How many of my subscribers will Mailchimp accept?

As you’re viewing this post then you’re likely already aware that Mailchimp won’t accept all your subscribers that you try to import into your list. Email addresses that are likely to result in low deliverability or high spam complaint rates won’t be accepted by Mailchimp; these include role-based email addresses and disposable email addresses such as Mailinator addresses. Even group email addresses such as Google Groups (@googlegroups.com) won’t be accepted.

What Proportion of Email Addresses are Accepted by Mailchimp?

I often get asked by people that are importing into a Mailchimp list, what proportion of email addresses in, for example, an Excel file will be accepted by Mailchimp. Unfortunately there isn’t a definitive answer and Mailchimp doesn’t provide this data. Omnivore is the technology used by Mailchimp to monitor compliance and quality issues but information about how Omnivore works is limited.

Through experience in working with both large global brands and government departments with large lists, through to businesses with small lists, acceptance rates by Mailchimp are probably around the 65% mark. Last week I assisted a large sporting stadium and venue with their list and the acceptance rate was 85% which is very high.

Will my Purchased List be Accepted by Mailchimp?

Of course, the number and proportion of email addresses that will be accepted by Mailchimp depend on the recency and means that the subscriber email addresses were attained. It is always possible to identify purchased lists of email addresses as these almost always have low acceptance rates by Mailchimp. Organizations, like the afore mentioned sporting venue, that have attained their subscribers email addresses ethically, legally and transparently always have higher acceptance rates (even in the case of the sporting venue where the over 100,000 email addresses were attained when people connected to the stadium free wi-fi and elected to receive EDM campaigns).

If you need help in identifying the email addresses Mailchimp will likely accept in your list then please contact me.