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Approaching Email List /w Many Subscribers but No Confirmations

by bperniciaro
11 replies
I wrote a free application a few years back and it has slowly built a following to where I am now at around 17K users. The requirements of my application were such that it didn't make sense to force users to confirm their email address before using the application. Email confirmation should have been requested anyway, but it was never implemented.

So, out of my 17K total users roughly 10K users have agreed to receive email updates. I currently send out maybe 2-3 newsletters an entire year, but want to start sending out more updates and attempt to monetize the list as I'll be pushing a offering paid features on my site in 2015.

When sending email newsletters in the past, I have used free services like MailChimp which allow you to manage say 2K users for free. So I'd send out 2K emails, then load another 2K, send them out etc. Being a free site my budget isn't such that I can afford high priced packages when I rarely send out emails.

So my question is, what is the smartest way to approach this problem when none of my user email addresses have ever been confirmed?

I don't want to start out paying a lot of money for managing 10K email subscribers when it's probable that some addresses are made up and others are no longer in use (the list represents users who have created accounts since 2007).

My initial ideas are:

  1. Implement an email confirmation framework going forward.
  2. Purchase a email service plan with 2K to 3K users and send-out emails specifically asking for email confirmation. Move those users who successfully confirm to a 'Confirmed' list which becomes my working list going forward. The others are removed from the list until they are confirmed. Mark those that bounce as 'Invalid' and remove them from the list as well.
  3. Keep repeating Step 1 until all subscribed users are contacted and processed. At this point I'll have somewhere between 0K and 9K confirmed users who make up my working email list going forward.
  4. In my application, for registered users who have subscribed, but who have not confirmed their email address, hit them with a popup at the beginning of each session asking them to confirm and highlighting the benefits of doing such. As users confirm, add them to my ongoing, confirmed, working email list.
This seems to be the best way to minimize e-mail management costs while still encouraging users to confirm their email at some point.


Does this seem like a logical first step to resolving this problem?


Thanks for your time.
#approaching #confirmations #email #list #or w #subscribers
  • Profile picture of the author Ledux
    I would recommend to sign-up for Aweber and import your list. When importing your list AWeber will send an email to all your leads to confirm the subscription. Yes, only a small portion will confirm. To increase the number let them know with your previous emailer that you are changing your autoresponder service and that they will have to subscribe again.
    Yes, AWeber will cost you a bit of money, but you can easily make it back, if you mail more than 3 times a year.
    Hope that helps.
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    • Profile picture of the author bperniciaro
      Originally Posted by Ledux View Post

      I would recommend to sign-up for Aweber and import your list. When importing your list AWeber will send an email to all your leads to confirm the subscription. Yes, only a small portion will confirm. To increase the number let them know with your previous emailer that you are changing your autoresponder service and that they will have to subscribe again.
      Yes, AWeber will cost you a bit of money, but you can easily make it back, if you mail more than 3 times a year.
      Hope that helps.
      I like the idea of sending out a 'heads-up' email to all of my subscribers. There I can highlight what they'll receive for subscribing and let them know they'll need to re-subscribe as well.
      1. Is there any way around making users re-subscribe? Wouldn't I keep more subscribers by assuming those who already chose to subscribe have chosen to do so? I guess by asking them to re-subscribe I'm condensing my list to those users who are seriously interested?
      2. So how would you handle users who do not confirm through Aweber? Do you just inform then through the app that they're not subscribed and hope they do, since obviously I won't be sending them emails anymore?
      3. If a user has agreed to an email subscription through my site, but doesn't through Aweber, should I change their status to 'not subscribed' in my applicatoin?
      4. If users now have to confirm through Aweber, is there any point to asking them to confirm through my application? Or will I keep my current confirmation process and regularly update my Aweber list with new, confirmed subscribers?
      5. How do you sync lists between Aweber and your application? Is this a manual process?
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  • Profile picture of the author alvinhy
    I agree with Aweber, you can easily kick out the inactive ones with Aweber.

    Import your list to see how many sign up and start engaging with your list.
    Increase the relationship between you and them before you offer and products.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ben Holmes
    This shows the problems you have, and the money you leave on the table, when you try relying on free resources.

    Your best bet would be something like 'List Mail Pro' - I saw a reference to it the other day...

    If you switch now, your 10K list will be a 1K list.
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    • Profile picture of the author bperniciaro
      Originally Posted by Ben Holmes View Post

      This shows the problems you have, and the money you leave on the table, when you try relying on free resources.

      Your best bet would be something like 'List Mail Pro' - I saw a reference to it the other day...
      I'm not sure using a free service was my problem as much as not asking for email confirmation from the beginning. Speaking of which, for users who do not agree to email correspondence, does it even make sense to require email confirmation from them?

      If you switch now, your 10K list will be a 1K list.
      I'm thinking the same thing, bummer.
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      • Profile picture of the author Ben Holmes
        Originally Posted by bperniciaro View Post

        I'm not sure using a free service was my problem as much as not asking for email confirmation from the beginning.
        Aweber wouldn't care if you had a double opt-in list. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong).

        They're going to ask for a NEW confirmation to put those people on the Aweber list. So yes, you're stuck with either using your own autoresponder script, or keep doing what you're doing.

        No paid & reputable company wishes to risk their deliverability by importing such lists as you have without the sub opting in again.

        Originally Posted by bperniciaro View Post

        Speaking of which, for users who do not agree to email correspondence, does it even make sense to require email confirmation from them?
        They agreed originally. If they didn't ... then you are breaking the law. (for example, if you just scraped their email address from online...) They can always unsubscribe from your list by clicking the link.



        I'm thinking the same thing, bummer.[/QUOTE]
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        • Profile picture of the author bperniciaro
          So once I import my entire list into Aweber, and configure an email asking for a re-subscription, how do I handle email confirmation going forward?

          Should I implement this through my site, then regularly import a new list of subscribers to Aweber somehow? Or is there some way to let Aweber do this through automation?
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        • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
          Banned
          Originally Posted by Ben Holmes View Post

          Aweber wouldn't care if you had a double opt-in list. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong).
          You're not "wrong", but it's also not quite as simple as that.

          There are actually circumstances under which Aweber will allow people to import and use directly an existing list without asking initially for a re-confirmation. But they're rare. They're confirmed opt-in lists in "low-risk" industries for which the list-owner has well-documented evidence of opt-in and confirmation, and "tells the tale well". If you ask them, they'll always say (very reasonably) that they decide each case individually on its own merits. But that's what it actually boils down to.

          Similarly with GetResponse, except that they also offer a facility for testing, themselves, a randomly selected sample from the list before determining whether or not the customer may use the list without re-confirmation (or at all!).

          Originally Posted by Ben Holmes View Post

          They're going to ask for a NEW confirmation to put those people on the Aweber list.
          That's likely, yes (if they allow it at all).

          A self-hosted autoresponder may be the solution, here. Mailchimp definitely isn't!

          Originally Posted by bperniciaro View Post

          So once I import my entire list into Aweber, and configure an email asking for a re-subscription, how do I handle email confirmation going forward?

          Should I implement this through my site, then regularly import a new list of subscribers to Aweber somehow? Or is there some way to let Aweber do this through automation?
          Here's the thing: you need to start by discussing both those questions directly with Aweber (they're very approachable and communicative! ) rather than relying on second-hand information from well-meaning people in a forum whose information may turn out to be either not quite up-to-date or not quite applicable and accurate to your circumstances (just like mine may not be).

          (I wouldn't necessarily rule out GetResponse, either, though the chances are perhaps that if you can't do what you want with Aweber, you may not be able to do it there, either).

          I think you should contact Aweber and ask for their help and advice, as a potential client, as openly and directly as you've asked for advice here. If they can help you, they will. You have nothing to lose.

          .
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  • Profile picture of the author papu
    AWeber will cost you a bit of money, but you can easily make it back, if you mail more than 3 times a year.
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  • Profile picture of the author ShandieWilson
    I agree with you Aweber. Establish first the best relationship with them before you enter to any business topic. Like when I was StudyGeek before.
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  • Profile picture of the author tones
    Hello bperniciaro, I agree with Alexa. Get in contact with Aweber tell them where you stand and see if you can both come up with a agreement that your both happy with.

    Also like Alexa said, if they can help you, they will. You have nothing to lose. It probably sounds easier said then done but of course you need this resolved.

    I hope it all works out for you.
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