Nicht nur im Frühling sollten Sie Ihre Email Liste säubern!

A clean list—one that contains only active, engaged readers—is important for a number of reasons. It provides better analytics, conversions and fewer spam complaints. It can also boost deliverability because some ISPs are now taking engagement into account when determining what email will be delivered. Still, many marketers hesitate when it comes to culling their database.

“People aren't thinking, "Doing this is going to make my list better,' ” said David Fowler, chief privacy and deliverability officer at Act-On Software, a provider of marketing automation software and email marketing services. “They are thinking about how long it took them to build that list to begin with.”

Cleaning often yields smaller—yet stronger—lists that contain prospects who are more engaged, Fowler said. Follow these three steps to make sure your list is in great shape for the fourth quarter selling season.

1) Remove bounces. There are two types: Hard bounces happen when addresses are bad. They should be removed from the active list. The person may have been fired or quit, or the company may have gone out of business. You won't know unless you pick up the phone and ask...