How should I add gifted email subscribers to my list without hurting deliverability?
Summary
What email marketers say13Marketer opinions
Email marketer from SendGrid Blog explains to use segmentation to send relevant content. Sending targeted content to segments based on interests is more effective and can improve engagement, which improves your sender reputation.
Marketer from Email Geeks states that you can't gift or transfer email addresses without proper consent, and if the original consent was weak, the new organization definitely lacks it, making it a potential issue.
Email marketer from Email On Acid shares about keeping a close eye on deliverability metrics (bounce rate, spam complaints, unsubscribe rate) after adding the new subscribers. Act quickly if you notice any negative trends.
Marketer from Email Geeks suggests breaking up the addition of the new subscribers and sending a welcome message to remind them and offer an opt-out before sending regular emails.
Email marketer from HubSpot Blog responds that verifying email addresses before sending is very important, using tools to remove invalid or risky addresses, reduces bounce rates and improves deliverability when adding a new list.
Marketer from Email Geeks suggests reaching out to the email marketing platform to flag the increase in subscribers to prevent issues with spam flagging after onboarding sequence.
Email marketer from Reddit recommends cleaning the list, verifying the email addresses with a service like ZeroBounce or NeverBounce before importing them. It's better to start with a smaller, cleaner list than a large, dirty one.
Email marketer from Marketing Forum advises to 'warm up' the list by sending a series of low-volume, high-value emails to the new subscribers before sending regular marketing content. This helps rebuild trust and engagement.
Email marketer from MailerLite Blog explains that you should segment your new subscribers and send a targeted campaign to gauge interest. If they don't engage, remove them to maintain a healthy list.
Marketer from Email Geeks advises running the email list through an email validator like Kickbox and clearly stating how they were added to the list.
Email marketer from Neil Patel Blog shares that using a double opt-in process for all new subscribers, including gifted ones, is crucial to ensure they actively want to receive emails and will help prevent spam complaints.
Email marketer from Reddit suggests A/B testing different subject lines, content, and sending times to optimize your campaigns for engagement and deliverability. This can help you identify what resonates best with your new subscribers.
Email marketer from Litmus Blog shares the importance of designing engaging email campaigns that offer value to your subscribers can encourage opens and clicks, which signals to ISPs that your emails are wanted.
What the experts say4Expert opinions
Expert from Word to the Wise (Laura Atkins) answers that it's critical that email marketers understand their audience. Segmentation by persona and demographics helps understand what resonates with each group and how to avoid the spam folder.
Expert from Spam Resource recommends that good data hygiene is key and to consider how old the data is. Even addresses that opted in can cause problems if the list is old.
Expert from Email Geeks recommends using Kickbox to validate emails, adding subscribers slowly and carefully with a tripwire in place, and sending a welcome with confirmation to get an opt-in.
Expert from Spam Resource explains that Permission is the key when acquiring new subscribers; even if technically permissible, purchased, appended, or list-rented addresses will generally not perform and can put a sender's reputation at risk.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from Microsoft Docs explains that monitoring your sender reputation through tools like Sender Score or Microsoft's SNDS is important for watching the effects of adding a new list and allows you to address any negative impacts on your deliverability proactively.
Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools explains that consistently authenticating your emails using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is essential for establishing trust with email providers when introducing a new email list, reducing the chance of being marked as spam.
Documentation from SparkPost advises implementing throttling strategies to gradually increase sending volume to the new subscribers. This allows you to monitor performance and adjust sending rates as needed to avoid overwhelming ISPs.
Documentation from RFC-Editor mentions that implementing a feedback loop (FBL) allows you to receive reports about spam complaints from ISPs, enabling you to promptly remove those subscribers and prevent future deliverability issues when adding new contacts.