Email deliverability is a term used commonly in email marketing that sends promotional and transactional emails. It implies the process of getting the emails delivered to the recipient’s inbox. It also measures the domain’s reputation.
The goal of email marketers is to ensure that their emails reach the inbox, especially in desired folders, not spam or promotional mail folders. If your emails do not reach the inbox, it is as good as wasting money and time.
Below we’ve covered all the essentials on how to improve email deliverability and elevate your email program to new heights.
11 tips on how to improve email deliverability
1. Create a sub-domain and use it for email marketing only.
A big advantage of doing this is that many anti-spam organizations treat sub-domains differently, and even if your sub-domain gets restricted, your main domain will still be able to send emails separately. In the long run, users will come to trust the sub-domain.
However, take care that not too many of your sub-domains get into a low-reputation band. This may affect your main domain. And that’s something you have to manage by maintaining the reputation of your sub-domains. Finally, building a reputation on one domain (even with multiple sub-domains) is easier.
2. Authenticate your email domain.
Phishing brings down the reputation of your domain very quickly. Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and Domain Keys Identified Mail (DKIM), and DMARC are the best ways to authenticate your domain. Authenticating your emails using these two ways proves to the Mail Service Providers (MSPs) that you really are eligible to send emails.
Google and Yahoo have updated their email policies to ensure there’s reduction of spam and phishing emails. So, it’s now become a mandate that you get your domain thoroughly authenticated before sending out emails.
3. Check your domain reputation.
One of the main reasons for low email deliverability is low domain reputation. ‘Domain’ here refers to the ‘Sender Domain/Sub-domain.’ MSPs move the emails to spam or block the emails from any domain whose reputation is low. Google Postmaster is a domain reputation tool by Google. It tracks and shows your domain reputation. It is important to keep a close watch on your domain reputation.
4. Maintain dedicated IPs.
It is important to maintain a proper infrastructure to deliver your emails. IP address is one of the aspects of a proper infrastructure. Maintaining a dedicated IP address is mandatory to grow your email volumes.
When you add a dedicated IP address for delivery, it is necessary to build up the reputation or warm up the IP address in order to build trust with MSPs. This will help in gaining trust of MSPs.
5. Consider warming up your IP address
Before launching email campaigns from a new IP address, conducting an IP warmup also referred to as domain warmup, is crucial. Contact your Email Service Provider (ESP) for assistance in setting up this program.
Here’s how it typically works: Start by sending a few emails to your most engaged subscribers.
Their interaction with your emails signals to Internet Service Providers (ISP) that your content is valuable, thereby enhancing your IP’s reputation. As this reputation strengthens over a week or two, you’ll gain the ability to send emails in larger volumes without facing deliverability problems.
6. Check feedback loops or abuse complaints.
MSPs like Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook provide feedback loops or FBLs, which help marketers with the information about the complaints they have received.
Yahoo and Outlook make it easy to get this information. Gmail has Google Postmaster, which helps track FBLs, although they do not share the recipient addresses over Postmaster.
7. Maintain a proper opt-in process.
The method you use to collect the email addresses plays a very important role in your email deliverability and domain reputation.
If you are sending emails to recipients who have not opted-in or have not agreed to receive emails, FBLs, and MSPs will consider you a spammer. The most common way to collect email addresses is single opt-in.
This may seem simple and easy, but it may backfire by generating high FBLs. The most authenticated way to collect email addresses is double opt-in. Here, you send a confirmation email to users to verify their email addresses and have their approval to send emails.
8. Clean up your list regularly.
You will always receive bounces on your list if you send emails to non-existent users. You should not send emails to these bounced and complaining users again. Re-sending to these users leads to a lowering of email deliverability.
It is important to block a user at your database level. Ensure you add an unsubscribe link to your emails. It helps you to scrub your email list.
9. Make it easy to unsubscribe
Ensuring a hassle-free unsubscribe process for your subscribers is essential. A complicated or unclear opt-out process may lead them to mark your emails as spam, negatively impacting your deliverability rate.
Adopting the best practice of facilitating easy opt-outs is crucial. Therefore, always include a visible unsubscribe link or button in every email, and ensure there’s ample white space around it to prevent accidental clicks on other links.
Google and Yahoo mail have stated in their new policies to have a single-click unsubscribe option.
Besides, the simpler the opt-out process, the lower the likelihood of receiving spam complaints.
10. Avoid spammy content in your emails and subject lines
A single spammy word in your email, whether in the subject line, preheader text, or body, can easily land you in the spam folder.
Such words activate spam filters, indicating potentially spammy content and resulting in your email being relegated to the junk folder.
Here are some trigger words commonly found in subject lines:
- Win Big Now! Claim Your Free Prize Instantly!
- Exclusive Offer Just for You – Act Fast!
- Unlock Secret Deals! Save More Today Only!
In addition to spammy words, you should also steer clear of:
- Including characters such as “, >, !, etc., in your subject line.
- Using ALL CAPS for emphasis.
- Employing symbols or exaggerated figures like 777, $$$, or claims of 0% risk.
11. Stick to a Regular Email Sending Schedule
Establish a regular schedule for your emails, choosing the optimal frequency and timing to ensure they aren’t overlooked.
Sending emails when recipients are unlikely to see them is futile, so selecting the appropriate time and day is crucial, depending on your industry, the nature of the email campaign, and your recipients’ engagement patterns.
Conclusion
For further insights into email deliverability, don’t hesitate to contact the Netcore team. At Netcore, we prioritize ensuring our users achieve optimal deliverability and execute highly effective email campaigns.
Our interactive emails boost engagement, leading to higher response rates through clicks and form submissions, which in turn improves email deliverability.
Follow these tips to enhance your email deliverability and get the best returns on your email marketing efforts.
