Email Deliverability is akin to where the email ultimately arrives. While most Emails safely get to the inbox (delivery), content, image density, or other formatting factors may reroute them, for example, from Inbox to Spam (deliverability).
Deliverability consists of three parts:
- Identification: This is the set of protocols that prove you are who you say you are when you send an email, such as Sender Policy Framework (SPF), Domain Keys Identified Mail (DKIM), and Domain-Based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC). Each of these terms functions like your passport, license, or background check.
- Reputation: Your sender’s reputation is essentially a score that signals how trustworthy you are. Each organization and internet service provider (ISP) might have different scores for you. Generating positive subscriber behavior, like engaging with your email or marking you as a trusted sender, is the best way to boost your sender reputation — which you can do by sending relevant, personal emails to your subscribers.
- Content: Is your message appropriate for your audience? Is it relevant? Are you combining copy like “Make money fast!” and “Work from home” with poor sending practices like buying an email list (nooo!) or preventing unsubscribes? Using excessive exclamation points, weird formatting, and URL shorteners can all impact your email’s deliverability based on your previous sending patterns. Think about it from your subscribers’ perspective. If you receive an email with the subject line, “MAKE MONEY TODAY!!!” are you really going to open it? Tailor your message to what your subscribers care about to make the most impact.
Identification and reputation account for most of the reasons an email lands in the inbox or the spam folder. Think about waiting in line for an airport security screening. If you don’t have a ticket, you won’t make it past the first desk. And if you’re on the no-fly list, you’re not going anywhere.
Delivery issues mean that something may be wrong with your infrastructure, you’ve got faulty email addresses on your list, or you’ve received enough negative user interaction to warrant a block. Deliverability issues indicate that your sending and permission practices might be out of whack, or your email list is generally disinterested in your content.
These simple steps will guarantee your email gets delivered to your inbox.
1) Make your list squeaky clean.
Even though we love permission-based marketing, when it comes to emails, permission can expire. A large number of inactive subscribers can dramatically impact your deliverability because they offset your engagement metrics. Consider removing or suppressing inactive customers after a set time or automating a re-confirmation campaign.
If you’re having deliverability issues, it’s possible your list includes spam traps, which look like real email addresses but are used to identify spammers. Sending to one can indicate poor list hygiene or spammy acquisition practices, like buying and renting lists or scraping email addresses off the internet.
Removing invalid emails on a regular basis and re-confirming your inactive subscribers can help declutter your list.
2) Make it easy to unsubscribe.
It’s a common myth that unsubscribes are bad, but there’s no evidence that unsubscribes and unsubscribe rates via the direct unsubscribe link in your email affect your deliverability. In fact, it can actually help by boosting your subscriber engagement and cleaning up your email list. If you’re sending targeted campaigns to people who want to receive your emails, then you’re bound to increase opens and clicks and decrease your bounces.
Don’t hide your unsubscribe button. Make it clear and easy to find in your email, whether that be in the footer or at the top. Streamline the unsubscribe process so that it’s one step — otherwise, you’re fighting a losing battle against the dreaded “report as spam” flag.
3) Make your emails personal and relevant.
Marketers and subscribers often define spam differently. Subscribers don’t think in terms of spam filter testing or algorithms but in terms of relevance. Are you sending content that matters to them? This is ultimately the most important question to ask yourself before hitting “send” on any email.
Email is one of the most personal channels in a marketer’s arsenal. Sending emails that resonate with your audience and leverage the 1:1 nature of the medium won’t just positively impact your deliverability; it will also boost reader engagement and build better relationships with your audience as well.
