An Introduction To Email Deliverability
Modified on: Tue, 23 Jul, 2024 at 7:44 AM
This article offers a thorough explanation of email deliverability and its importance for agencies, marketers, and businesses using Visionaryx . It covers key factors that influence whether emails successfully reach recipients’ inboxes, such as sender reputation, authentication protocols, and content quality. Additionally, the article outlines best practices to improve deliverability rates, ensuring that emails not only arrive at their destination but also engage recipients effectively. This guide is an essential resource for anyone aiming to optimize their email marketing strategy and boost engagement.
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What is Email Deliverability and Why is It Important?
Email deliverability refers to the likelihood that your emails will land in your subscribers’ inboxes instead of their spam folders. After all the effort you put into email marketing, it’s crucial that your messages are actually seen by your audience. This makes deliverability a key factor in ensuring the success of your campaigns.
How is Deliverability Determined?
Several factors influence whether your email will make it to the inbox. In general, email providers aim to determine the following:
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Is the message safe?
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Do most subscribers want this message?
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Is this message relevant to this specific subscriber?
If the answer to all three is “yes,” your message will be delivered to the inbox. However, if any answer is “no,” your email could end up in the spam folder. To make this determination, email providers use a reputation score for the sender.
Sender Reputation
Mailbox providers like Gmail, Microsoft, and Yahoo calculate a sender reputation score for your domain. Think of it as a credit score, but unfortunately, there’s no public resource that reveals exactly what your score is or how it’s calculated. Email providers keep these details private. However, the primary factor that impacts your reputation is how subscribers interact with your emails.
Subscriber Engagement
Engagement is one of the most significant ways email providers assess your reputation. How subscribers engage with your emails—whether they open them, click links, or mark them as spam—plays a crucial role in determining your deliverability.
Here are some tips to help improve your engagement:
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List Health: Only send emails to subscribers who have explicitly opted in. Quality is far more important than quantity. Avoid adding anyone who hasn’t clearly given consent.
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Secure Forms: Use double opt-in and/or reCaptcha on your forms to avoid bot activity, which can damage your reputation. Bots can inflate your open rates, skewing your deliverability.
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Prune Your List: Regularly clean your email list to remove inactive or unengaged subscribers. Failing to do so could cause a higher percentage of unengaged users, lowering your sender reputation.
Consistency
Consistency is key when it comes to building and maintaining a good sender reputation. Mailbox providers might flag your messages as risky if they notice a sudden change in your sending patterns. Here are some important elements to keep consistent:
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Sending Domain: Always send from a recognized and trusted domain. Avoid sending from a new or dormant domain.
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Sending Volume: Keep a steady volume of emails. Sudden jumps, like increasing your list size from 5,000 to 20,000 subscribers, could raise flags.
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Frequency: Send emails regularly, at least once a month. This helps maintain a good reputation. However, don’t overdo it—sending too frequently may cause subscribers to mark your emails as spam.
Content
While content isn’t as crucial as consistency, it can still influence your email deliverability, especially if your sender reputation isn’t well-established.
If your reputation is shaky, email providers may pay closer attention to your content to decide whether the message is safe. Here are some content tips to ensure your emails don’t trigger spam filters:
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Avoid Link Shorteners: These are commonly used by spammers and can harm deliverability. Always link directly to the intended website.
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Steer Clear of Spammy Language: Avoid using overly promotional or urgent language. Emails should feel natural and conversational.
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Maintain a Healthy Image-to-Text Ratio: Make sure there’s enough text in your email so that even if images don’t load, the message is still clear.
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Don’t Use Gimmicks: While tactics like subject lines that say “Re: Your Order #2095642” may boost open rates temporarily, they can damage your reputation in the long term.
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Encourage Authentic Engagement: Prompt subscribers to engage with you in a meaningful way. For example, ask them to reply with their favorite song, which not only boosts engagement but builds trust with your audience.
Summary
To ensure that your emails land in your subscribers’ inboxes, focus on providing value, encouraging authentic engagement, and maintaining consistency. Keep your list healthy and ensure your content is trustworthy. By following these best practices, you’ll help mailbox providers trust your emails and place them where they belong—in the inbox.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What tools can I use to monitor email deliverability?
There are various tools you can use to monitor your email deliverability, such as Mailgun, SendGrid, and Litmus. These platforms offer insights into bounce rates, open rates, and sender reputation, helping you optimize your email marketing campaigns.
2. How can I recover from being blacklisted by email providers?
If your domain or IP address is blacklisted, start by identifying the cause—whether it’s spam complaints, poor sending practices, or something else. Once the issue is resolved, you’ll need to follow the specific process for removal from the blacklist. It can take time to rebuild your sender reputation.
3. How does engagement affect email deliverability?
Engagement metrics like open rates and click-through rates play a critical role in email deliverability. A higher engagement rate signals to email providers that your content is valuable, which improves your reputation. Low engagement, however, can lead to your emails being marked as spam.