Email marketing shows no signs of slowing down. Businesses of all sizes use it to communicate with prospects and customers, and increase ROI. However, effective email marketing starts with a healthy, accurate email list. How do you make sure your database of subscribers performs well?

Here are five ways to improve your email list and make the most of your campaigns in 2020.

Remove bounces to boost your sender score

As an email marketer, you have a sender score – or sender reputation – that determines what happens to your emails once you send them. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) use your score to decide whether your messages go to people’s inboxes, their spam folder, or nowhere at all.

First step: remove invalid and fake email addresses from your list. They result in bounces and only show that you’re not following email marketing best practices. Allowing them to affect your reputation is not a good way to reach your subscribers.

Get rid of spam traps

With more than half of the world’s email traffic being spam, spam traps are a necessary spam prevention method. Blacklist providers create these email addresses specifically to lure in spammers. They’re usually made available online, where spammers scrape them and use them for malicious purposes.

If you have any spam traps in your email list, it’s best to get rid of them as soon as you can. You don’t want IPSs and blacklist providers to think you’re an unlawful sender. A good email validation service can detect most spam traps and remove them from your database.

Stop emailing people who mark you as spam

Do your campaigns get any spam complaints? While all senders get some, it’s not wise to continue to email those subscribers. First, because you don’t want to be labeled as “spam” again. Also, because the chances of you re-engaging those people are slim, so why waste resources and energy? Instead, focus on communicating with people who want to hear from you.

Users who have a habit of marking messages as “spam” are known as “complainers,” and their email addresses are “abuse emails.” The best way to detect them is by running your email list through an email validator.

Filter out temporary email addresses

You’ve probably heard of them – maybe you’ve even used them when you didn’t want to give away your email address. Temporary emails, also known as disposable emails, are short-lived email accounts that bring no value to your email list. Within minutes or days, they self-destruct and end up bouncing the next time you try to reach them.

Filtering out temporary emails is a simple and effective way to improve your email list. By keeping only valid and active contacts in your database, you ensure that your newsletters and campaigns are successful.

Pay more attention to catch-all emails

Catch-all emails can be tricky. While not all of them will bounce, some will and affect your sender score. So, what’s the best way to deal with them? First, use an email validation system to isolate them from your list. Then, you can decide what to do next: either remove them altogether or run a targeted campaign using only your list of catch-all emails. Once you do that, you’ll be able to see which ones bounce, so you can weed them out.

However, you have to know that this is a risky move. Those bounces will have an impact on your reputation, so take this into account before emailing them.

A much safer option is to score them – let’s talk about that and see how a scoring system improves your email list.

Bonus tip: score your contacts for a better email marketing

What is email scoring? It’s a process that establishes how many of your contacts are active and likely to engage with your emails.

Finding an email scoring system online is easy. Once you make sure it’s reliable, upload your email list on the platform and let the system assess its quality. You’ll be able to find out which email addresses are not only valid but also active and potentially responsive to your communication.

In the case of catch-all emails, an email scoring service will discern between those that are likely to bounce and the ones that are good to keep.

Conclusion

Your email list is an important marketing asset, and taking care of it is essential if you expect great results from your email marketing. Consider the tips above before you run your next campaign and strive to send your subscribers useful content. By using valid and active contacts, you’ll build an engaged community, increase your brand awareness and sales.