Start growing your email list today
I’m not going to lie — email marketing is my absolute sweet spot! It’s such a powerful tool that can make a big difference to your business. And no, your list doesn’t need to be massive. A small audience of engaged, ideal clients will always beat a big, random one… which leads nicely to today’s topic.
To get the most out of your email list, it needs to be loved. That means regular TLC from you to keep it performing well — and avoid unsubscribes, spam complaints or (shudder) bounce issues.
Let’s keep your subscribers happy, primed and ready to buy.
Now that we’ve cleared up the mystery bit, let’s dive into why this happens and what you can do to work around it.
Here’s a quick checklist to clean up and refresh your email marketing:
As your list starts to grow, it’s easy for things to get a bit… messy. Like your inbox when you’ve ignored it for a week (or three). If you don’t stay on top of your email list, you can end up with outdated automations running in the background, random tags all over the place, and worst of all — a list full of people who haven’t opened an email in months.
But here’s the thing: just because someone’s quiet doesn’t mean they’re not interested. Life gets busy, inboxes get crowded, and sometimes your emails just fall through the cracks. So rather than booting these people off your list completely, it’s much better to spot who they are and adapt how you’re communicating with them.
Take a look at your last 6 months of email data and see who hasn’t opened or clicked. These are the folks who’ve gone a bit quiet — not gone forever, just snoozing.
Once you’ve found them, tag them as ‘unengaged’ or pop them into a separate segment. Then change how often you contact them.
Here’s how:
This gives you a chance to gently remind them you’re still around without overwhelming their inbox.
Some marketers will tell you to chop them from your list — but I’m not in that camp. Studies have shown that even subscribers who haven’t engaged in a while can still come back and convert down the line. People open the right email at the right time. So don’t write them off too soon!
Instead, keep them in the loop with less frequent emails, and put your focus into attracting new, engaged subscribers while gently re-engaging the quieter ones.
Now that you’ve identified your quieter subscribers and given them their own space, it’s the perfect time to take a fresh look at how your whole list is structured.
Think about what kind of emails you’re sending, who they’re for, and how you could make them even more relevant. Organising your list properly helps you send the right message to the right people — which means better engagement, happier subscribers, and more sales.
Why is email segmentation important
not all subscribers are the same, so why send them all the same email? For me (as an email-enthusiast) I love digging deeper into the list to maximise every opportunity, but for lots of my clients, it’s an area they totally overlook.
If I told you that you could draw even more value from your list, just by grouping people by type and then sending those groups slightly different messages, you’d want to give it a try, right? Of course you would!
Try breaking your list into groups like:
The more relevant your emails are, the better your results.
Now you’ve cleaned your list and re-organised the subscribers it’s time to look at the different types of emails you’re sending.
Is the content up to date? Does it align with your brand values? Could you make it even more customer focused? Could you try out some new ideas?
All great questions to apply to any of the different email types you might be sending.
Carefully crafting your welcome sequence probably took you forever, but be honest, when’s the last time you refreshed it? If it’s not been updated in a long time then it may not reflect where your business is today and could be at odds with the current messaging on your website or socials, which isn’t a great first impression with a new subscriber.
Also remember that your welcome sequence is just that, it’s to welcome people who are brand new to your emails, so they aren’t engaged yet and they aren’t quite ready for the hard sell either! At this stage you are trying to warm them up, demonstrate your value and then incentivise them to buy.
Take another look at your welcome sequence and make sure it:
Not everyone has a nurture sequence as some businesses choose to go straight from the welcome emails into their regular newsletters, and that’s totally fine. But if you’re curious to know more about how these work, they are brilliant for building the know-like-trust factor that gently moves the reader from engaged subscriber into ready-to-buy mode.
A nurture sequence gives you an opportunity to explain your business on a deeper level, beyond just what you sell and how it helps. Here’s a few examples of the type of content that can work really well in a nurture sequence:
Ok, so this one sounds like stating the obvious, but I’m saying it because I know for a fact that setting up email automations can take a lot of thought and once we’ve finished, we don’t ever want to go there again!! Which means automations often get set and then never reviewed, which is another missed opportunity to fine tune your email results.
Here are the important questions to ask yourself:
A great way to sanity check your email flows is to go through just them like your subscriber would, so you’re experiencing them in the exact same way your reader is. Sounds simple, because it is simple! So, no excuses on this one, put yourself into your readers shoes and get busy refining the process.
This one is a biggie! Going at your email content like it’s War and Peace is a total turn off for your subscribers. Too many words can instantly repel the reader so that eventually they stop engaging, or worse still they hit that unsubscribe button because they just don’t have the time to read your super-long emails!
As customers we are brutal when it comes to emails. We get so much landing in our inboxes these days that we’ve become more and more selective about what we actually read.
Our time is precious and if an email looks copy heavy on first look it’s likely to get swerved in favour of something shorter. Why? Because we want to know what we want to know quickly! So make it nice and easy for them to grasp your message/offer/point straight away.
Less is definitely more when it comes to email content.
This one is the holy grail of email content. You might want to shoehorn every little detail of your products or services into every single email, but I can guarantee that’s not what your subscribers are wanting to read.
Here’s a few pointers on how to make your content shine:
Try to keep it concise so that it’s easy to skim read but also the right balance of copy for those who do want to read it from start to finish.
Formatting is everything so break up your copy into short paragraphs and use headings to signpost what’s in each section.
Ditch the corporate tone and try writing how you speak, a bit like you’d talk to a friend if they were stood in front of you.
Use one clear call-to-action to avoid too many choices leading to analysis paralysis. You want them to do something, not nothing after they read your email.
Keep it consistent by sticking to a regular sending schedule as this builds familiarity and trust. Doesn’t matter whether that’s weekly or monthly or something else, just stick to it!
A haphazard email strategy confuses subscribers, leads to poor engagement and can undo all that hard work you did to build your list in the first place. If you’re going to invest time in email marketing it makes sense to take a structured, step-by-step approach that gives your subscribers a great experience.
Done well, email marketing will help you build stronger relationships with potential new customers, driving up your leads and sales. It will also keep your existing customers engaged with your brand to encourage repeat business and referrals.
Here’s a quick reminder on what to do next:
A messy list and random emails can confuse your subscribers and undo all your hard work. But with a few simple tweaks, you can get better results and a more engaged audience.
🧹 Find your quiet subscribers and send them less frequent, value-packed emails
🗂️ Segment your list so you can send the right messages to the right people
🔁 Refresh your welcome and nurture sequences to match your current brand
⚙️ Review your automations to make sure they’re still relevant and working
✂️ Keep your emails short and focused so they’re easy to read and act on
Email marketing works best when it’s structured, relevant, and consistent.
When your emails speak to the right people in the right way — that’s when the magic happens.
If your email marketing has been sat on your to-do list for far too long — or you’ve tried to tackle it and ended up knee-deep in tags, templates and tech — you don’t have to figure it all out on your own.
I offer practical, no-nonsense email marketing services to help you get things set up properly and working like they should. Whether you’re starting from scratch or need a full refresh, I can help you turn your list into a tool that actually supports your sales.
👉 Click here to explore my email marketing services
Let’s get your emails — and your results — flying.
