Know-How Exchange : E-Marketing

Preliminary Measures to Ensure a Clean List
Prior to scrubbing your email list, change your processes to avoid tainting your list as you clean it. You can improve your data collection techniques by using data verification at signup. The following will keep bad addresses from getting onto your list in the first place:
• Verify user@domain.extension format as part of the signup process to ensure the emails are valid.
• Consider asking subscribers to enter their email address twice when opting in. While you may decide to use a single opt-in strategy, the double entry of email addresses will help maintain clean data if it has become an issue.

Steps for Scrubbing an Existing List
Once you’ve made the above changes to your email collection processes, spend some time manually cleaning your list it with the following steps:
1) On an ongoing basis, remove unsubscribes and hard (vs. soft) bounced email addresses immediately. Set a schedule for doing so on an ongoing basis and stick to it.
2) De-duplicate. That means eliminate any duplicate email addresses. If your ESP does not do this automatically, do it manually. While most, if not all ESPs handle basic de-duping, you’ll want to carefully look at your final audience if you are merging multiple audiences or throttling.
3) Remove and/or correct bad domains.
a. Search for and correct simple data entry mistakes like misspelled domains (at&t.com, alo.com, hotmil.com, etc.).
b. If you’re finding bad domains, determine how those addresses got onto your list. Do you have data capture problem? What can you do to eliminate the possibility of bad domains making it on to your list in the future?
c. The presence of dead domains like attbi.com and alltel.net show that you haven’t been performing consistent list hygiene. Definitely remove them and commit to regular list scrubbing in the future.
6) Remove obvious fake accounts, addresses that were entered as a prank or are plain garbage. Look for addresses like test@, asdf@, qwerty@, and common expletives as user names.
7) Remove "spam" email addresses. Email addresses with the word "spam" in them are likely to be spam traps. Remove “junk” email addresses for the same reason.
8) Remove inactive addresses and move these to a separate list for a re-engagement campaign. The more frequently you mail, the more frequently you should determine who is no longer engaged (no opens, no clicks) and remove them from your primary mailing list.
9) When in doubt, leave it out. With some addresses, you won’t be able to tell. Is ahole@testdomain.net a valid address? If you don’t know, leave it off the list. Why risk hitting a spam trap or getting a complaint from questionable addresses? Remove them from your list and send a double opt-in request to questionable addresses. Delete all that do not opt in.

Thank you for your response. As I thought, it is going to be long process - basically starting all over again to collect valid email data and permissions. We are a printer, so the cost to do a direct mail piece is minimal to us and may be our best option to get the ball rolling in the right direction.