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Happy first day of autumn!
Reader, there's just something about autumn that makes me feel like a new human. The changing leaves and dropping temperature give me permission to read an extra chapter of my book on the back porch, with a cup of my favorite coffee and the "couch blanket" my daughter begrudgingly allows me to use.
That's my favorite thing about a new season — the allowance to reevaluate my routines. Deciding what to shed or grow. Plant or harvest.
Autumn will help us shed what we no longer need. Spring will show us why.
Think of this in terms of your organization's email list.
Whether you have 500 or 50,000 subscribers, keeping your email list clean can help reduce your bounce rate and boost your open and click-through rates. Archiving subscribers may sound counterintuitive to your email marketing efforts, but I assure you:
A small list of superfans will have so much more ROI than a big, cricket-chirping list.
→ It's time to shed those who are no longer engaged with your emails. Here are some list-scrubbing avenues you can take this week:
- If email addresses are bouncing, they need to go. Look at bounced email addresses and archive them, if your email service provider doesn't already do this for you. A good rule of thumb is to archive the email address if it bounces 3 times. Your bounce rate can negatively impact your deliverability to legitimate email addresses, which can land you in spam. Nobody wants to send emails that end up in the inbox's junk drawer.
- If people aren't opening or clicking, give them the option to stay or leave. Polls are a good engagement test (Kit has this option in the email editor). Polls are great because you can tag their response. Creating tags can help you further segment your list into prospects, volunteers, one-time donors, recurring donors, mid-level donors, etc. Also, give them an option to unsubscribe. I know that sounds scary, but again, you want engaged supporters on your list.
- Segment your list. I recommend this if you have 1,000 or more subscribers. Before that mark, subscriber tagging can help. Segmenting is a more advanced way of filtering your email subscribers, which can help you create more specific campaigns for each segment. This reinforces higher engagement because you aren't sending general, mass emails and hoping that everyone engages with them.
What about you, Reader? Are you ready to jump into a pile of leaves, or are you already missing summer days? Reply and let me know!
Back by popular demand... 🥁
My email marketing retainer! I've had some private conversations about the email needs in the nonprofit sector, and I've decided to reopen my email retainer option. Only folks on my email list get access to this for the remainder of 2025. Curious how this can look for you? Browse the retainer!
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ICYMI: Hannah and I are helping you get a Giving Tuesday Campaign ready to go. Access to the Giving Tuesday Checklist below!
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