Contact management is essential to every business. Keeping your contact list organized and up to date enables effective communication, creates a positive customer experience, and boosts customer engagement. When it comes to your contact list, remember: it’s not about quantity, but quality.
Here are 10 key do’s and don’ts to help you manage your contacts efficiently:
1. Do: Keep Information Up to Date
Ensure your contact details are current. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information change over time, and outdated data can hurt communication and campaign success.
Don’t: Ignore inaccurate information.
Invest time in regular checks and updates.
Need more info? Absolutely!
When you send out emails, you get crucial statistics like “bounces,” which can show if an email inbox is full or no longer exists. If an inbox is full, nobody checks it. If it no longer exists, it’s time to ask for an updated email address via SMS.
2. Do: Segment Your Contacts
Segmenting your audience lets you send focused, relevant messages to each group based on their preferences and behavior.
Don’t: Send the same content to your entire list.
Generic emails can lead to disinterest and unsubscribes.
Why?
The more you know about your contacts, the easier it is to personalize communication—whether it’s addressing them by name or offering relevant content. This increases open rates, click-through rates, and conversions. It’s easier to offer a product or content to someone when you know more about their situation—whether they’re a parent or not, their family status, location, or other factors.
3. Do: Use a Marketing Automation System
Automation systems like smoove let you schedule messages, track performance, and streamline processes.
Don’t: Send manual emails when automation can do the job.
Automation saves time and allows you to focus on growing your business.
Solution?
Explore the various automation templates in the system. You’ll find at least three processes that can help save you time, or inspire ideas for workflows tailored to your needs.
4. Do: Follow Privacy Standards
Ensure you comply with privacy regulations, such as anti-spam laws.
Don’t: Send emails without explicit consent.
This can harm your reputation and lead to legal repercussions.
Solution?
If you’re unsure about the consent status of your contact list, it’s best to consult a professional or lawyer knowledgeable in privacy laws. You can also check out smoove’s FAQ on the topic.
5. Do: Personalize Your Messages
Address your contacts by name, reference their preferences, and send relevant content.
Don’t: Send overly general messages.
People appreciate when the message feels tailored to them.
Tip: Always use the second-person singular (“you”) and address contacts by their first name. Personalization can significantly improve engagement. For example, “Hi [First Name], as a parent, you’ll love this product…” Personalizing the content makes it feel more relevant.
6. Do: Analyze Campaign Performance
Track metrics like open rates, clicks, and conversions to understand what works.
Don’t: Ignore valuable data.
Failure to track performance will prevent you from improving future campaigns.
How?
Sending emails isn’t just about sending emails. Every email has a goal, whether it’s to inform or convert. Analyzing open rates, click-through rates, and engagement levels helps you refine your approach.
7. Do: Foster Two-Way Communication
Encourage contacts to respond, share, and interact with your content.
Don’t: Ignore responses.
A prompt, professional reply strengthens relationships and builds trust.
Why’s this important?
Sending an email is just the first step. Encourage engagement by asking contacts to click, reply, or complete a form. This interaction not only builds trust but also gives you more insights into your contacts (remember segmentation from earlier?).
8. Do: Clean Your Lists Regularly
Remove inactive contacts to maintain a high-quality list.
Don’t: Keep irrelevant contacts.
An outdated list can hurt your open rates.
Why remove contacts?
It’s not about the number of contacts you have; it’s about the quality. If a significant portion of your list hasn’t opened any emails, keeping them won’t help. In fact, a clean list of engaged contacts boosts your sender reputation, leading to higher deliverability and fewer emails landing in spam folders.
9. Do: Provide Real Value
Send useful content, offers, and benefits that provide true value to your contacts.
Don’t: Send marketing content only.
Balance valuable information with promotional content to enhance engagement.
What does this mean?
It’s not about just promoting products or services. Make sure your emails offer something genuinely useful—whether it’s insightful content or a special deal tailored to your audience.
10. Do: Continuously Improve
Implement changes based on data and feedback.
Don’t: Stick to the same methods if they aren’t yielding results.
Be flexible and innovative.
Effective contact management is key to successful marketing and building strong customer relationships. By following these principles, you’ll streamline your processes and achieve better results over time.
In short: Like any healthy relationship, invest in it!
