Part of list building is keeping your email lists clean. Depending on the email list management/autoresponder you use, you should be able to track your subscriber’s actions and see who is opening your emails and who isn’t; the same with click rates, and a wealth of other information for that matter. I use and recommend AWeber ($).
Okay, why do we want to remove inactive subscribers, don’t we want the biggest email list possible? No, we want the most responsive list possible.
- First of all, the bigger our lists are, the more we pay. Why pay to send email to people that never bother to open them?
- Second, what happens when those subscribers get tired of deleting your emails or, worse yet, forgot they even subscribed in the first place?
If you are lucky they will just unsubscribe but some will click that forbidden “spam” link in their email client; this is very bad. Too many spam complaints will cause the webmail providers to start sending your emails to everyone’s spam box if it even gets delivered at all. Too many spam complaints will also force your list management and autoresponder service to remove your control over your own email lists; they’re not going to risk their business over a customer’s bad list building techniques.
Important: There are a couple of things to consider before deleting subscribers.
Are They REALLY Inactive Subscribers?
HTML/Text
Did you know open rates only apply to HTML emails? That’s right; subscribers that receive and open their emails in text format are not counted. We don’t want to remove or unsubscribe anyone just because they read the text versions of our emails.
Blocked Images
Did you know that subscribers that aren’t allowing images to show in their emails are not counted either? That’s right, an invisible image is embedded within the HTML email you send and that’s what is tracking those open rates. So if your email client is blocking images, no one can determine if you opened the email. Just like the text based readers, those subscribers blocking images will appear inactive unless they are clicking links.
The Solution – Send A Warning Notice
We need to send a notice to those we THINK are inactive subscribers and be sure they are actually inactive; at least that’s what I do. We cannot depend on the statistical data 100%, from any autoresponder, so sending a warning notice only to those suspected of ignoring our emails can reduce the risk of deleting subscribers that want to remain subscribed.
TIP: You can try to recover a few of those inactive subscribers by offering a free report or similar offer before going through steps to remove them.
Sample Notice Sent In TEXT Format.
Below is a copy of the last notice I sent just earlier this week. Be sure to give subscribers a week or so to see and respond to the email. In this case the notice went out to 95 subscribers and we ended up removing (not unsubscribing) 87 of them. Note: It is better to remove/delete the subscriber when using AWeber because you are still charged for unsubscribed people as long as they are still on your list.
Subscription at risk, please read
Hello, Brian from Hot Blog Tips here just checking to see if you are still interested in our newsletter. It looks like you haven’t opened an email from us in a while BUT that could be in AWeber’s reporting. If you don’t have images turned on in your email client or if you receive the newsletter in text only, there’s no way to know if the email was opened.
So if you like the newsletter and would like to stay subscribed, can you do me a huge favor? Simple click reply and send this back to me so I know. You don’t have to say anything or explain, just type “keep me” or something. In an effort to keep the cleanest list possible we clear out subscriber’s that don’t open the email and I don’t want to remove anyone that reads our content.
Thanks for taking the time to read and respond,
Brian D. Hawkins
How To Remove Inactive Subscribers
Related link: AWeber – How Can I Remove Inactive Subscribers From My List?
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It is good once in a while to browse through and see those kinds of subscribers.
They don’t help with anything and just raise your costs up. I agree with that.
Nice article Brian.
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Samuel recently posted..25 WordPress Plugins You Might Need?
Thanks Samuel, it can be even a bigger issue for those of us that built lists based on giving products away in exchange for subscriptions.
Hey Samuel. I received a rather large charge from Aweber the other day, and when I investigated, it seems like they also charge you for the people that have unsubscribed to your list but is still on record. One should let those go as well, as they too chase up your costs.
Brian, I never thought of getting in contact with people like this. I always check the stats and say to myself ‘Now why haven’t ‘these’ people opened their emails’. I think a kind letter like this is a great idea, and if they’re not really interested, take them off as they’re costing you money.
Good one!
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Ivin recently posted..Ivin Issues YOU a Commenting Challenge
seems like a very good idea , why would i was to pay $50 extra for exceeding only 1 extra subscriber ! great tutorial break , and basically i just watched the video. Thanks for adding it Brian.
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The video was pretty informative Saad, thanks for checking it out.
Excellent post thanks Brian, I once sent an email asking people to unsubscribe if they no longer wanted to receive my emails, some had classed my emails as ‘spam’ which annoyed me as they had signed up for the freebie and ideas. I didn’t send them blind emails. Anyway, I didn’t realised opened and unopened emails were only recorded in the HTML format. It is also handy to know that you are charged for people who are on the lists but actually unsubscribed.That is probably overlooked by thousands of Aweber users.
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I bet you are right Andi, I can only imagine how much AWeber makes from people just not knowing.
This happened to me as well, how annoying and disappointing. Good thing I know better now!
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Marshall recently posted..Seagate 2TB External Hard Drive Sale
Hi Brain,
The most important thing that you’ve mentioned when it comes to inactive subscribers is the difference in text and HTML emails. It will be a big mistake removing someone from a list that isn’t inactive. And you need to understand the difference between HTML and Text in order to have an accurate and maximized exposure in your marketing campaign. Most people (especially the ones new to marketing and not to techno-savvy) don’t even know this little known fact.
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Thanks Anton, For the most part, very few people get text versions any more but a lot of people have images blocked. I use Gmail and most email from new addresses are automatically blocked until I click the “show images” link.
Very important to keep your subscriber list current and active, though I must say it can be difficult at times to cut that subscriber number down sometimes! It’s important to make sure we are being efficient with our time and money, and sending out emails and offers to inactive subscribers is a money sink, even if the larger subscription numbers might be a bit of an ego boost.
i have just seen a lot of fake subscribers are subscribed to my blog. Now its’ to delete all those people who are useful to me.
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shenoyjoseph recently posted..How to Install Android 4.1 Jelly Bean Update Galaxy Nexus GSM
This is a great idea, to remove people from your list who are inactive, and of course it is important to contact them first.
That said, surely if they are not opening your emails then they still won’t open your email? I know that if I don’t bother with a person then eventually, when I decide to have a clear out, I unsubscribe “en masse” to many gurus at the same time.
Still, interesting concept.
At least you’re unsubbing Ruth, some people just spam it out.
Thanks. I didn’t know the open rates only applied to html. Do you know what the percentage is of html versus standard text?
Hi Brian, I am planning to take your advice on this and I’m going to do this at least once every 2 months. Thanks for the video too!
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Ileane recently posted..Ultimate Guide: How To Choose a Publishing Blog
Cool Ileane, I know I’m safe because I wouldn’t miss your email for the world.
You are absolutely correct we should clear the fake and inactive users so it will be easier to manage and will also cost less.
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If there are a lot of inactive subscribers this might be annoying for you and your readers. I am definitely agreed with clearing inactive members.
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Rashmi Sinha recently posted..5 Best Android Media Apps in 2012
Of course, this is a right decision to delete them, because first of all, you rescue to be considered as a spammer
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Amanda recently posted..Business WordPress Themes
I call this as “Subscriber Flash” indeed! I never waste such options at all to make the things more complicated! I always keep a track of all my users so that it makes the things more important & above it, it is necessary that we keep a track of all the things happening on the site! Indeed, worthy & inexpensive!
Hi brian, nice to see you again. Can you tell me there is any way to find inactive subscribers on feed burner ?
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Hi Brian.
Since this is my 1st time here and commenting, I’ll do my best to be brief. I agree with much of your ( and others ) post except for that the bigger the list, the more it cost for the Aweber AR. While that may be true for many autoresponders, there is at least ONE autoresponder I know of which has a flat monthly price ( for 10+ years ) of less than $18 per month and this includes a UNLIMITED AMOUNT of campaigns and a referral/comp plan that the others do not come close to.
His price has NOT risen since its inception and I just can’t understand why many big-time marketers consider Aweber to be the best when you get more and it may even be considered easier to use than Aweber and the others that charge more as you get more subscribers/campaigns.
Just saying…there are other autoresponder choices that far outweigh Aweber in many, if not all, areas of use and such.
John
You’ve piqued my curiosity John, can you link to the autoresponder you are referring to?
Great info indeed! I used to take the subscribers by number but did not saw this side or did not want to, but the video made me all clear. !
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I agree Nayan, the video has cleared up few of common mistakes I was doing. Thanks for sharing this video! At the moment I struggle with my FeedBurner…
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Alex recently posted..3D Television
thanx for sharing , i didn’t know that subscriber makes such a difference
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I think it’s also important to make sure people are actually being removed when they opt out of your list. I have unsubscribed to several lists only to receive an email saying it was unsuccessful so I still receive the emails…
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I never thought about this Brian. I am using Mail Chimp so I am no where near my limit where I would have to pay for it. Although that would be a nice problem to have, but if readers don’t interact, respond or talk to you, what’s the point in having them as a subscriber? It’s like dead weight from a weight on a fishing line. It just hangs there and doesn’t do anything.
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Sonia recently posted..Smart Tips to Effectively Manage Your Wasted Time Online
I’ve never used Mail Chimp Sonia but I will say when you first start removing hard earned subscribers it feels like you’re kicking yourself but once you see the interaction numbers climb it actually becomes fun.
Hi,
I guess, the blog owners take this decision of removing their inactive subscribers from their list, consciously. They do not have time to follow up or find out, exactly what the reason is for them being inactive. Their total focus remains on attracting the maximum traffic to their blog. They are not to blame, to certain extent for this decision.
Regards,
Sanjib Saha
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You bring up a great point Sanjib, the reason they are inactive. Some will give a short explanation as to why they unsubscribed but it’s tough to know why they are ignore the emails. That’s why testing is so important.
Damn, I culled my list some while back and I didn’t even think about those people who read the text version or don’t bother to allow the images on their email. I know I always allow the images from emails of people I trust but then not everyone is like me. Reckon I’ll have to keep that in mind next time I do a culling.
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Yeah Sire, I saved about 20 subscribers with the last “last chance” email I sent because they responded and said they wanted to stay subscribed. It’s also a good idea to educate subscribers by asking them to allow images or click the link to view online. That’s why we those lines at the header of so many emails.
Yeah, well I certainly won’t be doing another cull without letting those people know Brian. Obviously you know about how I link back to a persons site once they subscribe, as an incentive, well I will be removing that once I have 100 members.
I know 100 list members isn’t much, but then again I don’t want to start a link farm do I?
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Sire recently posted..How To Buy A Lottery Ticket Using PayPal
Sometimes the actual problem is that we donot subscribe to any emails but still recieve them in bulk on a daily basis through various channels. If the such mails are of no use to us, we tend to ignore them. Thus, it makes sense if the sender sends a genuine confirmation mail to alter the mailing list.
Your post absolutely serves all the answers to the mailing list deletion questions. However, I would like to add on my part on this topic. According to me, the people not replying even to the confirmation mail should be deleted definitely without waiting to give them a next chance.
Very informative blog! Thanks for sharing this information. I would agree that there are indeed a lot of people whose purpose is to deceive many just for their personal gain. I hope this blog could reach as many readers to share this worldwide.
Hi Brian, I am planning to take your advice on this and I’m going to do this at least once every 2 months. Thanks for the video too!
It is very necessary for the bloggers to remove inactive subscribers from the list and in this way we will be able to Increase ROI of our email marketing campaign. Thanks.
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