S1:E3 | Email Hygiene: From Detox to an Inbox that Rocks

Episode Summary:

In this episode, Jeremy dives deep into email hygiene, a crucial topic for maintaining strong digital fundraising results. He shares strategies to clean up your email list, improve deliverability, and avoid “email jail,” where poor list quality can hurt open rates and sender reputation. Learn how to detox your email lists, boost open rates, and ensure that your messages reach the right inbox. By following these steps, you’ll be on your way to an inbox that rocks!

Key Takeaways:

1. Why Email Hygiene Matters: Clean email lists ensure higher deliverability, which is essential for fundraising success. Jeremy highlights a cautionary tale of a nonprofit that faced disastrous results after neglecting their email hygiene.

2. Understanding Email “Jail”: Low engagement and poor list quality can lead your emails to the dreaded spam folder. Learn how Google, Yahoo, and other providers use algorithms to decide whether emails go to inboxes or spam.

3. Steps to Improve Email Hygiene:

   • IP Warm-Up: Gradually send emails over a period of days to improve sender reputation.
   • Segmenting & Suppression: Only send emails to active users who’ve opened an email in the last 6-12 months to keep engagement high.
   • Third-Party Verification: Tools like Kickbox, ZeroBounce, and EmailListVerify can cleanse your list by identifying active, inactive, and suspicious emails.

4. Reengagement Campaigns and Best Practices:

   • Use dedicated IP addresses for improved reputation.
   • Regularly cleanse email lists—ideally once or twice a year.
   • Archive inactive emails to repurpose for social media and advertising, such as on Facebook Lookalike audiences.

Notable Quotes:

• “If you want a healthy email program, you have to go beyond just collecting emails – it’s about quality over quantity.”
• “Cutting down your email list might sound scary, but a lean, engaged list beats a massive, unresponsive one every time.”

Call to Action:

Subscribe to The Jeremy Haselwood Show for more insights on digital fundraising, and connect with Jeremy on Instagram @jeremy.haselwood or LinkedIn for questions or further guidance.

Additional Resources:

• Explore Jeremy’s book, The Digital Fundraising Blueprint on Amazon for comprehensive digital fundraising strategies.
• Check out JeremyHaselwood.com for more resources and tools to boost your email and digital fundraising success.