Improve Email Deliverability: 15 Tips for Successful Email
Author: Alan Sharpe
Delivering email newsletters and sales messages to opt-in
subscribers and customers is getting more exasperating—and more
expensive—by the day.
Delivery rates for email have gone through the virtual floor.
According to MarketingSherpa, one out of every six people who
asked to be on your mailing list won’t receive your email
newsletter or marketing message because a spam filter blocks it
by mistake.
Why you’re just not getting through to them As
you probably know, the challenge you are facing is primarily
spam filters, electronic and human. And no wonder. Consider
these sobering numbers:
- 10 out of 12 messages reviewed
are considered spam (Postini.com) - average users receive
42 unwanted sales pitches a day (Jupiter Research) - 70%
of all email messages will be spam by 2007 (Radicati Group)
Your emails fail to reach your subscribers for three basic
reasons. Either the email is blocked by the subscriber’s ISP or
enterprise firewall (in which case it never gets delivered), the
email is blocked by the subscriber’s spam filter (in which case
it gets delivered but is never seen) or the email is deleted by
an irritable subscriber with an overzealous delete-key-finger
who does not recognize your “From:” address or mistakes your
email subject line for something unwelcome.
But take heart. There are some tactics you can employ today to
increase your email deliverability scores and reach your
newsletter subscribers and customers with the email messages
they have asked you to wing their way.
1. Hire someone to monitor your mail Your most
expensive option is to retain the services of a third-party
vendor to monitor your email deliverability. For a fee,
ReturnPath.net, PiperSoftware.com, Deliverability.com,
DeliveryMonitor.com and other companies will seed your mailing
list seeded with hundreds of email addresses from a variety of
domains. When your email arrives, these firms record the time,
count the number of emails that escaped the spam filters, and
generate a report that shows deliverability scores for each ISP.
These reports help you notice which ISPs are blocking your
messages or only allowing a few to get through before blocking
the rest. You can take the steps needed to improve
deliverability.
2. Test your email messages for spam before
sending The above companies and a host of smaller
software firms let you run your email message by a spam filter
before sending. They search for “free,” “buy now” and other
words that trigger spam filters. That way, you can see if your
message is likely to be flagged as spam somewhere enroute, and
tweak where needed to improve your score before hitting Send.
Try the free service at www.ezinecheck.com.
3. Make sure your ISP is not on a blacklist
Spammers may have abused the servers of the autoresponder or
listserver service that you use. As a result, the major ISPs may
have blacklisted or blocked emails from these servers. To
discover if you are blacklisted, find the IP address of the
email server and do a spam database lookup at www. DNSstuff.com
or www.OpenRBL.org.
4. Slow down your email send rate Some ISPs set
a threshold for how many emails you can send during one session.
If you exceed this threshold, their software flags you as a
spammer and blocks the remainder of your messages. One way
around this wall is to send your messages in small bursts, say
200 at a time, with a pause of a few minutes between bursts. The
other solution is to host your list on a reputable listserver.
The more popular ones include Constant Contact, AWeber, Topica,
and GotMarketing Campaigner.
5. Send your email when it’s most likely to get
read If you send your message to businesses on a Friday
afternoon, chances are that your recipients won’t check their
email until Monday morning. Your message will be buried way down
the list with a ton of spam ahead of it (assuming the
recipient’s inbox is sorted by date). The most recent messages
will get the attention, and your message will likely get
overlooked or deleted in the rush to start work. The open rate
for email is strongest within the first two days of delivery.
Then it drops off a cliff.
6. Mail on the best days Online marketers have
discovered over the years that B to B emails are read most often
when they arrive on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, around
noon. Mondays are too busy. And Fridays are too close to the
golf course.
7. Use the right email service Choose a
reputable service provider who is respected by the major ISPs.
They will work on your behalf to keep you off blacklists and
deliver your messages on time.
8. Help subscribers change addresses In every
email message, tell your subscribers where they need to go to
change their address or modify their subscription. You’ll reduce
the number of bouncebacks you receive each mailing.
9. Use creative copy tactics to circumvent spam
filters Spam filters block your e-newsletters and
marketing messages in a number of ways, and one of them is
looking for words that are found in most spam. These include
perfectly legitimate words and phrases, such as “free,”
“opportunity,” “multi-level marketing [OK, that one is
debatable],” “compare rates” and “free installation.” Most of
these words you can get around by employing a thesaurus. Instead
of saying “free,” say “complimentary,” or “no charge.” You can
also disguise the word in some way (free becomes free~, or
fr*ee), although you must tell your subscribers what you are
doing beforehand.
10. Get your subscribers to whitelist you When
your subscribers opt-in to your list, immediately tell them to
add your sending email address to their whitelist or “allowed
senders” list so your messages are never blocked by the
subscriber’s spam filters.
11. Use a distinctive, predictable subject line
Include a phrase in every subject line that shows at a glance
who you are and what your message is about. Subscribers get used
to recognizing each message from you. For example, one popular
e-newsletter includes the phrase “DM News-iMarketing News Daily”
in every email subject line.
12. Welcome new subscribers immediately As soon
as someone signs up for your e-newsletter or opts-in to your
list, send them a welcome email. Immediately establish a
connection between their opt-in action and your email that
confirms their membership.
13. Make your email welcome message look like your
sign-up form Help new subscribers to recognize you in
their inboxes by branding your online sign-up page and your
welcome email with the same colors, images and typography.
14. Send from the same domain that signs them
up The domain in your welcome message and subsequent
messages should match the URL of the webpage that subscribers
used to opt-in to your list, otherwise they may not recognize
you as the sender and delete your message by mistake.
15. Use the same From: address Keep your From:
address constant. This helps subscribers who have added your
email address to their whitelist or “allowed senders” list.
About the Author:
Alan Sharpe is a business-to-business direct mail copywriter. Sign up for free weekly tips like this at www.sharpecopy.com.
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