Commentary

Inbox Boot Camp: A Refresher Course On Email Deliverability

Email marketers can have everything in place, from their list to their offer to their copy. Then they run up against the hard rock of email deliverability. And their campaign founders.   

What to do? The remedies are explored in “Dominating Email Deliverability,” a new white paper by Ansira. The time is ripe for this refresher on delivery because “it’s hard to find somebody with that expertise,” says Tamara Mullin, deployment manager at Ansira, the author of the paper.

Yet these skills are needed because “deliverability is a constantly changing environment,” Mullin adds. “You have keep your finger on top of it and keep up with best practices.”

Take the problem of working with Gmail. The most widely used email service, making up close to half the list for the for many brands, Gmail puts emailers at a disadvantage by not having a feedback loop.

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Feedback loops help marketers help maintain clean lists by reporting back email addresses that end up in the spam folder and should be removed, Ansira notes. Consumers are automatically unsubscribed. They also provide insights about possible issues with frequency, content or the unsubscribe functionality.

Since Gmail does not offer a feedback loop, “it’s necessary to monitor engagement to help filter Gmail addresses that are landing in a spam folder,” the paper states.

Once an email is in the spam folder, it’s extremely rare for a subscriber to find it there. Thus, one of the biggest concerns is "how do I adjust to Gmail?” Mullin says. “We say to focus more on Gmail.”

One tailored approach is to display the unsubscribe button at the top of emails going to Gmail inboxes — in the header. This can be done on a dynamic basis — emails going to Yahoo do not have the unsubscribe at the top.

“It is better to encourage an unsubscribe as opposed to receiving a spam complaint,” Mullin says.

Why bother with a top-of-page unsubscribe? Because it provides “a more visible unsubscribe option to Gmail users and reduces the potential for a spam complaint,” Mullin says. “Gmail’s postmaster site recommends the use of a prominent unsub so this satisfies that requirement without affect the other domains.”

Another challenge, both in and out of Gmail, is to guard one’s reputation.

A brand can prompt complaints by including an autochecked email opt-in, asking for an email address “without explicitly stating it is for marketing purposes,” and by autoenrolling during Forward to a Friend campaigns.

The best practice is to ask for permission to send email, and be explicit about what will be arriving in the inbox.

In addition, use the double opt-in, in which a confirmation email is sent.

“There is a risk that the subscriber may abandon the process and it’s possible to lose some interested subscribers,” the white paper notes. “However, it can be beneficial in preventing the entry of fake email addresses and potentially adding spam addresses to the database.

Some firms want “a larger list instead of keeping the list to an audience that is interested,” Mullin comments. “But it can be damaging to have a list with subscribers who are not active and not purchasing.” 

Even without putting it at the top, the unsubscribe button should be easy to use. “People get frustrated looking for it,” Mullin says. “It can ask them a series of questions, and it gets frustrating, and they hit the spam button.”

In addition, the paper adds that marketers should not equate a purchase with permission to send promotional emails. That customer “may not really be interested in getting promotional emails.”

Brands can also get into trouble by blasting too often.

“Maintaining a consistent volume and frequency is essential for achieving optimal inbox placement,” the paper says. “Consistently sending to smaller, targeted segments and then deciding to drive immediate sales by sending a ‘Summer Sales Event’ email to the entire database can have a lasting impact on inbox deliverability.”

The paper adds that “sharp increases in volume or sudden shifts in cadence can trigger flags within the ISP of potential spam. In some cases, it can take weeks or even months to recover.”

But there’s more to deliverability than reputation — metrics, for example.

Ansira contends that deliverability metrics should not be based solely on bounces. Instead, mailers should count the emails that land in the inbox.

“Some people misunderstand the difference between delivery to an ISP and an inbox folder,” Mullin says. “If it hits the spam folder, it’s still considered delivered.”

Here’s another point: That emailers should always send a real-time welcome message. “It sets a really good tone for the rest of that engagement with the brand,” Mullin says. 

Unfortunately, some firms “don’t have the data to be able to send a welcome immediately,” she adds. “That can be detrimental if people are expecting an instantaneous message.”

The paper also argues that emaillers need a solid email infrastructure. That includes a dedicated Internet Protocol (IP) address, a recognizable domain, feedback loops and proper authentication.

Daunted? Don’t be. “Deliverability is a challenging concept, but once you understand it, it’s basic stuff,” Mullin concludes. 

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