The answer is the quality of the subscribers on your list! 
By: Christa Theg
You would not believe the number of times I have heard people say...
"The more subscribers you have on your list the better because it's a numbers game!"
However, if you were to take a closer look you would discover that large lists can have low open rates (messages opened) and even lower click-through rates (number of opened links).
The industry standard has a 10% open rate. To some, this may sound reasonable. However, the reality if you are struggling to hit and maintain that 10% the server will label you as a spammer. Once you are considered a spammer your mailings will automatically be sent to the spam folders of your most loyal audience members.
So how can we make sure that your mailings get delivered to the inbox instead of the dreaded spam folder? First look at the quality of your list.
Are your subscribers really your audience or are they people who signed up for every list hoping to access free offers never intending to invest in your product or service?
This is important to know because these are the people who will bring down your open rates. A good way to combat this is to periodically take a look at your subscribers' stats and see who has been opening the emails and who is not.
If a person has not opened an email after a certain period of time it is appropriate to remove them from your list. The amount of time to determine if a person should be removed depends on how aggressive you want to be in cleaning your list.
Another thing you can do is in your welcome email give the reader instructions about how to approve your messages to be sent to their inbox. There is a chance that your readers don't know that they can set up their email so that your mailing will be sent directly to the inbox.
Once they have made this adjustment it will not only ensure that your messages will show up in your subscribers' email addresses. The server will see that the emails are going to the inbox and increase your deliverability.
The quality of your list will outweigh the quantity. You can have a huge email following, but if the majority of your list are freebie seekers you will most likely not be making many sales.
However, if your list is made of subscribers who are ready to invest in your product or service it will not be difficult for them to make the decision to get it from you.
There are people that boast lists of thousands of subscribers, however, I have found that some of the most successful business owners have lists with fewer than 500 subscribers. These subscribers are high quality, engaged, and ready to invest themselves.
I don't know about you but that's the type of list I would want!
