Email deliverability also referred to “inbox placement” refers to the location where a received email is stored once it has been opened. The destination could be the main inbox, a spam folder, the trash, or anywhere else specifically chosen by the contact. Rates of deliverability are different from rates of delivery, which only account for whether or not an email is sent or received. Here are five methods to improve your email deliverability:
- Start small
- Stay away from spam traps
- The people in your address book should be updated and cleaned up on a regular basis
- Look at feedback loops and blacklists just in case
- Schedule campaigns regularly
Start small
Testing the waters is a great method to get started building the reputation of your Internet Protocol (IP) address, which is essential for avoiding deliverability issues. Start email marketing efforts by emailing to only your most active subscribers at first. Email open and click-through rates can be used to divide contact lists into distinct subsets.
You may gradually acquire the trust of the ISPs by connecting with an audience that has shown acceptance and admiration for your messages. Increasing the likelihood that an email will be received is as easy as taking this step.
Stay away from spam traps
Internet service providers (ISPs) are huge fans of spam traps because they allow them to catch spammers red-handed. Honeypots and spam traps are two names for the same thing: a fake email account set up by an Internet service provider (ISP) to catch and discourage spammers. They can be purchased as part of a contact list, found on scraped websites, or be repurposed from the emails of inactive users.
The people in your address book should be updated and cleaned up on a regular basis
Keeping (and occasionally checking) your email list in good shape is crucial to your deliverability. Since people’s contact information is bound to change over time, it’s crucial to regularly purge inactive or potentially fraudulent subscribers. You should unsubscribe people who haven’t interacted with your emails in a long time.
ISPs take bounce rates into account when determining the reliability of an outgoing mail server, therefore it’s best to get rid of any email addresses that have repeatedly bounced. If your email bounces at a rate higher than 2.5% of total sent messages, your sender reputation may take a hit.
Look at feedback loops and blacklists just in case
You may wish to check if your IP address has been blacklisted if you’ve exhausted all other options for improving your email’s deliverability rate. Internet service providers (ISPs) compile complaint feedback loops (FBLs) that detail email receivers who have lodged complaints regarding the sender’s messages. By putting in place an FBL, you may find out which of your marketing plans are the most difficult to execute.
IP addresses that have been the subject of multiple spam complaints are catalogued in DNS blacklists. When an ISP encounters a domain on a blacklist, they immediately stop receiving emails from that domain. Blacklisting is something that businesses should want to avoid at all costs because getting off of them is a cumbersome and time-consuming procedure.
Schedule campaigns regularly
There are many reasons why it’s important to plan out an email campaign in advance. Maintaining connections with your audience and avoiding ISP rejection can be aided by sending non-intrusive marketing emails on a regular basis. Scheduled emails sent at odd times raise suspicion and may lead to spam complaints from subscribers who forgot they had opted in.
You may try sending out an email once a week and then using the data you get to guide your efforts moving forward. At the very least, you should update your subscribers once a month to keep their attention.