soft bounces, where an email address is temporarily unavailable.

It will also detect any hard bounces before they even happen. A hard bounce is where an email will never actually get delivered because of a permanent reason. This reason could be the email no longer exists or was inputted incorrectly. But sending an email to an invalid address will negatively impact your sender reputation score, put you more on the radar for spam traps, and can get you blacklisted.

Human Error

Bounce rates happen, unfortunately, this can happen from human errors. People make mistakes. It’s not uncommon to make mistakes when filling out a form, especially when you’re tired from working all day. Plus, some people have various ways of spelling their names, for example, “Sarah” is also spelled as “Sara”. This can result in easily missed mistakes.

Change of Address

People also change their emails, some of us like to have the same email since they first came out. However, a recent report states that about 31% of people change their email addresses a year. Even if a user has not deactivated their account, it’s technically not a valid email address. And is pointless to send any marketing their way.

The Service Provider Shut Down

Not all websites are successful. Some have shut down over the years. But what happens when these email service providers close up shop? Emails that were once housed there are no longer valid. When you are sending emails to invalid addresses, your bounce rates will increase and you can get flagged by ESPs. Sometimes, these will appear as a soft bounce, where the email will go back to you before getting delivered to the recipient’s inbox. When you have soft-bounced email addresses, it’s important to take a look to see if they have any typos or syntax errors.

As a rule of thumb, you can erase the contacts after three strikes of soft bounces. However, you need to remove any hard bounces from your lists such as emails with incorrect spellings, non-existent inboxes, or syntax errors. After the first offense of a hard bounce, there is a higher chance of getting reported as spam and ending up on a blacklist.

When getting reported to a blacklist, it is created by the ESP designed to protect its users from any unwanted emails getting to their inboxes. When an email is added to a blacklist, any messages that are sent are then disregarded by the ESP and will never land in their inbox. With your name on a blacklist, all the emails you send out will never get delivered and will be deleted. So safe to say you don’t want to end up on any blacklist.

2. You are getting more spam complaints

As we mentioned above, some recipients will mark your emails as spam because they don’t remember signing up, even if they really did. But their impact goes beyond individual subscribers: email service providers (ESPs) like Gmail or Yahoo will also log spam complaints. If there are too many complaints, then they will start sending your emails straight to the “spam” or “junk” emails. They will never actually end up in “inbox”. If spam complaints are higher than canceled subscriptions, you should think about reevaluating your opt-out or unsubscribe process because it may be too complicated.

The importance of an unsubscribe button, first of all, is polite. You also want to comply with the CAN-SPAM act as well as remain on good terms with your clients, even after they’ve left you. It also helps aid in keeping your email lists clean and only filled with those who want to receive information about your products or services.

This also helps improve your engagement rates because your list will only contain customers that want to be informed. This helps you maintain a high click-through rate and a better sender reputation score as a result of fewer spam complaints and more interactions with your emails.

In one way, when you receive complaints it’s a bad thing because clearly your marketing efforts are not where you want them to be. But, it also is a great wake-up call to re-evaluate your marketing strategy and have a better perspective on what information your customers really want to receive.

When you start sending out campaigns that are actually beneficial to your customers, you will see a higher amount of engagement and ROI. So while receiving complaints is not good, and you want to be ahead of any complaints before they happen, if they do happen, then you know what you need to do.

3. Your open rates are lower than usual

If you notice that your open rates are lower than usual or decreasing at a usual rate, it’s time to take a good look at your email list. While the emails may be delivered, they may have some issues and errors within them. Or they will only be delivered to a handful of people due to spam traps or blacklists. If you notice a decrease in your open rates, go give your email list a nice scrub because more often than not, your email list could be a dirty one.

4. Your email list may be

You may think that having a big list will lead to more sales or engagement, but sometimes it can be detrimental to your marketing efforts. With a big and unclean list you’re at risk of unpersonalized emails, lack of organized leads, higher complaint rates, or having a poor ROI for your email marketing efforts.

Are you able to personalize your emails?

Personalization is a huge benefit to email marketing because you’re able to make your customers feel special, and when they feel special, they’re more likely to buy your product or service. So sometimes, if you have a huge email list, you may not be able to personalize your list due to a lack of information.

Personalized emails stand out within inboxes and are seen as highly relevant, tailor-made materials. When your emails are personalized, they are more likely to click and interact with your product or service. Emails with personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened!

How to personalize your emails

Personalizing your emails can sound intimidating and time-consuming, but in reality, it’s not. You do not have to go through each email to personally address them. And that is all thanks to today’s marketing tools. Personalized emails have never been easier.

• Start with personalized tags: these are tags that you can assign to a contact that is based on subscriber field data, which is information from your subscribers that was recorded in their initial opt-in. Using these tags to insert a user’s name is a great way to begin the personalization process.
• List segmentation: this is the practice of dividing your email list into smaller segments based on information provided by your subscribers during opt-in. These are characteristics like age, gender, or location. This information can help you further personalized campaigns by creating content based on specific information, as well as purchase history and where they’re based.

Email personalization can go much deeper than described above, but it’s just to get you started. Today, marketers are going beyond first names and are working towards ways to use smart, relevant email marketing to create new opportunities.

Are you lacking organization on your leads?

If you have a large email list, you need to make sure you have a system in place that organizes everything. If your information is unclear, how will you ever manage and nurture these leads?

By having an organization with your email list, you’re able to have a clear mind when drafting your email campaigns as well as segmenting your list (AKA personalization). Make things easier on yourself by having an organized list and the best way to start is by cleaning your list and using an email checker. An email checker will go through the large list within a matter of minutes and clear out any inconsistencies, errors or invalid email addresses.

Are you having higher complaint rates?

As we mentioned above, if you are receiving higher complaint rates, then something must be amiss. If your list is too big and you are missing any complaints, things could go unnoticed and you could start to damage your sender reputation score, get caught in a spam trap, and lead to getting blacklisted.

If you are noticing your complaint rates are higher than the last evaluation’s, go through an email checker. This will wash out any unwanted or invalid emails and help you maintain a strong list filled with eager subscribers.

Is your ROI not where it should be?

You put time and effort into your email marketing campaigns, so why would you work for free if you’re not yielding any results? Email marketing is one of the most effective and successful ways to have a positive ROI. So if you have noticed that your ROI is not where it should be for the time and effort you’ve put into your campaigns you need to run your list through an email checker. A large list doesn’t mean a larger ROI, you need quality over quantity to ensure that your hard work goes to the right inboxes.

Your Checklist for When It’s Time to Use an Email Checker

Where do you fall within these statistics?

• Industry standard of Open Rate is 21.33%, the percentage of people who open your email when they receive it.
• Industry standard of Conversion Rate is 3%, leads that are interested in your offer
• Industry standard of Click Through Rate is 2.62%, how many people click on the link in your emails
• Industry standard of Overall ROI is 122%, the revenue for every dollar well spent on email marketing

With these statistics above, you are able to see where you fall after doing your data calculations. You can now compare where you are versus industry standards. If you are lacking in one or more of these categories, it’s time to put your list through an email checker.

How often should you use an email checker?

Great question, ideally your list should always be clean. But we get it, we have other things to do during our work week. A constantly clean list is hard to maintain. Unless you have a list cleaning automation system, but we’ll get into that later.

Imagine your list like your house. A large company would be like a large home with a lot of kids, things get messy quickly and you need to clean more regularly than you would if you lived alone. A smaller company is more like living in an apartment with either one dog or cat, where you should clean it but you don’t need to clean it as frequently to keep it decent.

You should be cleaning your list based on the size of your company, but we also suggest as a general guideline to clean your list at least every 3-4 months. But if you are just getting started as a small or medium sized business, you should clean your list once a month to ensure that you’re maintaining good health and relevant subscribers.

Which Email Checker To Use

Although every company is different and has its own needs, the most efficient and well rounded email checker is Emailable.

With Emailable you are equipped with full features that are going to guarantee you a 99% improvement in your deliverability rates. It also comes with a list cleaning automation system that allows you to validate your emails in real-time when they are added to your list so your list always maintains good health.

It’s one single platform, with full coverage. As an email checker, it is the best on the market. Emailable allows you to focus on your next great email marketing campaign, and not worry about whether your emails will deliver or not.