Email communication is an important tool for engaging with customers and prospects, but without proper attention to deliverability – the likelihood of your messages actually reaching them successfully – it won’t make a difference.
Poor deliverability can develop overnight, even after strong performance in previous campaigns, potentially damaging domain reputation along the way.
The importance of email delivery cannot be overstated; every marketing effort put into creating content that resonates will go to waste if its message never reaches intended audiences.
In this complete guide, we’ll explore the strategies and tips you need to know to improve your email deliverability and maximize your inbox placement.
Understanding Email Deliverability Issues
Email deliverability is the rate at which your emails actually reach their intended recipients. Delivery problems can occur for various reasons, let’s look at the main email deliverability issues:
1. Spam filters and Blacklist
ISPs (Internet Service Providers) and email clients use spam filters to prevent unwanted emails from reaching their users’ inboxes.
Is your email address being marked as spam more than usual?
If it is, then there could be something wrong with the reputation of your IP. This can result in people unintentionally marking emails sent from this domain or IP address to be going into their Spam folder when they weren’t meant for that inbox at all.
Large databases known as ‘blacklists’ are responsible for tracking down these categories and listing them out so resulting messages land where they should – either Inbox or SPAM!
2. Email content
Crafting an effective email is no small feat in today’s digital age.
As artificial intelligence advances, it becomes increasingly important to consider the full implications of your message; from wording and links to embedded images and Calls To Action (CTA).
Since there are countless routes one can take when constructing an email, conducting A/B testing has become a key practice for honing in on ideal messages that resonate with audiences.
So once you have written up your content, don’t forget to start experimenting! Changing just the subject line alone could make all the difference as far as deliverability goes – so get creative!
3. Bounces rate and Engagement rates
A high bounce rate indicates that your emails are being returned to you as undeliverable. This can happen if your email address is invalid or if the recipient’s email server is unavailable.
Engagement rates: ISPs and email clients also consider how users interact with your emails when determining whether to deliver them to the inbox. People’s choice to mark your emails as spam can significantly hurt the credibility of your domain name, making it less appealing to future recipients.
Low open rates, click-through rates, and reply rates can indicate that your emails are not relevant or valuable to your subscribers.
How to fix it:
- Collect the email base yourself and remove uninvolved users
Those who do not respond to your email, do not open them, but immediately delete them should be excluded from your mailing list.
Subscriber engagement and loyalty are pivotal for any business, so when you come across addresses that simply aren’t going to be beneficial to your company’s advancement, it may be best in the long run to remove them from your list.
- Verify your email list
It’s important to make sure that your email list only includes valid and engaged subscribers. Use an email verification tool to check email deliverability and remove any invalid or inactive email addresses.
- Use double subscription confirmation
What does double opt-in mean? When subscribing to an email list, users must undergo a two-step process that ensures their subscription is genuinely requested.
The double opt-in approach sends out a confirmation link for the user to click in order to actively confirm their enlistment – ensuring everyone on your mailing list has given consent.
- Ask your valued customers to mark your mails as important
Make sure your valued customers don’t miss our emails! If they ever find one of our messages in their spam folder, kindly ask them to mark it as important.
Now that we’ve covered the most common email deliverability issues, let’s dive into the strategies and tips you can use to improve your deliverability and increase your inbox placement.
4. Spam traps
Also known as honeypots, these are email addresses that are specifically created to identify and catch spammers who send unsolicited emails. These email addresses are not owned by real people and are usually hidden in website code or placed on the Internet where spammers are likely to find them.
Keep your email list spic and span to ensure that only engaged subscribers who have explicitly granted permission receive communications from you. Regular clean-up, removal of inactive addresses, and verification procedures will help dodge spam traps and maintain a high level of accuracy in your mailing lists.
It’s also crucial to use best practices when it comes to email marketing, such as sending relevant and valuable content and avoiding spammy words or phrases in your email content.
5. Server configuration
Emails may have never even reached your server due to a misconfiguration. Investigate the issue quickly and avert potential disaster!
Misconfiguration of the mail server, namely the absence of authentication records such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records can also cause email deliverability problems.
Be sure to set up these records correctly, every mail provider has instructions on how to do this correctly.
6. The age and reputation of your domain
If you have a new domain with no history, email providers will be suspicious of all your email campaigns.
Domain reputation refers to the perceived quality and trustworthiness of an internet domain, based on factors such as the types of content hosted on the domain, the behavior of its users, and its history of spam or security incidents.
Building a good domain reputation isn’t easy, and fixing it is even harder. The best way to build or fix a domain’s reputation is to turn to email deliverability services like Warmy to warm up your email and improve email deliverability.
The main task of these email warm-up services is to prevent your emails from getting into your spam folder.
Some more strategies to Improve Email Deliverability
- Use a reliable email provider
They already have an established relationship with ISPs and email clients and can help you maintain good email delivery.
- Segment your email list
Segmentation is the division of the entire contact base into parts according to certain criteria and characteristics. Although the segmentation of the contact base takes much time, it also increases the open rate by almost 40%!
- Monitor your email deliverability
Use email deliverability tools to track your inbox placement, bounce rates, and spam complaints. This will help you identify any issues early on and take corrective action before they become more serious.
- Warm up your email
If you’re sending a large volume of emails for the first time, it’s important to “warm up” your email address by gradually increasing your sending volume over time. This can help you avoid triggering spam filters or being identified as a spammer.
- Use a consistent sender
Use a consistent sender name and email address to build trust and recognition with your subscribers.
- Professional email template
Use a professional email template that is visually appealing and reflects your brand.
- Engaging subject lines
Write engaging subject lines that are relevant, compelling, and personalized to your subscribers. Avoid using spammy words or phrases that can trigger spam filters.
- A clear call to action
Include a clear call to action in your emails to encourage subscribers to take action. This can be to visit your website, sign up for a free trial, or make a purchase.
- Emails at the right frequency
Send emails at the right frequency to avoid overwhelming your subscribers.
- Optimize your email content
Optimize your email content for mobile devices, as more and more subscribers are accessing emails on their mobile devices.
- Avoid using certain words and phrases
Avoid words that can trigger spam filters, such as “free,” “guaranteed,” and “limited-time offer.” Use a spam checker tool to check your email content for spammy words and phrases.
Conclusion
Email deliverability is crucial for the success of any email marketing campaign. Without proper deliverability, your emails may never reach your subscribers’ inbox, resulting in a significant loss of potential revenue and engagement.
By implementing these strategies and tips, you can increase your email deliverability and maximize your inbox placement, resulting in higher engagement and revenue from your email marketing efforts.
