Does Your Email List Size Really Matter?

3 min read

When it comes to email marketing, one of the most common misconceptions among small South African businesses is that bigger is always better.

But here’s the truth: the size of your email list means nothing if no one is engaging with it. It’s not about how many people you’re emailing — it’s about how many people are actually reading, clicking, and taking action.

Let’s unpack this with two real-world examples — and what they can teach us.

Example 1: Small List, High Engagement

A Cape Town-based IT services consultant had a modest list of just 150 people — mostly from networking events and referrals. When a widely reported cybersecurity threat hit, he emailed his list with:

A concise explanation of the risk
Practical steps to protect business data
A link to his blog post with more detail

He didn’t sell — he helped.

The Result:

5 replies within the first week, leading to R95,000 in project work
3 of those 5 became ongoing clients, worth over R1.3 million in lifetime revenue

All from a short, value-driven email to a small, trusted list.

Example 2: Big List, Low Engagement

Another SME insisted on growing their list as quickly as possible. Over 80,000 subscribers, collected from events, giveaways, and outdated contact lists. But instead of segmenting by interest or engagement, they emailed everyone the same generic content.

Subscribers began unsubscribing in droves
Some reported emails as spam — despite originally opting in
Their open and click rates plummeted

Eventually, ISPs flagged them as low-quality senders — and their deliverability dropped. Even engaged users stopped seeing emails because they were being sent to the junk folder.

What This Teaches Us

A smaller, active email list will outperform a large, unengaged one — every time.

Email providers (like Gmail, Outlook, Telkom, etc.) monitor how your audience behaves. Low open rates, low click-throughs, and high unsubscribe or spam complaint rates all affect your ability to land in the inbox.

These engagement metrics matter more than your subscriber count.

So, What Should You Be Doing?

1. Focus on Engagement, Not Size

Track your open rate (OR) and click-to-open rate (CTOR) every month
Aim for at least 15–25% open rate and 10%+ CTOR (depending on audience and list age)
Optimise subject lines, preview text, and content relevance

2. Segment Your List

Send content that speaks to your audience:

Donors vs volunteers
Product buyers vs newsletter readers
Cape Town vs Durban subscribers

Segmenting by interest or location ensures your emails are relevant — and boosts engagement.

3. Clean Your List Regularly

Remove or re-engage contacts who haven’t opened your emails in the last 6–12 months.

A stale list not only lowers your metrics — it increases your risk of being blocked by ISPs.

Use BulkMail’s engagement filters to suppress inactive subscribers or build re-engagement campaigns.

4. Respect POPIA

Always make sure:

You have explicit permission to email each contact
Every email includes a clear unsubscribe option
You never add old lists or scrape contacts from other sources

POPIA compliance isn’t optional — and protecting personal data helps build trust and reputation.

Final Thought

Don’t get caught in the vanity metric trap. It’s better to have 500 highly engaged subscribers than 10,000 who ignore you.

Email list growth is important — but only if it goes hand in hand with trust, relevance, and value. Nurture your list, monitor your performance, and clean as you grow. That’s how small businesses and nonprofits in South Africa turn emails into revenue and results.

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