For years, we’ve heard that email marketing holds the highest ROI and that your email list is the most valuable asset when it comes to marketing - but that’s IF you’re staying consistent and keeping a healthy email list.

In February 2024 the new rules that Google and Yahoo launched forced us small business owners to become coders and practice good email marketing habits. 🤓

“Wait, what changes?”

Let me catch you up friend, Google and Yahoo decided that they wanted to increase their security to decrease spam and phishing.

Here are the new rules that rolled out:

• Requiring one-button unsubscribe 

• Updated DNS records in domain settings (DMARC & DKIM)

• When sending emails to your list from  Flodesk, ConvertKit, etc., you have to use an email with a verified domain (hello@yourcompanyname.com). No more @gmail.com or @hotmail.com email addresses
  
  

They also have a new requirement that your spam rate can not be over .03% (though different sources have different percentages).

I made this Instagram post to help you through this process if you haven’t done so already.

So with all of these changes, I think it’s important to turn our focus to email marketing maintenance. Whew, that’s a mouthful but what it means is just a way to keep our lists clean and optimized to increase engagement.

Ready to see how to do it? Keep reading friend…

🧼 Scrubbing Subscribers

Scrubbing subscribers = removing email addresses that are bouncing, have come back undeliverable or have been inactive for 6+ months. 

Why: Decrease your bounce & undeliverable rate. 

Benefit: Having the right people on your list to increase open rate & engagement.

How:

Go through your subscriber reports in your email service provider (Flodesk, ConvertKit, etc.) and remove email addresses:

• That have bounced

• Have been inactive for over 90+ days

• Marked as spam

By doing this, you’ll be left with a list of subscribers who are looking forward to your emails 😍 isn’t that the whole point?

★ Segment

Segment = categorizing your email list

If you are a service provider who has a variety of offers for different audiences, then you’ll want to segment your email list.

Why: To send the right information to the right people

Benefit: Less unsubscribes and increased trust & authority

How:

Let’s say you're a health coach and have a list of 1200 people. You have 2 signature offers one for women who are postpartum women and the other for women in menopause. 

Your weekly emails may currently bounce between giving information for both but what would be more effective is to have two separate segments: Postpartum & Menopause which allows you to write emails specifically for that audience making them feel extra cared for and seen.

Without segmenting, you may end up losing subscribers as they are opening emails that don’t give them information that’s relevant to them.

If you’re not sure which bucket your subscriber belongs to, you could send out a specific email to your full list and ask them which “segment” they identify with, and on your opt-in forms moving forward, you can include a checkbox asking what type of information they’d like to receive.

🥰 Re-engaging Email Sequence

Re-engaging email sequence = a series of emails that you send out to reintroduce yourself to your email list when you haven’t emailed them for an extended period of time.

Why: Remind them that they’re on your email list and to boost engagement

Benefit: Get to know your subscribers again 

How:

Write at least 2 emails that can be sent close together that reintroduce you and your business. Keep it light and friendly. 

Also mention what subscribers can look forward to in future emails, what kind of content you’ll be sharing, the benefits to reading, etc.

Be sure to include call-to-actions that drive replies like:  What tips would you like to see from me? What industry do you work in? Or something that ties back to your email copy.

IMO I wouldn’t sell in these emails. 

Now that you’ve done those 3 steps, you have a healthy email list!

Let me know how it goes and if you have any questions.

Follow me on Instagram where I share simple tips that you can apply right away and I also have some fun content to lighten things up because social should be fun, right?

Browse my services and see if you’d like to partner up on your next launch or if you need a VIP Day to get some of your tech in order. I’m your girl.

Wanna chat more? Send me an email hello@krystlestraubco.com or send me a DM.

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Check these posts out before you go…