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Sending an email is easy, but making sure it lands in the inbox? More difficult. Every day, emails bombard our inboxes. Ensuring your messages reach their intended recipients has never been more difficult.
Email deliverability is key to the success of your email marketing and outreach. This article breaks down the simple steps to improve your email's journey to the inbox.
First we'll explain the basics of email deliverability. We will cover what it is and why it matters. Then, we'll explore practical strategies that work.
This guide is full of practical tips for anyone looking to improve their email strategy. Let's dive in.
What is Email Deliverability?
Email deliverability is about making sure your emails reach the inbox of the person you're sending them to. This stops emails from ending up in the spam folder or disappearing.
It lets the person easily find and read your email. This is key to making sure your emails are seen and not overlooked by the person you're emailing.
What is the Difference Between Email Delivery and Email Deliverability?
Email delivery means the email you send gets to the recipient's email system. It does not get sent back. This shows the email system accepted your email.
Email deliverability goes one step further. It makes sure your email ends up in the person's inbox. It avoids the spam or junk folder.
So, delivery means the email system got your email. Deliverability means the person can see and read your email in their inbox.
Why is Email Deliverability Important in Email Marketing?
In a world where billions of emails zip around every day, making sure yours get noticed is key.
Good email deliverability means your messages are more likely to land where you want - in the inbox.
This is very important. It means more people will see your emails, read them, and hopefully do what you ask. They might buy your product or sign up for your newsletter.
When your emails don't get delivered properly, it's not just a waste of your time and effort. It can also harm your brand and make it harder for your future emails to get through.
So, getting email deliverability right is crucial. It's a key part of any successful email marketing strategy.
How Does Email Deliverability Work?
Spam filters significantly influence whether your cold emails reach their intended inboxes. When you send an email, it passes through many checkpoints.
These include spam filters, which decide its final destination. If your email clears these filters, it will make it to the recipient's inbox. However, if flagged as spam, it misses the inbox.
This can also hurt your sender reputation. So, it's crucial to ensure your emails follow Email Service Providers (ESPs) standards. Let's explore the factors spam filters consider in cold email outreach.
Factors That Affect Email Deliverability
So, what makes some emails reach the inbox while others end up in spam?
Email companies (ESPs) keep an eye on a few things. Let's break them down:
How Trustworthy You Are: This is all about your reputation. If you send emails that people want and enjoy, email companies see you as a good guy. If not, you might be seen as the spammy type.
People's Interest in Your Emails: Do people open your emails? Click on stuff inside? The more they interact, the more it shows they like your emails.
The Quality of Your Content: Are your emails interesting and useful, or are they boring and spammy? Good content acts as a magnet, pulling readers in and keeping them engaged. If your emails fail to capture attention, they may quickly be overlooked or discarded.
Following the Rules: There are some important rules in email marketing. One key rule is making sure it's easy for people to unsubscribe if they want to. This means they can choose not to get emails from you anymore, quickly and without any hassle.
Email List Health: Keeping your email list clean is super important. If you're sending emails to addresses that don't exist or to people who never open them, it's not a good look. Sending emails to inactive or incorrect addresses is not effective. It can also harm your sender reputation.
Sending Frequency: How often you send emails matters too. Too many, and you might annoy people. Too few, and they might forget you. It's about finding that sweet spot.
To make sure your emails go straight to the inbox, you have to do things correctly. If you do, your messages will get to your friends or customers, and they'll be happy to get them.
Good Email Deliverability Benchmarks
A great email marketing campaign isn't just about sending emails. It's about sending the right emails that people actually want to read and respond to.
Using a cold email tool like QuickMail can help you see if your campaign is on track with advanced analtyics. For example, see how many people get your emails, open them, and engage with them.
Let's dive into what makes an email campaign really shine and how to know if yours is doing well.
What is A Good Email Delivery Rate?
A good email delivery rate is typically above 97%. A high delivery rate means your email list is good and current, with very few bad or fake email addresses.
It's important to keep this rate up so that your emails have a chance to be seen and used by people.
If you see a bounce rate higher than 3%, this is a sign to refine your audience targeting and verify your list.
What is A Good Email Open Rate?
A good open rate varies by industry but we set the bar for open rates at 40% and see users with the most positive replies getting opens above 60%.
There are many strategies and techniques you can use to improve your open rate through A/B testing.
What is A Good Email Reply Rate?
Aiming for a reply rate of 20% or higher is good. This rate shows your emails are well received by the prospects you send to.
To get a high reply rate and peak deliverability, you need a good sender reputation. And you need to follow email authentication protocols.
You also need engaging, relevant content. This content must encourage positive interaction from your recipients. It is easy to check this using QuickMail's deliverability report.
Best Practices to Improve Email Deliverability Rate and Avoid the Spam Folder
Improving your email deliverability is an ongoing process. It requires attention to detail and strategic changes based on performance metrics. Here are several advanced strategies to consider:
Set Up A Robust Email Infrastructure
A strong email infrastructure is the backbone of effective email deliverability. It ensures your messages land in the inbox, not in spam.
Let's break each component down, and how to optimize:
Authenticate Your Emails
Authenticating your emails is the next step to ensure they reach the inbox. It's like having a verified badge on your email domain.
It tells email service providers (ESPs) that you are who you claim to be. This reduces the risk of your emails being mistakenly marked as spam.
Here's how to authenticate your emails:
SPF allows you to specify which mail servers are permitted to send emails on behalf of your domain. This stops others from sending emails that seem to come from your domain. This is a common tactic in phishing and identity theft scams.
DKIM is a tool that checks if emails from your website's address are okay to send. It puts a special code on each email. This code is like a secret sign. When the email arrives, the code is checked with a public sign online. This proves the email is real and not changed. It's an extra step to make sure the email is safe and truly from you.
DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) builds on SPF and DKIM. It gives ESPs instructions on how to handle emails that fail SPF or DKIM. It also sends reports back to you. They give insight into who sends emails on behalf of your domain and how receiving servers handle those emails. DMARC is your plan for handling unauthenticated emails. It enhances your control over email delivery and security.
Tools like MXToolBox can help with authentication. They can also alert you to problems before they hurt your deliverability. This keeps your email program on track.
Segment Your Audience
To make great emails that people like, you need to know what different people want. Split your email list into groups, like what people do, how old they are, or what they've bought.
Then, send emails that match what each group likes. This makes more people want to read your emails. It also makes sure your emails are a hit with the people getting them and helps you look good as the person sending them.
Maintain a Healthy Email List for Your Email Campaign
The quality of your sales prospecting list directly impacts your deliverability. You should clean your list often by:
Remove inactive subscribers who haven't engaged with your emails.
Remove incorrect emails
Remove those who have opted out
A good email list ensures your messages go to engaged, interested recipients. This boosts your deliverability and engagement.
You can use email verification software integrated with QuickMail to speed up this process. Remember, a smaller, more engaged list is far more valuable than a large, disengaged one.
Craft Relevant and Personalized Content
In the era of information overload, personalized, relevant content cuts through the noise. It fosters real connections with your audience.
Emails that use recipients' names and contain content they care about are more likely to be opened. The recipients are also more likely to engage with them. The engagement tells ESPs that your emails are welcome.
It improves your sender reputation. QuickMail's advanced personalization features let you tailor your messages at scale. They ensure each recipient feels valued and understood.
Avoid Spam Triggers
Some words, phrases, and formats can trigger spam filters. They send your emails to the spam folder. Avoid many capitals, exclamation points, and spammy phrases like "Buy now!" or "Free offer."
Also, ensure your emails have a good text-to-image ratio. Emails with too many images can also be flagged. QuickMail's editor can help you optimize for plain text sending. This makes your emails more likely to land in the inbox.
Include a Clear Unsubscribe Link
You should include an easy-to-find unsubscribe link in every email. This is not just a best practice, but a legal requirement in many places.
It may seem counterproductive. But, making it easy to opt out can improve your deliverability. It does this by reducing spam complaints and keeping your list engaged.
A clear, easy unsubscribe process respects your recipients' wishes. It also keeps your email list healthy.
Here's how to add unsubscribe links to your email signature or header with QuickMail.
Track Email Deliverability and Adjust Based on Metrics
To keep doing well with your email campaigns, you need to always check and change important details.
They offer great insights into your email strategy's effectiveness. Keep a close eye on your email metrics, such as open rates, bounce rates, and spam complaints. These indicators can give great insights into your email performance.
They show areas to improve. You can use advanced analytics tools. They let you track your success. You can use the data to improve your email campaigns.
Keep An Eye On Your Sender Reputation
Your sender reputation is crucial. It ensures your emails reach inboxes. Think of it as a score that email services look at to see if they can trust your emails. If your score is high, you're good to go.
You can use tools like Sender Score to check your reputation. The score changes based on things like how many people mark your emails as spam. It also changes if you send emails to addresses that don't exist.
To keep your score high, make sure your email list is clean and that people actually want to receive your emails. Using the right email settings can also help show that your emails are legit and not spam.
Optimize Email Frequency and Timing
Finding the right frequency and timing for your emails is key. If you send too many, people get tired of them; if you send too few, they forget about you.
Testing different frequencies and timings can help find the best schedule for your audience. It will boost open rates and keep a good sender reputation.
For more best practices, check out our latest webinar on email deliverability:
Test Email Deliverability Tools to Improve Your Email Program
Testing and monitoring your email deliverability is essential. It's key for anyone looking to improve their email marketing. They give insights into how your emails are being received and what to improve.
Here’s a deeper dive into the types of tools available and how they can enhance your email program:
Email Analytics
Tracking email performance is crucial. It helps you understand your audience's engagement. QuickMail provides detailed analytics and they’re the only solution with send-day attribution on the market.
They include open rates, click-through rates, and conversions. These metrics offer insights. They show how well your subject lines, content, and calls to action work.
Analyzing this data helps you refine your email strategy. You can tailor your content to your audience's preferences. This will ultimately boost your campaign results.
Email Deliverability Test
Test your email deliverability. It will help you find and fix potential issues that could hurt your email campaigns. You can do this by visiting SpamTester.ai.
Copy the given email address and add it as a new prospect in QuickMail. After adding this prospect to a campaign, SpamTester.ai will update. It will show your test results and pinpoint issues with your domain's DNS or email.
Final Thoughts
Remember, every email reaching an inbox is an opportunity to connect. It's a chance to engage and convert potential customers.
The key to successful email marketing starts with improving your deliverability.
QuickMail is here to simplify this at every step by offering:
Unmatched deliverability
Omni-channel outreach that scales
Affordable pricing at every size
Ready to take your email campaigns to the next level?
