I wanted to share with you one of the big challenges I had to overcome to be successful with email marketing. My hope is that you can avoid the lesson that I learned the hard way.
About 18 months ago, I had a big problem. I was building my email list, but not getting the results I wanted. My open rates on emails were VERY low. No one was opening the emails and I was discouraged.
After doing some testing, I discovered that most of the emails I was sending were going to the SPAM folder of my subscribers. No wonder they weren't opening them!
This started me on a quest to figure out how to solve the problem and make sure that I my emails were getting the proper placement.
I changed email auto-responders.
I changed subject lines.
I changed email copy.
I checked my emails in spam testers.
Each of these things helped, but didn't get me the open rates that I wanted.
But then, while working through the issue with my coach, we found the solution. The problem was that I was sending too many emails to people who were no longer paying attention.
Email has changed and become more like social media. Gmail is only putting your email in the inbox of people who THEY think want to receive it. They are the "gatekeepers".
How they know if someone wants the email is by looking at whether they have engaged with your emails in the recent past. If they are opening your emails and clicking the links, then your email will appear in their inbox. If it has been more than 90 days since they opened one of your emails, it is going to spam.
On top of that, the more people you email that are not opening your emails, the more likely ALL your emails will go to spam.
What I started doing was to only email those who had subscribed in the last 30 days or opened an email in the last 90 days. My list got smaller, but my open rates jumped.
If you are emailing your own list, I suggest you clean your lists of everyone who is no longer opening your emails. It may take a few weeks to see a big difference, but when Gmail figures out that you are not emailing inactive subscribers, you will be rewarded.
Tomorrow, there is a new mailer launching that follows the "Super Clean List" principle.
It is called All Active Mailer and is part of the Your Viral Network of sites, so you know it will be great. It only sends emails to people who are new subscribers or have opened an email in the last 90 days. Less credits to send your emails and more clicks in return.
Watch for my email about the launch at Noon US Eastern Time on Wednesday.
