It’s tempting to compare yourself to other people. Never before have we known more about one another. We see the pictures of our friends on vacation while we sit and wonder if we should have eaten that doughnut.
It’s prevalent in the business world, too. The head of the marketing department sees the flashy newsletter of a competitor and imagines it was put together by a whole team. Or maybe you read an interview with someone who nonchalantly mentions that they have 100,000 or more subscribers. It can be tempting to believe that your efforts are futile. Don’t give in to that kind of pessimism. There are 3 reasons a huge email list isn’t everything.
The best lists grow slowly
So many of the fables and stories we’re told as children end up having the greatest truth in them. We return to the tale of “the Tortoise and the Hare.” If you grow your list a little at a time, chances are the connections you’re making are genuine. These are people who are really receptive to your messages. They subscribe because they care about your newsletter and want to find out more about what you do and the products and services you offer.
There are no shortcuts to gaining influence. It’s a kind of trust that you build. Most things that gain in popularity quickly fall out of fashion as fast as they came. That catchy pop song is here today and getting on everyone’s nerves tomorrow. You don’t want to be a flash in the pan.
It can be tempting to try and get a big email list quickly. Some people fall prey to the idea of buying lists. First of all, this is illegal in some countries. Then, consider how good a list could possibly be with that in mind. If someone is willing to break the law to sell a list, chances are the emails on that list won’t be of any real quality. The benefits aren’t there. It will get you a lot of spam complaints which will cause your sender reputation to decline drastically. Every email address has a sender reputation which you should be protective of. You can protect your email list by using email validation at regular intervals.
Be like the tortoise. Slow and steady wins the race.
It’s not the size of your list, it’s how engaged people are Imagine having a chic, luxury store on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. Lots of people visit. They pretend to be interested in buying something and inevitably never do. Alternatively, think about having a shop that doesn’t get as many visitors, but the majority of them spend money. Which one would you rather have?
Believe it or not, this phenomenon exists in email land too. Some people have a pretty hefty list, but don’t have a lot of engagement. Other email newsletters have a small following, but a very devoted one. People look forward to opening those emails and many of them get forwarded because they offer something valuable.
Would you rather have a few dependable friends who stand by your side or tons of acquaintances? Try to offer something useful, entertaining or a good deal. You’ll find your email list grows and your engagements will go up. As you can see, the size of the list isn’t everything.
It’s more important for your subscribers to be real
Rather than having a giant email list, you should be more concerned with having subscribers that are real. But aren’t they all real? It’s a common misconception, but many lists are in very bad shape with a variety of harmful types of emails.
Invalid email addresses are simply no longer real, working emails. People change email addresses. They have abandoned for one reason or another or people sign up to your list using a workplace or school email address and they change jobs or graduate. It’s not reasonable to think that they’ll unsubscribe first.
But there’s a number of poor-quality email addresses you don’t want on the list either. Role-based emails (such as info@ or admin@, etc.) are bad because you never know who is reading them. Maybe somebody will mistake it for spam. There’s also abuse emails. These are people who maliciously mark emails as spam. Other kinds include spam traps, catch-all domains, and temporary addresses.
You may be thinking, so I’ve got some emails that aren’t ideal. Big deal. Well, it could jeopardize your list. Having all of these types of email addresses on the list will drive your sender reputation down. When your sender reputation is compromised, even the subscribers who enjoy and are receptive to your newsletters will not see them. They’ll get directed to the spam folder and not the inbox. When your emails end up in the spam folder, they are as good as forgotten.
Having a strategy for ridding your list of these harmful and invalid email addresses is really crucial. A good email verification company will allow you a free trial to learn how it works. It’s really simple. You upload your list to the site’s platform and it locates the bad email addresses so you can remove them. You should remove them as soon as you identify them. It’s critical to your list’s success.
Don’t forget sometimes more is less
Don’t worry about the numbers. Try to have the best newsletter. Stand out and be different. Keep your list healthy and in good shape. Better to be smaller and remembered than huge and forgettable. As you learn to master the art of email marketing and send with consistency, in time your list will grow.Author: Paul Leslie is a Content Writer for email validation company ZeroBounce. He has a rich background in content creation as a writer, researcher and interviewer. Paul has conducted more than 800 interviews distributed via radio and podcasts.
