Fixing outdated mailing list issues

Are you cleaning your email list regularly? Many brands will flex about the size of their email list, but in reality, a good number of those emails should be suppressed. What ends up happening over time is that your Klaviyo bill grows and increases because of this. So essentially, you're paying for someone who never engaged (and never will). To clean the list, create the following segment: - If someone can or cannot receive marketing > can receive email marketing AND  - What someone has done or not done > Received email is at 5 in the last 180 days AND  - What someone has done or not done > Opened email 0 times over all time AND  - What someone has done or not done > Clicked email 0 times over all time AND  - What someone has done or not done > Viewed Product 0 times over all time AND  - What someone has done or not done > Placed Order 0 times over all time Once you have created your segment, you can suppress those that did not engage with your sunset flow. To suppress the segment:  1. Go to the Lists & segments tab. 2. Click the Never engaged segment and click the 3 dots to the far right. 3. Click Suppress current members to suppress all of the unengaged profiles in bulk. On the confirmation modal, confirm the number of profiles you’d like to suppress. But that's suppressing the unengaged, there is more to list cleaning. Make sure to also do the following: -> Suppressing the unengaged – You stop emailing contacts who haven’t opened or clicked in 60–90+ days (depending on your send volume and business model). -> Removing hard bounces – These are invalid emails that failed to deliver. Keeping them hurts your sender reputation. -> Deleting spam complaints – If someone marked your email as spam, remove them. Keeping them increases risk with inbox providers. -> Checking for role-based or generic emails – Like info@, support@, etc. These often don’t belong to a real subscriber and can be risky. -> Running an email verification tool (optional but useful) – Especially for old lists, this helps identify invalid or risky emails before sending.

A client once came to me frustrated. They had tens of thousands of dormant subscribers — people who hadn’t opened an email in months. So, they did what most marketers do... They launched a re-engagement campaign. Subject lines were optimized. Timing was tested. They even offered discounts and bonuses. Crickets... Hardly anyone opened the emails. Fewer clicked. It looked like the list was just… dead. But here’s the thing: The list wasn’t dead. Emails never reached their audience. The real problem? Their sender reputation was in the gutter. Too many past sends to unengaged contacts. Poor list hygiene. Poor response rates. Spam complaints. They were trying to re-engage ghosts, because the emails weren’t making it to the inbox in the first place. So we flipped the strategy: ✅ Fixed the root deliverability issues ✅ Segmented by most recent engagement ✅ Cleaned the list and re-built trust with aligned content ✅ Slowly reintroduced traffic and warmed up the domain Only then did we try re-engagement again — and this time, it worked. So the takeaway: Your list isn’t the issue, but your email deliverability might be. If your deliverability is broken, even the best emails won’t convert. Fix the foundation first. Then re-engage.

The Email secret 90% of Marketers miss: And It’s Not Just About Open Rates! I once helped a client discover that 30% of their “engaged” email list was full of dead ends. This was also affecting conversions and revenue. The culprit? Bounces. But not all bounces are created equal—and ignoring the difference could tank your sender reputation. Here’s the breakdown: 𝗦𝗼𝗳𝘁 𝗕𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 (𝗧𝗵𝗲 “𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲” 𝗭𝗼𝗻𝗲): Temporary delivery failures. Causes: Full inboxes, server outages, or temporary blocklisting. Fix: Wait it out. If it happens 3 times in a short span, remove the address. 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗕𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 (𝗧𝗵𝗲 “𝗡𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿” 𝗭𝗼𝗻𝗲): Permanent failures. Causes: Invalid addresses (typos like “gmial.com”), abandoned accounts, or catch-all inboxes that silently swallow (catch-all status) emails, even after you verified the list. Fix: Remove these immediately. Sending to them repeatedly flags you as spam. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀: Clean lists = higher engagement = better ROI. ISPs track bounce rates to decide if you’re a spammer. Weekly list audits prevent deliverability disasters. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻? - Ask your email service provider how they handle bounces (do they auto-retry soft ones?). - Scrub hard bounces after the first failure. - Monitor soft bounces like a hawk—3 strikes, they’re out. - Test-drive solutions like EmailAddress.ai to pre-verify addresses and avoid guessing which emails are valid, catch-alls, or outright spam traps. As someone who’s spent 20+ years in B2B data industry, I’ve seen companies lose deals because their “perfect” email list wasn't perfect after all. Tools that separate real leads from dead ends turn your data into a revenue engine—not a liability. Seeing bounce issues as well? DM me for a chat! #EmailMarketing #B2BData #LeadGeneration #GTMStrategy

So say, you’re sending emails to a list weekly. You know the content is delicious because the open rates are very healthy, about 20% above the industry norm. Then, overnight, the open rates TANK. Free fall. Off a cliff. 📉🚽 The content is still aces. You know because it performs quite well on other platforms. ❓ What would you do to troubleshoot? I saw this question 👆 on Threads yesterday. Here was my answer: First check authentication: (use mxtoolbox(.)com) - SPF - DKIM - DMARC Second, make sure the DMARC record has the right policy. Should be p=none for the most part. Third, check google postmaster tools. Look at spam complaints, domain reputation, IP reputation, and authentication. If everything looks good there... Fourth, check blacklists (use mxtoolbox(.)com again) Fifth, use a tool like GlockApps to test inbox placement. Can help you see if it's a domain issue or mailbox provider issue. Sixth, review new opt ins. How is the list being built? Organically? Paid ads? Recommendation engines like SparkLoop? Scraped? Seventh, review engagement. Is there a segment of the list who is unengaged, yet still receiving the content. Then because of their unengagement, damaged the domain reputation, which is now causing inboxing issues. There is more you can do, but most of time, the issue will present itself at one of those steps. What do you think... did I miss anything? #marketing #emailmarketing #emailmarketingstrategy

Your email list is too big, and that’s the problem... Everyone brags about how big their list is. But a bloated list full of cold, unengaged, or dead emails? That’s not an asset. That’s a liability. Here’s what bad list hygiene leads to: 📉 Low open rates 📉 Spam folder placement 📉 Higher unsubscribe rates 📉 Crushed sender reputation Here’s how to fix it 👇 🧹 Remove Ghost Subscribers ✅ If someone hasn’t opened an email in 90–120 days, it’s time to sunset or suppress them. ✅ Exceptions? Only if they’ve purchased recently or are active on another channel (like SMS). 📩 Run Re-Engagement Campaigns (Smartly) ✅ Before removing them, send a simple 2–3 email winback flow: “Still want to hear from us?” Include a reason to stay: a benefit, a new offer, or even just a brand update. 🧠 Monitor List Health Monthly ✅ Look at these KPIs: - Open rate - Click-to-open - Spam complaints - Bounce rate A dip in any of these = time to clean up. 🚫 Never Buy or Import Random Lists Seems obvious, but… still happens. ✅ If they didn’t opt in, they don’t belong on your list. Period. ⚙️ Pro Tip: Create an “engaged” segment that updates automatically (opened or clicked in the last 30–60 days). Send to this group first for important sends to protect deliverability. Your list isn’t about size. It’s about quality, intent, and action. Keep it lean. Keep it warm. #emailmarketing #ecommerce #ecom   #listbuilding #klaviyoemailmarketing #emailstrategy   #retentionmarketing #scalingbrands #EmailsThatPrintMoney #InboxRevenuePlaybook

If you run an eCom brand, your email list is one of your most valuable assets. But if you don't keep it clean - it can lose steam (faster than most realize). And getting momentum back isn’t a straightforward, or quick, process. The best method to keep momentum, other than sending quality messages and targeting appropriately, is to clean your list. 3 steps for email list hygiene: 1. Remove hard bounces and invalid email addresses. 2. Regularly re-engage inactive subscribers with targeted campaigns. 3. Segment your list and send targeted, relevant content to each group. Don't let inactive subscribers damage your sender reputation.  Re-engage them or remove them. Because, without a healthy email list, you risk your deliverability, open rates, and conversions.

Google “how to clean my email list”, and most content online will tell you to remove inactive subscribers. I disagree. Here's why: When businesses hire me to tune up their email marketing, their previous email marketing approach has typically been:- - inconsistent - unengaging - ineffective. So of course you're going to have inactive subscribers in this case. The fact they’re inactive says more about the standard of your email marketing than it does about their interest in what you can offer them. (Not telling you off, just telling you the truth.) That’s why I advise the following: 1st, do a top-level clean of your list. Remove:- - duplicates - spam traps - fake email addresses - hard bounces from previous campaigns 2nd, plan and execute a re-engagement campaign to your list to set pace and tell them what's going on happening with your email list from here on in. THEN you can see who's active vs who's not, and further segment/clean your list accordingly. That all make sense yeah?

Is Your Dealership Email Marketing Driving Off a Cliff? Shocking Stats That Blew Me Away  • 30% of your email list goes bad EVERY YEAR  • 10%+ bad emails = Less than 44% delivered  • 2.5% of emails decay MONTHLY What This Means for Your Dealership 1. You're wasting time and money on undelivered messages 2. Your brand reputation is taking a hit 3. Potential customers are slipping through your fingers The Solution to Fix Your Issue Get all your data in a system you own. Then, run monthly data cleaning because it isn't just good hygiene—it's VITAL for deliverability. Ask Yourself When was the last time you scrubbed your email list? Take Action At Your Dealership Don't let outdated data derail your marketing. Clean your list, boost deliverability, and accelerate your sales. #QoreAI #DealershipMarketing #EmailStrategy #AutoSales

Here's Why Your Biggest Email Marketing Problem Isn't Unsubscribes Over 50% of your subscribers may have already checked out. They don’t open. They don’t click. They don’t engage. But they’re still on your list, Quietly dragging down your deliverability and wasting your budget. This is the Silent Unsubscribers problem People who never formally unsubscribe but have already tuned out. If you’re only tracking unsubscribes, You’re missing the real issue. The fix? Start cleaning your list regularly. Remove inactive subscribers, run re-engagement campaigns, and focus on quality over quantity. Because a bloated list isn’t a successful one. An engaged list is. When was the last time you cleaned yours? #EmailMarketing #RetentionStrategy #MarketingOptimization #ListManagement