Email Marketing For Printers: 10 Do’s and Don’ts to Maintain Responsive Contacts and Keep You Out of the Junk Folder

Though it can be tempting to stay status quo with your email list for the sake of numbers, the truth is a smaller list of responsive email contacts is of higher quality and greater benefit to your print business.

If your email list contains a large number of unresponsive contacts, it’s time to ask yourself why and what you can do about it. You want your print buyer subscribers to rapidly open and respond to your messages and have appreciable reactions to your email campaigns.

But how do you accomplish this?

Here are ten do’s and don’ts for maintaining an email list of responsive contacts and keeping you out of the junk folder:

Do: Seek Reader Consent for Subscribing
Don’t: Buy Email Lists

Buying lists of contacts will provide you with a larger base audience; however, it doesn’t guarantee engagement.

By allowing your readers to choose to subscribe to your emails, you have a greater chance that these people are interested in your print products and marketing services and will respond to your email campaigns.

One of the most effective tools to encourage print buyers and prospects to subscribe to your email list is offering them a reward in exchange for their email address. This could be as simple as a free brochure or pamphlet outlining the solutions your product or service solves or even a small promotional giveaway or chance to enter a contest for a larger prize such as a logoed t-shirt, company tote bag, or baseball hat.

Whatever strategy you choose to take,

Voluntary involvement is the key to interested and engaged subscribers in the future.

Do: Check the Validity of All Emails at the Time of Signup
Don’t: Provide an Easy Access Point for Invalid Addresses

Sometimes, an interested subscriber may misspell their address when signing up for your email list. A simple way to keep your list updated is to install a double opt-in tool.

The double opt-in process is two-pronged, and the extra layer of security ensures that the potential subscriber has entered a valid email address. The first step involves the reader completing a form found on your website. Once they have submitted this information, an email link will be sent to their inbox for them to click and verify. If the email is not opened, it may be that the address is invalid, and thus, it will not be included in your contacts list.

Do: Regularly Clean Up Your Contacts List
Don’t: Let Bad Addresses Linger

Invalid emails cost you both time and money. Keeping your contacts list updated can feel like a full-time job, but it is vital for efficient business communications.

Double opt-ins simplify the process by preventing invalid email addresses from being added to your list. Also, over time, some addresses that once were valid will fall out of use or be abandoned by their users. Domain names often expire, and their owners may choose not to renew them. For these reasons, relying solely on double opt-ins to keep your contacts list free from invalid email addresses is not sufficient for the task.

Several email marketing programs can assist with eliminating contacts that are either inactive or have an open rate of zero for a designated time frame. You can also obtain a tool like Norbert’s email verification to assist with keeping your contacts list up to date, or Kickbox.com is also incredibly helpful.

Contacts that should be removed from your list include the following:

1. Contacts who have unsubscribed
2. Contacts who have marked your email address as spam
3. Contacts who have not engaged with your campaigns in six months or more

Do: Make Unsubscribing Simple
Don’t: Play Tricks to Keep People That are Trying to Leave

If you make it difficult for people to unsubscribe from your emails, you may find yourself blocked or relegated to spam.

Keeping these email addresses on your list wastes resources. Regular cleaning of your contacts list can ensure you aren’t spending time and money knocking on doors that aren’t going to open for you.

Make the process for unsubscribing from your email campaigns simple for users by displaying it prominently on your website and asking only for a minimum of effort from the subscriber.

Do: Use a Marketing Automation Program
Don’t: Try to Do What

Many great marketing automation programs can simplify keeping your contacts list completely up to date. Most of these systems allow you to create rules for the program to identify inactive subscribers for removal from your list.

Marketing automation programs can detect and eliminate invalid, outdated, or bounce email addresses that bounce due to a misspelling. Limits that best meet your needs can be established for removal from the list. Some of the most common limits include removal after two bounced emails or following six months of zero open rates.

How Can I Encourage Subscribers to Be Active?

Have several subscribers who are opening your emails but not responding in any tangible way? Does it seem some of your contacts are simply ignoring your emails entirely? Why not reach out to them to find out why?

A reconfirmation campaign can be as simple as a targeted message inquiring what your customers are looking for in their content from you. You can ask your contacts if they want to remain a subscriber and if the content you are sending is meeting their needs.

This process allows you to eliminate email addresses that are not responsive and can also confirm those who wish to remain active on your list. You can also stimulate re-engagement by providing a value-added service for those who opt-in to continue to receive regular email content from you.

Among the possible giveaways you could offer to boost engagement rates are:

• A free gift
• A discount on products or services
• A subscriber perk
• Specialized content

Another tool that can help keep your contacts list up to date is asking your subscribers to opt in again if they want to continue to receive content from you. Sometimes subscribers who have not responded to your campaigns in a while have become too busy to check their email regularly. These contacts may still have a vested interest in what you have to offer and want to continue to receive your emails for future reading.

If you undertake a re-opt-in campaign, these emails should only be sent to your disengaged contacts. Your re-opt-in email must inform your subscribers that if they do not re-subscribe to your list within a designated time frame, their email address will be eliminated from your database. Once the email has been sent, give each subscriber seven days to respond. If no response is received after that time frame, you can safely remove them from your email list.

Be sure to let them know they are welcome to sign up again at any time.

Are There Benefits to Regular Email List Cleaning?

There are many advantages to investing the time and effort into cleaning out your contacts list every six months. These include:

1. Reduced bounced messages
2. Improved sender credibility
3. Greater contact engagement
4. Improved email deliverability

Are you noticing lower than usual response rates to your email campaigns? Consider our list of top tips for maintaining a responsive email list.

Of course, we fall into the camp that believes print marketing materials help promote any business and encourage engagement from their customer base. Still, email marketing is also a vital communication tool to rely on today to help you sell more printing.

If you’re looking for an email marketing solution FOR PRINTERS, check out the all-new Email Marketing For Printers solution.

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