8 Ways to Improve Email Deliverability
In this article, we will explain 8 Ways to Improve Email Deliverability that everyone should follow. Email marketing is a highly effective way to connect with your customers. Knowing how to Improve Email Deliverability will ensure you are reaching the most possible people from the same amount of work.
“Email marketing’s return on investment is 38:1 on average, according to a Litmus survey of 372 marketers worldwide.“
However, your expertly crafted emails with irresistible subject lines are completely useless if they don’t reach their desired destination. All the tips and tactics on email personalization, CTAs, engagement, segmentation, etc. – these are all secondary.
If your emails don’t reach the user’s inbox and end up in the spam folder, then email marketing is a waste of time and money.
It’s that simple.
Therefore, understanding and optimizing your email deliverability is essential to the success of your email marketing campaigns.
What is Email Deliverability?
Basically, successful email deliverability is when your emails arrive in the user’s inbox as intended. Failed email deliverability is when it gets filtered into the spam folder or is blocked by the email service provider.
Let’s get into how you can make sure this is done properly.
Just let Affix handle your email marketing.
That was a half-joke.
If you’re stubborn and want to do it on your own, here is the what you need to know to Improve Email Deliverability:
Use Double Opt-In (like we do at Affix)
Employing a single opt-in for email lists is most common for harvesting email addresses, this will help Improve Email Deliverability. What this means is users can be subscribed to an email list by checking a box or failing to UN-check a box to receive emails. There is no confirmation email sent to make sure they want to be subscribed and receive emails.
Be sure to use a double opt-in method with a confirmation to subscribe to your list. This ensures that users want to receive your emails. Over time this will improve engagement and reduce spam reports. All good things for you.
Start Off on the Right Foot (Build IP Reputation)
Email service providers have filters in place to keep spam out of their users’ inboxes. One way they do this is by keeping track of the reputation of a sender’s IP address another great way to Improve Email Deliverability.
Especially when starting out, you’ll want to get on the good side of these filters and build a positive reputation. You can do this by starting out slow and sending out your emails in smaller batches.
Also, make sure you are sending to users who you know will be engaged. The better your open rates are, the more your IP address will be trusted by the filters.
Check Your Sender Score
Your Sender Score is an assessment provided by Return Path. Email service providers automatically reject emails from IP addresses that are below a certain score.
The score is calculated by measuring things such as unsubscribe rates, spam reports, rejection rates and so on. You can think of it like a credit score, but for your reputation as an email marketer.
It’s a good idea to check this on a regular basis so you have an idea of where you stand. Follow the recommendations in the article and your score will be better and greatly Improve Email Deliverability.
Maintain Proper Hygiene
Yes showering and brushing your teeth are great habits to have, but we’re talking about your email list here.
Groom your email list on a regular basis to remove old/non-existent addresses, users haven’t opened in a while and so on.
A high rate of hard bounces (such as sending to invalid email addresses) is a sure way to ruin your reputation.
Maintain your list to send only to those who want to receive your emails. Trim the rest.
Don’t Overdo It
Anything more than two emails per week is pushing it. If you send emails out too frequently, you’ll irritate your subscribers and they’ll be more likely to ignore your emails, unsubscribe, or flag you as spam.
Of course you’ll want to send frequently enough to keep your audience engaged, but don’t get carried away. Generally, the sweet spot is somewhere between once a month and twice per week. Pay attention to your stats and use your best judgement.
Avoid Spammy Subject Lines
Using the wrong subject line can trigger spam filters.
Avoid words such as:
- Act now
- Order now
- Affordable
- Amazing stuff
- Cash Bonus
- Compare rates
- Credit
- Guarantee
- Home-based
- Increase sales
- Info you requested
- Incredible deal
- Limited-time offer
- No investment
- Almost any phrase with the word “free” in it
- Cheap
- Promise
- Thousands
Also, it’s best to avoid using special characters in the subject line, such as $ ! * % as these can get you in put in the spam folder as well.
Don’t Use URL Shorteners
You might be familiar with URL shorteners such as Bitly.
Spammers have abused such URL shorteners as a way to mask the true URL/website destination and other questionable reasons.
Using these can get you flagged by spam filters, so it’s best to avoid them.
Make It Easy to Unsubscribe
Often users will report your emails as spam if they can’t easily unsubscribe from your list.
Include a clearly visible link at the bottom of all your emails where they can unsubscribe.
Contact Us to learn how we can help you optimize your email deliverability and Email Marketing to achieve your business goals.