Understanding the Risks of Sending to Old Email Lists
Sending emails to an outdated list poses multiple risks, including:
- High Bounce Rates: Older email lists tend to have a higher percentage of addresses that have been deactivated or abandoned. If many of your emails bounce, ISPs may classify your domain as risky, leading to lower deliverability and inbox placement.
- Spam Traps and Blacklists: Some old email addresses may have been repurposed as spam traps. If you send emails to these addresses, your sender reputation could suffer, and you might end up on email blacklists.
- Increased Complaint Rates: Subscribers who haven’t heard from you in a long time may not remember signing up for your emails. As a result, they may mark your emails as spam, further damaging your reputation.
- Yahoo and Hotmail have deactivation policies for inactive email addresses. If an address becomes disabled due to inactivity, it will generate a bounce message like: "554 30 Sorry, your message to [email protected] cannot be delivered. This mailbox is disabled (554.30)." However, these providers do not always indicate when an email address has been completely deactivated.
- Some deactivated Yahoo addresses will produce a different bounce message: "552 1 Requested mail action aborted, mailbox not found." The distinction between a disabled and deactivated address is unclear, but Yahoo has become more aggressive in disabling accounts in recent years.
Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, AOL, and other free email providers have become increasingly strict with email filtering and bounce detection. These providers aim to reduce spam and protect user inboxes, which means they implement aggressive filtering techniques that can affect email deliverability. This is especially true when sending to older email lists that may contain inactive or abandoned accounts.
In early 2024, Gmail and Yahoo introduced several stricter requirements for email senders to enhance security and reduce spam. These requirements were implemented to ensure that emails are delivered to inboxes rather than spam folders and to protect users from malicious content. Here are the key updates:
- Mandatory SPF and DKIM Authentication: Senders must set up these protocols to verify their identities.
- DMARC Setup: Required for high-volume senders, with an enforcement policy that can be set to "none."
- Domain Alignment: The domain in the sender's From: header must align with either the SPF or DKIM domain.
- Valid Forward and Reverse DNS Records: Necessary for sending domains or IPs.
- TLS Connection: Emails must be sent over a secure TLS connection.
- Spam Complaints Below 0.3%: Monitored through Google Postmaster Tools.
- No Impersonation of Gmail "From:" Headers: To prevent domain spoofing.
- One-Click Unsubscribe Links: Required for marketing messages.
- Message Format According to RFC 5322: Ensures emails are properly formatted.
- SPF and DKIM Records: Mandatory for all sending domains.
- DMARC for High-Volume Senders: With a policy set to "none."
- Domain Alignment: Similar to Gmail's requirement.
- Spam Complaints Below 0.3%: Ensures low spam rates.
- Easy Unsubscription: One-click unsubscribe links are required.
By April 1, 2024, Google began rejecting emails from bulk senders that did not meet these new authentication requirements, further emphasizing the importance of compliance. These changes are part of ongoing efforts to improve email security and deliverability.
Our recommendation is that if you haven't emailed an address in over a year, then no, it is not a good idea to email them. While some people may think it seems like a good way to re-engage past subscribers, outdated email addresses can harm your sender reputation and email deliverability. Note that emailing addresses that haven't heard from you in a long time increases the likelihood they will mark your emails as spam. And if your spam rate goes above 0.3% for Yahoo and Gmail as of April 2024 (and likely more providers in the future), you'll be blocked completely. This scenario is not worth the risk, in our opinion.
Instead, we recommend finding ways to get subscribers to resubscribe so you can get new consent from them. For example, uploading lists to custom audiences of various ad networks and social platforms is a good way to remind them of who you are and why they should resubscribe to your list.
However, if you insist on emailing an old list knowing the risks, you should consider some best practices to reduce the impact on your bounce rates and sender reputation as much as possible.
1. Clean Your List Before Sending
- Use an email verification service like mailfloss to remove invalid, inactive, and risky email addresses.
- Identify and remove spam traps, role-based addresses, and temporary emails.
2. Segment the List and Send in Small Batches
- Divide your list into smaller segments based on recency of activity or past engagement.
- Start with a small test batch to assess performance before scaling up.
3. Monitor Bounce Rates and Complaints
- Set up real-time monitoring for bounces, complaints, and unsubscribes.
- If a segment generates a high bounce rate, stop sending to it immediately.
4. Use a Re-Engagement Campaign
- Send a ‘We Miss You’ email with an option for recipients to confirm their interest.
- Offer an incentive (discounts, exclusive content) to encourage engagement.
5. Authenticate Your Emails
- Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to verify your domain.
- Use a dedicated sending domain and maintain a good sender reputation.
6. Monitor Deliverability Metrics
- Keep track of open rates, click rates, and spam complaints.
- Remove unengaged subscribers after multiple attempts to re-engage them.
7. Use a Warming Strategy for Large Lists
- Gradually increase the sending volume to avoid sudden spikes in email activity.
- Start with your most engaged subscribers and slowly expand to less active ones.
8. Consider Using a Separate IP Address for Older Lists
- This lowers the risk of damaging your main IP address reputation
- This might not be an option depending on your Email Service Provider, but is worth considering if it is.
By understanding these risks and implementing best practices, you can protect your sender reputation and improve email performance. Always remember to prioritize quality over quantity when it comes to email marketing!
