reducing Deliverability - Email Marketing

What is Email Deliverability?

Email deliverability refers to the ability of an email to successfully reach the recipient's inbox. This metric is crucial for any email marketing campaign, as it directly impacts the effectiveness of your communication efforts. High deliverability means your messages are more likely to be seen and acted upon, whereas low deliverability can lead to your emails being marked as spam or bouncing back.

Factors Affecting Deliverability

Several factors can affect email deliverability. Understanding these can help you improve your email campaigns:

Sender Reputation: Your sending domain and IP address should maintain a good reputation.
Email Content: Poorly written content or excessive use of spammy words can trigger spam filters.
Recipient Engagement: Low engagement rates can signal to email providers that your messages are unwanted.
List Quality: Sending emails to outdated or purchased lists can harm your deliverability.
Authentication: Lack of proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) can cause emails to be flagged as suspicious.

How to Improve Sender Reputation?

Improving your sender reputation is critical for maintaining high deliverability:

Regularly Clean Your List: Remove inactive or invalid email addresses from your list.
Monitor Feedback Loops: Pay attention to complaints and take corrective action.
Use a Dedicated IP: If possible, use a dedicated IP address for sending your emails.
Authenticate Your Emails: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to validate your email authenticity.

Best Practices for Email Content

The content of your email plays a significant role in deliverability:

Avoid Spammy Words: Words like "free," "guarantee," and "limited time" can trigger spam filters.
Personalize Your Emails: Personalized emails have higher engagement rates.
Keep it Short and Sweet: Long emails can lose the reader's interest quickly.
Include a Clear Call-to-Action: Make it easy for recipients to know what action to take next.

Improving Recipient Engagement

Engaged recipients are less likely to mark your emails as spam:

Segment Your List: Send targeted messages to different segments of your audience.
Use Double Opt-In: Ensure that recipients really want to receive your emails.
Send Relevant Content: Tailor your messages to the interests and needs of your audience.
A/B Testing: Experiment with different subject lines and email designs to see what works best.

Maintaining List Quality

The quality of your email list is foundational to good deliverability:

Avoid Purchased Lists: These are often filled with outdated or uninterested contacts.
Regularly Update Your List: Ensure that your list is always up-to-date with valid email addresses.
Use Double Opt-In: Confirm subscribers' email addresses to ensure they are correct.

Why is Authentication Important?

Email authentication helps in verifying that your emails are not forged:

SPF: Sender Policy Framework helps in verifying the sender's IP address.
DKIM: DomainKeys Identified Mail adds a digital signature to your emails.
DMARC: Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance helps in aligning SPF and DKIM.