How do I start emailing a large list with no engagement history?
Summary
What email marketers say10Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Quora user recommends A/B testing different subject lines and content in your initial emails to see what resonates best with your audience. This can help improve engagement rates.
Email marketer from Mailchimp explains that segmenting your audience based on available data (location, purchase history, etc.) allows you to send more relevant emails, increasing the likelihood of engagement and reducing the risk of being marked as spam.
Email marketer from Email on Acid suggests implementing a sunset policy to remove unengaged users after a certain period. This focuses your efforts on engaged users and protects your sender reputation
Email marketer from Litmus shares that giving people more control over the emails they receive is a great way to avoid unsubscribes and spam complaints. Provide a preference center where subscribers can choose what types of emails they want to receive and how often.
Email marketer from StackOverflow states that sending a simple 'welcome back' or 'confirm subscription' email is a good starting point. Gauge initial interest before sending promotional content.
Email marketer from Neil Patel shares the advice to warm up the list by sending emails in small batches to engaged users first before emailing the whole list. This helps build a good sender reputation.
Marketer from Email Geeks shares that because users "aren't expecting to hear from you" complaints are going to be a big issue, and a double opt in would help with this.
Email marketer from Sendinblue explains that before emailing the whole list send a re-engagement campaign to see who is still interested in your content, then remove disengaged users.
Email marketer from HubSpot explains that provide valuable content that is relevant to your audience's interests. If your emails are informative and engaging, subscribers will be more likely to open and interact with them.
Email marketer from Reddit user explains that cleaning your list is crucial. Remove inactive subscribers and those who haven't engaged in a long time. This will improve your sender reputation and deliverability.
What the experts say6Expert opinions
Expert from Word to the Wise shares that the initial email content and offers need to be enticing to drive engagement. A clear call to action and relevant offers can increase the likelihood of subscribers interacting with your email. If you provide real value in the mail, the customers will be more inclined to purchase from you and look forward to your subsequent emails.
Expert from Spamresource emphasizes the importance of suppressing unengaged users. Continued mailing to unengaged users hurts your sender reputation and deliverability. Focus on engaged users and consider sending a win-back campaign to try to re-engage those who have become inactive.
Expert from Email Geeks suggests using the `sendex` score from Kickbox if there is no signup date. Additionally, check for a sequential number in the database that could indicate signup order.
Expert from Email Geeks recommends sending an Opt-in message to these users, asking for consent to send future mail. Explain the reason they got this message, and the benefits to getting more email in the future. Maybe send a short series to these people one, with a follow up to non-openers in a week. Segment users by 'last time played' and 'date of registration' and suppress long inactive players. Also, update the game registration to collect marketing permissions and consider a push notification to announce a new email program to users and ask them to consent with in game messaging.
Expert from Word to the Wise advises warming up your IP address is essential when emailing a large list, especially one with unknown engagement. Start slowly with very low volumes and gradually increase over time. Monitor your deliverability and reputation closely during the warm-up process.
Expert from Email Geeks suggests sending a pop-up or other communication through the game to get users to confirm they want email.
What the documentation says5Technical articles
Documentation from M3AAWG (Messaging, Malware and Mobile Anti-Abuse Working Group) recommends sending emails based on explicit consent. If you don't have explicit consent, consider implementing a confirmation step to ensure recipients want to receive your emails.
Documentation from SparkPost explains the importance of IP warming. Start with small volumes and gradually increase the amount of email you send over time to build a positive sending reputation with ISPs.
Documentation from Google outlines that bulk email senders should authenticate their email with SPF and DKIM. Monitor your sender reputation and keep spam rates low.
Documentation from Microsoft advises to use the Junk Email Reporting program (JMRP). JMRP allows recipients to report unwanted email as junk. The JMRP is helpful for senders to clean their email lists of any unwanted recipients.
Documentation from RFC describes SPF and DKIM standards. These standards help receiving mail servers verify that the email was sent from a legitimate source. Implementing these is a key part of email deliverability.