A little while ago, Mark wrote about how to use MailChimp’s new subscriber engagement tracking to reactivate inactive subscribers. But I’ve been hearing from more and more customers (mostly publishers using jargon like “qualified paid/non-paid circulation” ) that they’d rather just “delete the deadwood” from their lists altogether.

Rick Whittington just posted a great case study on his blog about how he did this very thing for one of his clients. He also details how it all affected their subscriber count and overall email performance.

I won’t steal his post’s thunder, but here’s what he goes over:

• How many members were slashed from the list
• How high open rates went up, and bounce/complaint rates went down
• How far above their industry avg. their click rate is now

It’s a very thorough post, with great step-by-step advice, caveats, and ideas I wouldn’t have even thought of myself. Be sure to check out the article, and please thank Rick for taking the time!

How to prune your e-mail list and reduce abuse complaints in MailChimp