How To Rehabilitate Your Campaign Email List After Primary Season

Now that your campaign has made it through the primary, it’s time to turn your focus to Election Day. Candidates typically see a major spike in online fundraising in the final months of a campaign. To make sure you’ll be able to capture that opportunity, it’s time to take care of your email list. 

Chances are your email program took a hit.

Here are five ways to rehabilitate your campaign’s email list.

Check Email Blacklists

In the worst case, your domain name or email server IP address might end up on blacklists that inbox providers use to stop spam. Use MXToolbox’s blacklist checker to see if that might be keeping your messages from arriving to supporters. These blacklists have processes in place to get off the list.

Authenticate Your Sending Domains

Ensure that your sending domain (the .com address you send emails from) is authenticated with DNS. This requires a little bit of technical knowledge so you may need some help, but the instructions here will explain more. 

This is often one of the main reasons a campaign struggles with email deliverability and inbox placement and it’s a straightforward fix.

Segment Your List

By now, you’ll have lots of signals from email subscribers about their behavior, who they are, and how they interact with your messages. These are the same signals that inbox providers like Google examine to determine inbox placement. Reach more supporters by segmenting your list. 

Start by applying an active screen that only sends to subscribers actively engaging with your messages. Have a plan to re-engage the inactive, but don’t keep sending them the same content they don’t interact with. 

The same goes for non-donors. Keep them engaged and active, but try a different approach if they haven’t given yet.

Batch Your Sends

Another way to improve the health of your list is to send in smaller batches. Use your email analytics to see which subscribers are more likely to click or open during the morning, afternoon, or evening then send accordingly. 

Vary Your Content

If your email list is just about asking for money, its performance will suffer. Vary your email content beyond hard and soft asks with newsletters, actual updates, and other items that benefit the subscriber. 

You’ll get more engagement – and good will – from supporters. 

Conclusion

Your campaign’s email marketing performance rises and falls on the health of your list. After a primary is the perfect time to rehabilitate your list with these strategies.