If you’ve had your email newsletter for a while, it may be time to switch newsletter service providers. Perhaps the quality of your email newsletter service has dropped since you originally signed up. Your needs may have changed as you grew your mailing list and got more involved in email marketing. However, you may have realized that your newsletter service is not the best fit for your business needs.

Whatever the reason, you’ve decided it’s time to pack up your mailing list and newsletter template and move on. But just like moving houses, moving your mailing list is a big task, and you’ll want to make sure you follow all the steps in this newsletter moving checklist before you make the switch.

Newsletter Moving Checklist

1. Research your new provider. In other words, find your newsletter a new home. Things to consider at this stage include:

  • Deliverability – This is how likely your newsletter is to reach your subscribers. You want to use a provider with good deliverability stats and one that doesn’t work with spammers. Make sure they are not blacklisted by major email receiving services. You should check the rating of your new service in the frontend: Check out the user interface to see how easy it is to navigate and use, how complicated it will be to send your newsletter, and if the frontend has all the tools you need to easily manage your email newsletter. news. See if your new provider has a free trial, or at least some videos or screenshots to review.
  • Functionality: Make sure the service does everything you need it to, and does everything you can anticipate you’ll need for years to come, so you don’t have to move again soon.
  • Cost – The pricing model for a newsletter service is usually based on the number of subscribers you have or the number of emails you send. Whatever the model, make sure the cost of the new solution is reasonable and sustainable for your business.
  • Subscriber migration: Some services allow you to import your list directly into the service and start sending emails right away. Others allow you to import, but then require subscribers to opt in to receive emails from the new service. It may seem like direct import is the way to go, but you can often get better deliverability rates from services that require your subscribers to opt back in. The reason for this is that people are less likely to complain that your newsletter is spam if you ask them to reconfirm it, which means you’ll be blacklisted on fewer email receiving services.

2. Sign up and configure. Like buying a home or signing a lease before you move, there are a few things you need to do to set up a home with your new provider. The configuration requirements of each newsletter service provider will be slightly different. To see what yours are, look for a home page type on your website.

At a minimum, you’ll need to set up your mailing list, unsubscribe, and the “Thank you for subscribing” page that people are forwarded to when they sign up. If your newsletter requires a double opt-in, you’ll also need to set up the opt-in message.

3. Notify your subscribers. This is like letting your friends and family know that you are moving. You don’t want to alienate your subscribers by suddenly asking them to resubscribe to your newsletter without warning. And you don’t want to move them to the new service yourself, only for them to realize that things are different, because then you may lose their trust.

Luckily, this step is easy to do. Just put a few lines about the next move in the header of your next newsletter or two. Explain to them that you are moving and what they can expect. This should make the transition smoother for everyone.

4. Pack. Pack up your newsletter template and newsletter subscriber list and you’re good to go.

Download the latest version of your template from your current provider. If they don’t make this obvious, look up how to do it in the help files. Be sure to bring your recurring images with you, too, like your header image and headshot.

And export your list of newsletter subscribers. Make sure that you can open the file and view the emails, and that the file you have exported is not corrupted. You may also want to burn the list at this time to a CD or back it up in some other way.

5. Set up your template and your list. You’ll first want to set up your newsletter template on the new service. To do this, find the HTML code view on your new service and paste the version you downloaded there. You may also need to upload your images to your new newsletter service or website. This will make it necessary to change the links to your images in your newsletter template. Then test the new newsletter by formatting and sending it to yourself to make sure it imported correctly.

Then follow the instructions for your services to import your list (if your new service allows it). Before you do this, you’ll want to make sure your subscription message is fully configured and working perfectly, because importing it will likely result in your subscribers receiving that message.

6. Make the big move. You may want to do this step immediately after you’ve sent out a newsletter using your old service, so you have as much time as possible for the new service to work properly, and to fix any problems, before you have to get the next issue out.

The main thing you need to do in this step is to create your newsletter subscription box and place it on your website (and any other website or blog it may appear on) so that new subscribers will sign up for your new service instead. of the old Be sure to test this thoroughly to make sure it works properly.

Also, please do not close your original account at this step. You will need it in the next stage of the process.

7. Send your next newsletter (or two) on both services. This is like the equivalent of forwarding your mail. It helps you make sure you’re sending new issues to people who have moved quickly, and that you’re not losing slower users because they missed an email or just haven’t clicked the confirmation yet.

In your old service, keep in mind that if people get the newsletter twice, it’s because you’re sending it just this once (or twice). And also include a note that if they don’t get it twice, it’s because they haven’t confirmed their subscription to the new service and what to do about it.

If you follow these 7 steps checklist, moving your newsletter should be a piece of cake. And you should be able to bring many of your subscribers to your new location.

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