Summary
Importing email contacts requires a multi-faceted approach focusing on consent, data quality, sender authentication, and ongoing maintenance. The email address is the essential field, but obtaining and verifying explicit consent through methods like double opt-in is paramount to comply with regulations like GDPR and maintain a good sender reputation. Data hygiene involves cleaning lists by removing duplicates, invalid emails, inactive contacts, and utilizing suppression lists. Segmentation helps tailor messaging, improving engagement and reducing unsubscribes. Sender authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) and ongoing list scrubbing are critical for deliverability. For ESPs, pre-contract list checks and sandbox environments help manage client performance.
Key findings
- Email Address is Key, But Not the Only Factor: While the email address is the only technically required field, the quality and consent associated with that address are far more important.
- Consent is Non-Negotiable: Explicit consent is critical, and ESPs must take steps to verify this consent, especially for 3rd party lists. Implement a double opt-in to improve consent.
- Data Hygiene is Ongoing: List cleaning and validation are not one-time tasks but require continuous effort.
- Segmentation is Powerful: Segmentation helps tailor messaging, driving engagement and reducing unsubscribes.
- Authentication Protects Reputation: Implementing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is crucial for preventing abuse and maintaining deliverability.
- ESPs have a Responsibility: ESPs should implement safeguards like pre-contract list checks and sandbox environments to protect their reputation and deliverability.
Key considerations
- Legal Compliance: Be aware of and comply with data privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA.
- List Source: Understand the origin of your list and ensure proper consent was obtained.
- Validation Tools: Invest in and utilize email validation tools to improve data quality.
- Suppression List Management: Implement an automated system for adding bounces and opt-outs to suppression lists.
- Authentication Implementation: Configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records for your sending domain.
- ESP Onboarding: For ESPs, establish a robust onboarding process for new clients.
- Client Communications: Clearly communicate list import requirements and best practices to clients.
What email marketers say
11 marketer opinions
Importing email contacts requires attention to consent, data hygiene, and ongoing maintenance. Explicit consent, often verified with double opt-in, is paramount for compliance with regulations like GDPR. Essential fields include email address and optionally first name for personalization. Pre-import cleaning involves removing duplicates, validating syntax and email existence, and segmenting the list. Post-import strategies include welcome series, segmentation, personalization, and analytics tracking. Furthermore, ESPs should conduct pre-contract list checks, suppress unsubscribes and bounces, and start clients in a sandbox environment. Continual monitoring of metrics like bounces and complaints is vital for maintaining deliverability and a good sender reputation.
Key opinions
- Consent is Crucial: Explicit consent is required before importing contacts, and double opt-in is recommended to verify.
- Data Hygiene Matters: Cleaning lists by removing duplicates, invalid emails, and inactive contacts is essential.
- Segmentation Enhances Performance: Segmenting lists improves targeting, engagement, and deliverability.
- Ongoing Maintenance is Key: Regular monitoring of bounces, complaints, and engagement is necessary to maintain a healthy list.
- ESPs Should Implement Safeguards: ESPs need to have pre-contract list checks and monitor client's performance to ensure deliverability.
Key considerations
- Legal Compliance: Ensure compliance with regulations like GDPR and other privacy laws when importing contacts.
- List Validation: Implement validation processes to verify email syntax and existence.
- Suppression Lists: Utilize suppression lists to exclude unsubscribed and bounced addresses.
- Post-Import Engagement: Implement welcome series and personalization to engage new contacts.
- Performance Tracking: Monitor key metrics like bounces, complaints, and engagement to assess list health and adjust strategies.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks suggests that depending on the use case, a language preference could be helpful for international audiences. Also suggests consent history, consent split by channel, a quality rating and fields for segmentation may be useful.
12 Aug 2024 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Email marketer from MailerLite Blog explains to always obtain explicit consent before importing contacts. They stress the importance of complying with GDPR and other privacy regulations, and suggest using double opt-in to ensure consent is verifiable.
15 Aug 2022 - MailerLite Blog
What the experts say
5 expert opinions
When importing email contacts, the minimal required field is the email address itself, provided there's existing contractual consent. Experts emphasize verifying consent, often through client certification and tools like Kickbox. Continuous list hygiene is crucial for deliverability and to determine the quality of a list, with validation and scrubbing being ongoing processes. In addition, for third-party lists, ensuring proper permission transfer or re-obtaining consent is important. While removing dead domains manually isn't useful, tracking them can reflect a list's quality.
Key opinions
- Email is Mandatory: Email address is the only absolutely required field during import.
- Consent is paramount: Verifying consent is essential, particularly if the list is from a third-party source.
- List Hygiene is Continuous: Ongoing list hygiene is more effective than just a one-time cleanup during import.
- Dead Domain Metric: Counting dead domains, rather than removing them, reveals the list's overall quality.
Key considerations
- Consent Verification: Determine the methods used to certify consent, such as contractual agreements or list verification tools.
- Hygiene Practices: Establish a process for continuous list scrubbing and validation.
- Third-Party List Permissions: Ensure permission transfer for third-party databases or re-obtain consent.
- List Quality Evaluation: Monitor the number of dead domains to gauge the overall quality of the imported list.
- Audit Trails: Implement audit states (like 'never mail this') to comply with consent.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks suggests asking clients where the list originated and whether they'll certify that everyone has given consent. Also recommends running the list through Kickbox to verify emails.
26 May 2023 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says removing dead domains is pointless, as bounce management should handle this automatically. He explains Counting dead domains gives you a measure of just how poor the imported list is.
24 Aug 2023 - Email Geeks
What the documentation says
5 technical articles
When importing email contacts, documentation from various sources emphasizes the importance of valid, opted-in email addresses. Mailchimp requires this and may suspend non-compliant lists. Verifying sender identity through SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is crucial for deliverability and abuse prevention, as highlighted by AWS. Microsoft Dynamics 365 recommends segmentation for targeted messaging and reduced unsubscribes. SparkPost advises maintaining suppression lists for opt-outs and bounces to protect list health. Finally, RFC documentation stresses the need to understand email syntax for effective list validation.
Key findings
- Opt-in Required: Imported email addresses must be valid and opted-in.
- Sender Authentication: Verifying sender identity with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC improves deliverability.
- Segmentation Improves Targeting: Segmentation enhances engagement and reduces unsubscribes.
- Suppression Lists are Vital: Maintain suppression lists to protect list health.
- Proper Syntax: Email addresses need to adhere to RFC email syntax.
Key considerations
- Compliance Policies: Be aware of the import requirements set by your ESP, like Mailchimp.
- Authentication Setup: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC for your sending domain.
- Segmentation Criteria: Define criteria for segmenting your list, such as demographics and behavior.
- Suppression Management: Ensure an automated process to add bounces and opt-outs to your suppression list.
- Validation Methods: Have a way to check the validity of email address, for example using the RFC specifications
Technical article
Documentation from SparkPost shares that you should always have a suppression list for people to opt-out or who have previously bounced. This protects your lists overall health and protects deliverability.
28 Dec 2022 - SparkPost
Technical article
Documentation from Amazon Web Services explains that verifying the identity of the sender email address or domain is a critical step for ensuring deliverability and preventing abuse. They recommend using SPF, DKIM and DMARC.
12 Aug 2024 - Amazon Web Services
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