What Does Cleaned Mean in Mailchimp and How to Handle It

Mailchimp is one of the most popular email marketing platforms used by businesses to manage and send campaigns. It helps you track your emails’ performance, including deliverability, open rates, and bounce rates. However, if you’ve ever noticed that some of your email list contacts are marked as “cleaned,” you may have wondered what this status means and how it impacts your email marketing strategy. What Does Cleaned Mean in Mailchimp? This article explains what “cleaned” means in Mailchimp, why it happens, and how you can manage these contacts effectively.

What Does “Cleaned” Mean in Mailchimp?

Mailchimp is one of the most popular email marketing platforms used by businesses to manage and send campaigns. It helps you track your emails’ performance, including deliverability, open rates, and bounce rates. However, if you’ve ever noticed that some of your email list contacts are marked as “cleaned,” you may have wondered what this status means and how it impacts your email marketing strategy. What Does Cleaned Mean in Mailchimp? Essentially, it refers to email addresses that Mailchimp has identified as invalid or problematic. This article explains what “cleaned” means in Mailchimp, why it happens, and how you can manage these contacts effectively.

This can happen for several reasons, including:

• Invalid email addresses: These are email addresses that no longer exist or have been entered incorrectly.
• Hard bounces: When an email fails to be delivered due to a permanent reason (e.g., the recipient’s email address no longer exists).
• Spam complaints: If recipients mark your emails as spam, Mailchimp may classify their addresses as “cleaned.”
• Inactive email accounts: Some email addresses may have been valid at one point but have since become dormant or inactive, causing delivery issues over time.

Mailchimp automatically removes cleaned contacts from your active email list to help improve your deliverability rate. These contacts can still be viewed in your account, but you won’t be able to send marketing emails to them unless you take action to address the issue.

Why Does Mailchimp Mark Contacts as “Cleaned”?

The main reason Mailchimp marks email addresses as “cleaned” is to protect your sender reputation. Sending emails to invalid or problematic addresses can result in higher bounce rates, which can hurt your deliverability and may even get your Mailchimp account flagged for spamming. By removing cleaned contacts from your active list, Mailchimp helps ensure that you only send emails to valid and engaged subscribers, improving your overall email performance. This approach is similar to monitoring stocks like Yahoo DJIA, where maintaining a healthy portfolio can positively impact long-term performance.

Some specific reasons contacts are marked as cleaned include:

• Hard Bounces: A hard bounce happens when an email is returned because the recipient’s email address is no longer valid. These are permanent failures, unlike soft bounces that may be temporary.
• Spam Complaints: If a recipient marks your email as spam, Mailchimp may flag the address to prevent future emails from being sent to it.
• Blacklist Issues: If an email address is associated with spammy behavior or blacklisted domains, Mailchimp may clean the contact to prevent potential deliverability issues.
• Failed Deliveries Over Time: Occasionally, Mailchimp identifies patterns where certain email addresses fail to receive mail consistently over time, even if the bounce isn’t always reported as a hard bounce.

How to Handle Cleaned Contacts in Mailchimp

While Mailchimp automatically removes cleaned contacts from your active list, it’s important to understand how to manage them effectively to maintain a healthy and engaged email list. Here are steps you can take to handle cleaned contacts:

1. Review the Cleaned List

You can view all cleaned contacts in Mailchimp by navigating to the Audience tab, then selecting All Contacts. From there, you can filter the list to view only the cleaned contacts. This will help you identify which contacts have been cleaned and understand the reasons why.

2. Analyze the Reasons for Cleaning

Once you identify cleaned contacts, try to understand why they were cleaned. In Mailchimp, you can often find details about the bounce reasons, such as a hard bounce, spam complaint, or other delivery issues. This can help you decide what to do with these contacts.

3. Attempt to Resubscribe Valid Contacts

Sometimes, a contact may have been cleaned because of a temporary issue. If the reason for cleaning is a hard bounce that is no longer relevant, you may want to try to contact the individual and ask them to re-subscribe. Ensure that their email address is valid and actively monitored. However, be cautious and avoid sending unsolicited emails to cleaned contacts.

4. Remove or Archive Invalid Contacts

If a cleaned contact’s email address is invalid or the person has unsubscribed, it’s best to permanently remove or archive their email. Keeping invalid contacts can clutter your email list and negatively impact your email marketing performance. You can export the cleaned list and remove those contacts manually or set up automated processes to exclude them from future campaigns.

5. Clean Your Email List Regularly

Mailchimp automatically cleans your list, but it’s a good practice to clean your list manually on a regular basis. Regularly reviewing and removing inactive, invalid, or disengaged subscribers can help you maintain a healthy and engaged email list. You can also use Mailchimp’s built-in tools to segment your audience and send targeted campaigns to the most engaged recipients.

6. Monitor Your Sender Reputation

Your sender reputation is a key factor in email deliverability. Keeping your email list clean and maintaining a low bounce rate are critical to avoiding being flagged as a spammer. Regularly review your email campaign performance, track your bounce rates, and pay attention to how many recipients are marking your emails as spam. What Does Cleaned Mean in Mailchimp? It refers to email addresses that Mailchimp has identified as invalid or problematic, which can negatively impact your reputation. A high bounce rate or spam complaints can damage your reputation and hinder your ability to reach subscribers.

Preventing Cleaned Contacts in the Future

While you can always manage cleaned contacts after they’ve been flagged, preventing this situation from happening in the first place is the best approach. Here are some steps to reduce the chances of contacts being cleaned:

• Use Double Opt-In: Double opt-in ensures that subscribers are intentionally subscribing and their email addresses are valid. It also helps reduce the number of fake or invalid email addresses on your list.
• Regularly Update Your Email List: Over time, some subscribers may change their email addresses or stop engaging with your content. Periodically cleaning your list by removing unengaged subscribers helps keep it fresh and improves deliverability.
• Monitor Engagement Levels: Keep track of how many subscribers are opening, clicking, and engaging with your emails. Low engagement can indicate that subscribers aren’t interested or are marking your emails as spam. Consider re-engagement campaigns to win back inactive subscribers before they’re cleaned.
• Authenticate Your Emails: Ensure that your domain is properly authenticated using DKIM and SPF records. This helps establish credibility and trust with email providers, improving your chances of successful email delivery.

Conclusion

In summary, “cleaned” contacts in Mailchimp refer to email addresses that have been flagged due to delivery issues, such as hard bounces, spam complaints, or invalid email addresses. By managing these contacts properly and understanding why they were cleaned, you can maintain a healthy email list, improve your sender reputation, and boost your overall email marketing performance. Regularly cleaning and reviewing your email list, as well as preventing issues through good practices like double opt-in, will help keep your Mailchimp campaigns running smoothly and effectively.