Spring is here! Time to give your inbox a spring clean

Delete unwanted subscriptions

Time to polish your system and be rid of any unwanted spam mail. While ISPs like Gmail and Yahoo work hard to block malicious emails and send them to the spam folder, there are always a few that sneak  into your inbox here and there. Remove any suspect emails which you have not explicitly opted-in for or those that ask you to click on suspicious links or download files. You can divert any such email to your junk mailbox by marking them as spam.

Once you’ve done that, it’s worth going through all the other subscriptions you’ve signed up to over the years and decide which ones are actually of use to you currently. Apps like Unroll.me are really useful for doing this quickly and efficiently. Unroll.me allows you to quickly identify all of your subscriptions and mass unsubscribe from those you no longer find a need for.

Beef Up Your Security

Now it’s time to make sure your security is up to scratch for your remaining accounts and review those all-important passwords that protect your data.

Think about every time you have created a new online account. You likely had to provide login details for each one - including a user name, email address and undoubtedly a password. Many of you probably use the same password as the one you used before right? At least then you won’t forget it!

While convenient, this method comes with some pretty serious risks. Think of it this way. With each new account and log-in comes another door to your personal information. And if all of those doors are locked using the same key, someone looking to access your information only has to crack one that one, often simple code, and then they will potentially have access to much of your online information. Make sure you’re using different passwords for each account.

It’s best to use different passwords everywhere and also make sure that these are complicated enough to not be easily hacked. For example it’s best to use a randomly-generated, alphanumeric password to beef up your resilience. An eight character password in this form has a potential 218,340,105,584,896 permutations, which would take a computer 14 years to crack it. Much stronger defence than, say, a 8 digit code, which only has 100,000,000 different permutations.

Admittedly, it would be near impossible to remember a different alphanumeric password for every single website you are registered for. This is where a password manager, like Dashlane, can be invaluable. They can generate random, alphanumeric passwords for each site you are registered with and store them in a hugely secure vault, bolstered by military-grade encryption. When it comes to managing your accounts online, think of a password manager as your personal butler. By following a few simple data protection steps, you can enjoy convenience and simplicity without compromising trust or security.

While the words “cleaning out the inbox” and “mass unsubscribing” can sound pretty terrifying to an email marketer, it doesn’t have to be a negative topic. While your contact list may potentially take a dip, this also results in a more engaged audience who look outs for your email in their inbox and engages with the content. At the end of the day, that’s one factor of your sender reputation, strong opens and clicks. Check out more on re-engagement here and here.

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This blog post was written by Thomas Armstrong. Tom is UK Growth Manager at Dashlane, leading the charge to bring Dashlane to the millions of UK users wanting to maintain control of their passwords and online lives. In his spare time, Tom can be found trawling the streets of south London in search of the perfect cup of coffee or occasionally out on a muddy football field. You can find him tweeting at @armyt03