Understanding Email List Churn and Decay Part 2: Decay
Everything decays. While it is quick and easy to see the decay in something like food, it is less easy to see it in something like the wooden frame of a house. Building materials are especially concerning as they underpin dwellings, and often the decay is difficult to notice. No one gives it a thought until disaster strikes — a floor leaks, or a wall falls down. Your email list is the support structure for your digital program — and despite digital items giving the appearance of being eternal, it also is likely decaying, at least at its active core. That is to say, you are slowly losing usable email addresses, and every year your list of active engagers is possibly getting smaller. Thankfully, awareness is half the battle. To begin to address this decay, we must first differentiate decay vs. churn (which we wrote about in our previous entry).
You may have noticed email list size isn’t staying the same from year to year. As we noted in our previous entry, it’s estimated that around 30% of for-profit email lists “churn” annually. While that is worth keeping an eye on, it is the decay that is truly dangerous — churn only sets the stage.
What is Email List Decay?
Decay happens when a portion of your email list leaves without being replaced by new subscribers. This means that if you had 100 email subscribers at the beginning of the year and lost 30 by the end of the year, but only gained 20 new ones in return, then your list has decayed by 10 subscribers, not just “churned” them out with replacements. If this pattern continues over time, it can result in a dwindling number of subscribers and cause serious problems for digital fundraisers.
How Can I Avoid Email List Decay?
The best way to avoid email list decay is to make sure that your lists are always in tip-top shape and free from any discrepancies or errors. You should also be vigilant about watching out for your email audience reporting your email as spam or junk, since these can quickly drain away valuable subscriber numbers if ignored for too long. Additionally, try to capture as many email addresses as possible — events, newsletters and national prospects (from PBS or NPR) are all great ways to do this. And use software tools, such as Fresh Address, to validate them before adding them onto your own lists. (This will help prevent fake emails from slipping through and impacting your deliverability.) Finally, figure out what is driving your list churn or decay so you know what changes need to be made in order to keep more people subscribed (and fewer leaving)! Once you understand this data inside and out, you’ll be well on your way to avoiding decay!
What Are a Few Quick Tips to Avoid Decay?
To begin with, the lower your churn, the lower the risk of decay. That takes quality content and a strong email program. Additionally, there are a few simple items that can help provide some extra armor against the scourge of decay:
Have a super easy-to-find way for folks to sign up for a newsletter on your site — do not make potential audience members search for a way to get more information.
Automatically subscribe your new donors to a newsletter. Drive engagement beyond them simply receiving renewal reminders and such — demonstrate the ongoing value of the organization.
Make 100% sure your emails provide content that is valuable to the audience—for every item, ask yourself, “What is the value in this portion of the email?”
Keep a laser focus on deliverability (how many of your emails actually hit the inbox of your audience). To this end:
Do not over email, especially on the same subject matter. A drama newsletter and event invite on the same day is okay, but two event invites would be too much. Our general guidance is at most one email a day that asks for money in some way: e-solicitation, ticket sales promotion, special pledge premium, etc. — just choose one.
Be very aware of simple spam triggers in your email — subject line issues can be caused by usage of an exclamation point, dollar sign or specific words such as “free” or “win.” While concerns such as those are most important in the subject line, emails that feature a high volume of those triggers in the body copy can also cause deliverability problems. As you prepare to send your email, reread it a few times and ask yourself, “Can this in anyway be taken as scammy or questionable?” If you even think the answer might be yes, consider dialing back the promotional angle a bit.
In Summary
While email list churn is a challenge, it is decay that can have the greatest negative impact on digital fundraisers if they aren't careful. By making sure their lists are error-free and being vigilant about reporting spam complaints as soon as they arise, fundraisers can keep their subscriber numbers steady while still gaining new ones each month, ensuring long-term success for their campaigns! As a quality email program drives engagement across channels — including pledge and mail, in addition to digital — a healthy, thriving email program is vital to the success of your program, and that all starts with a close eye on churn and decay!