What is a listserv? Do listservs still exist? What is a listserv example? What is better than a listserv? How much does the listserv cost?
What is a listserv?
A LISTSERV mailing list is created using the LISTSERV computer application, which allows users to build, manage, and control electronic mailing lists. Like a firm might have a postal mailing list to send a catalog, each list has a topic of interest. To avoid needing each member of a mailing list to have their own alias or username, the LISTSERV product keeps a single list of subscribers that everyone can use.
Sometimes mailing lists are open to the public, meaning that anyone with an email address anywhere in the globe can join. Lists might be private or confidential at times. In this situation, only the list's owner or sponsor can subscribe users, and LISTSERV will keep the list private.
Mailing lists make it much easier to convey messages to large groups of people, especially if the membership of the group is continually changing. Members of the group just need to keep track of their own addresses and subscription status.
Any mailing list is frequently referred to as a "listserv." This is incorrect; a LISTSERV mailing list is one that is maintained using the LISTSERV application. L-Soft international, Inc. owns the trademark LISTSERV. Other programs, such as ListProc and Majordomo, offer comparable electronic mailing list operations, but you should only refer to actual LISTSERV email lists when using the name LISTSERV.
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| Aweber Email Marketing Service |
Do listservs still exist?
One of the Internet's first creations, the listserv, is still one of its best.
LISTSERV is a registered trademark of L-Soft International, Thomas' Swedish software company, which offers different examples of proper usage on its website.
For public sector enterprises, communicating critical information to stakeholders is a big duty. To do so efficiently, the manner of conveying those communications must be current in terms of technology. Failure to do so can have a negative impact on any organization attempting to reach out to its stakeholders effectively.
The listserv is an example of an out-of-date technology that is still used in government today. A listserv is a simple technology that allows a company to send an email to a large group of people. Here are a few of the many reasons why using a listserv for government digital communications is no longer the best solution.
1. Landing in the Inbox
Sending emails through a listserv is an effective approach to ensure that they are delivered to the Junk folder. It has been proven to significantly increase the odds of the email being labeled as spam, and in certain cases, the email address is banned.
2. Managing Subscriber Lists
Who has time to manage an email list manually these days? Using a listserv ensures that manual list management will take up more time. When you switch to digital communication systems, you can use automatic list management to save time that would otherwise be spent manually monitoring emails.
3. Automated Messages
Digital communication platforms can identify new information on a website, such as a blog post, and generate a message to send to a list of people who have signed up to receive updates from you. This technique can be performed on a daily basis on social media. Listservs, on the other hand, don't have any of these features.
4. Multiple Channels of Communication
It should be simple to communicate with your audience. Listservs allow for communication through a single channel. You may send emails, social media posts, text messages, and other forms of contact all at once when you use various channels of communication.
The Big Picture
While listservs are being phased out, strong digital communication tools are making a comeback. Upgrading to keep up with current technology is a must for any firm aiming to better serve its stakeholders. Learn more about the advantages of switching from listservs to digital communications for your company.
What is a listserv example?
When an email is sent to a listserv address, such as info [at] corporation [dot] com or communications [at] example [dot] com, any incoming emails are distributed to all of the subscribed subscribers rather than just one.
For a variety of reasons, we do not allow sending to listserv addresses. First and foremost, it violates our permissions policy because those who have not directly opted in will receive your emails. While these individuals may have accepted to get listserv emails, this is not the same as consenting to receive your emails directly, and this is a gray area that is one of the reasons we do not allow it.
The other issue is that anyone can opt-out of the mailing, which will delete that address from the entire list of recipients. Furthermore, if the list is made public, anybody, including search bots, will be able to access it, ensuring that the address will be continuously opted out.
What is better than a listserv?
A better way to communicate – community platforms
When you communicate, you speak the same language, and when you're part of a community, you share common interests, values, and passions.
Communication and community have always been intertwined, and today's hyper-connected world is no exception.
That is why, in recent years, community platforms have increased in popularity and are quickly becoming the preferred method of communication for businesses and organizations.
In a variety of ways, community apps and platforms outperform listserv. Platforms for community:
- Facilitate group communication and collaboration.
- Increase the effectiveness of group engagement.
- Make use of several communication channels, such as news feeds, private messaging, and push alerts.
- Groups are much easier to handle.
- Provide data monitoring and analysis tools that are built-in.
A community platform like Aweber enables you to create an Email List that is tailored to your specific needs and that you can personalize with your own branding and style.
Aweber is much more than just an email marketing service. It also aids productivity by including features such as scheduling tools and a content or resource library.
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| Aweber Email Marketing Tools |
Who Joins a Listserv?
People join because they have something in common. It could be a hobby, recreational activity, educational, work-related, or health-related shared interest. It could just be family members keeping in touch.
People can join and leave the list on their own (subject to the list owner's approval). These administrative responsibilities have their own email accounts.
Where Do You Join?
On the Internet, there are millions of listserves or electronic mailing lists. Yahoo Groups and Google Groups, for example, are both free. Ads that can show in each email message help to support these groups. Additionally, you can make money by selling the demographic and behavioral characteristics of your list members to advertisers.
Other listserve hosting services demand a fee to cover the costs of software, computers, and bandwidth. The price is usually paid by the list owner or organization, and subscribers are allowed to join for free. These listservs frequently have a webpage that you may search for based on your preferences.
The Two Kinds of Email Lists
1. Only the list owner can send a message to a one-way announcement list.
2. Message Boards, where any subscriber can post a message.
The listserv software, which organizes subscriptions, handles bounces, and sends email messages to small groups of 10 to extremely big groups of hundreds of thousands of people, is the common thread.
Listserv itself, Majordomo, Smartlist, GNU Mailman, Sympa, and other brands of software are all available for this purpose. These software programs allow users to subscribe, unsubscribe, vacation, process bounces, and send messages to mailing lists.
Mail groups, email discussion groups, online discussion groups, electronic mailing lists, discussion boards, and message boards are all terms used to describe a listserve.
Nonetheless, they all allow people to engage with like-minded others from the comfort of their email inbox, bypassing time and distance.
Are you unsure what the distinction between listservs and Usenet is? Are you debating whether to use a listserv or message board? Or how about Twitter? Are you looking for alternatives to Yahoo groups?
How much does the listserv cost?
The annual cost of LISTSERV starts at $950.00 per user. There is no free version available. A free trial of LISTSERV is available. Please see the table below for more information on pricing.
LISTSERV Reviews
Kathleen B.
"Extremely beneficial"
Pros: This is my first time using it, and I'm extremely satisfied thus far. It's simple to create your list and make changes as needed. It's simple to set up and use.
Cons: I'm impressed by how simple this software is to use.
Verified Reviewer
Overall, when I first came on board, ListSERV was a historical product, and while it fulfilled its job, we replaced it with AWeber, which better fulfills the demands of our end consumers, while also being more user-friendly.
Pros: ListSERV excels in managing big email send lists. It was incredibly simple for us as end-users to add/remove users and send mass emails to our mailing lists.
Cons: The interface is difficult to get used to and does not feel as pleasant or straightforward as other, more current clients. This may be due to how the software was implemented by the administrator. We also believe that designing appealing messaging is difficult without prior design skills.
Final words
If you're still using Listserv to manage your email distribution lists, it's time to upgrade.
There are many communication options to choose from, but if you want to get the most bang for your buck, community platforms are the greatest option.
You gain not only effective multi-channel communications, but also enhanced engagement and better collaborative working.
