Email deliverability is an essential part of any email marketing campaign. Readability directly impacts how likely your message will end up in your recipient’s spam folder, so it’s crucial that you take the time to understand the best practices and abide by them whenever you send out emails.
Email marketing is a channel that requires constant vigilance and maintenance. It’s not as simple as sending out a few emails and hoping for the best. As such, email deliverability has become an increasingly important factor in the success of your email marketing campaign. Read on to learn more about what it means, why you need to care, and how you can optimize your own email deliverability.
Metrics to Pay Attention to
There are a few key deliverability metrics you’ll want to pay attention to.
Open Rate
Open rate is the percentage of people who have opened your emails. You have to know that this number alone is not enough to conclude that the email has been successful. It is just one metric that will tell you if your email campaign has been successful.
Click-through rate
CTR refers to the number of clicks on your links relative to the number of impressions. For example, if you send out 100 emails and 10 people click on your link, your CTR is 10%. This metric is also important because it helps you to see how good your subject line is. If your subject line doesn’t entice people to click your links, then obviously the open rate will be low and you have to change the subject line.
Deliverability Rate
Deliverability rate is the percentage of emails that have been successfully delivered to the intended inbox. Different email providers have their own deliverability rules and metrics. Some providers have a very strict policy so you have to be careful. Make sure you are following their rules to stay on the safe side.
Bounce Rate
The bounce rate refers to the number of people who have unsubscribed or requested that you take them off your mailing list compared to the total number of people who have opened your emails. This is another metric that you should pay attention to since it will tell you how well you are engaging with people. If your bounce rate is high, then you should consider making some changes to your emails.
Spam Rate
Spam rate is the number of spam complaints you have received divided by the total number of emails sent. If you receive a spam complaint, it means that the recipient has flagged your email as spam. It is important that you keep track of your spam rate so that you can determine if you are doing something wrong.
Spam Complaints
This is the number of spam complaints that you have received from the providers divided by the total number of emails sent. If you receive spam complaints, you have a high risk to end up in a blacklist, which can highly affect your email deliverability.
List segmentation
One of the most crucial parts of email deliverability is the correct segmentation of your list. You should be segmenting your list according to the type of relationship you have with the subscriber, the content of the emails you’re sending, and the frequency of your emails. For example, if you’re sending transactional emails that don’t contain any content (e.g. order confirmation, shipping notifications, etc.), you may want to consider removing your subscriber from the list entirely.
Email Automations
Email automations are another important factor to consider. It’s important to consider how frequently these emails are sent and if they fall into the transactional email category. The overall goal with automations is to make your subscribers’ lives easier by optimizing your processes and reducing the amount of manual effort they need to put in. Another important thing to consider is the open rates on these emails. If your open rates are extremely low, it could be an indication that your emails are being filtered out by spam bots. This can also negatively affect your open rate.
Setting up DMARC for Domain Protection
Domain-based message Authentication, Reporting, and Confirmation (DMARC) is a method for validating your emails and ensuring that your information is being reported correctly. The DMARC report will allow you to see if any of your emails have gone into spam or gone unopened. For example, let’s say you send an email to a customer that is not somebody that you’ve communicated with before. In this case, the email may be sent to the customer’s junk folder. However, if you have a DMARC record set up, the receiving server will flag your email as legitimate. DMARC is an excellent way to ensure that your emails are being delivered properly. It can also help you to identify issues with the way your emails are being received.
Other Authentication Protocols to Consider
Along with DMARC, SPF, DKIM, and BIMI are the most common authentication protocols used by marketers. You should have a basic understanding of how each works and how to set them up for your domain. SPF stands for Sender Policy Framework. This is an authentication protocol that validates the IP address of the server sending the email. It tells the receiving server which IP addresses are allowed to send emails from your domain. DMARC is an authentication protocol that lets the receiving server know if an email should be marked as legitimate and delivered to the inbox or if it should be sent to the spam folder.
Practices to Avoid to Keep a High Inbox Placement
Avoid using single opt-in tactics
Singles opt-in is when a subscriber only needs to take one action, such as filling a newsletter subscription form, in order to start receiving your emails. On the other hand, double opt-in is when a subscriber has to take two separate actions to confirm their email address. Double opt-in is great for a healthy list growth and deliverability because it validates that an email is most likely to be from a real subscriber that is actually interested in your brand.
Avoid sending too many emails
The general rule of thumb is that you shouldn’t be sending more than one email per week. Excessive emailing will cause your emails to be seen as spam and end up in the spam folder.
Avoiding hidden content
Email marketing providers want to make sure that you are not sending spam. As such, they have strict guidelines about what you can include in your emails. If you are including hidden content in your email, then it will end up in the spam folder.
Avoiding large embedded images
Some email marketing providers have strict rules about the size of images that you can include in your emails.
Email deliverability is an important factor in ensuring that your email marketing campaigns are successful. Email deliverability is defined as the ability for your emails to reach the intended recipients, and it can be affected by a number of different factors. If your emails are not reaching the inbox, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity for growth. The best way to ensure that your emails reach the inbox is to follow best practices and stay informed about changes to email delivery standards.
