Webinar:

Improve Your Deliverability & Send Better Emails

Sometimes, it's something that we setup once, at the very beginning, and then we don't think about it again, until it's a issue.

Deliverability.

It's regularly one of the most overlooked parts of email marketing - it's something you usually do while setting up for domain and everything, and then you think that everything's ok, without taking much attention to it.

Well, it's one of the most critical aspects of your email marketing strategy.

You can have the best product and the most creative campaigns, but if your emails land in the spam folder, none of it matters.

During this webinar, we'll review some best practices on how to take care of things.

Technical Setup

Before you send a single email, make sure your technical setup is perfect - you shouldn't get this wrong:

• Use a Reputable Provider: Choose an established email service provider (ESP) with a strong reputation (Klavyio, Salesforce, Mailchimp - pick a well known name)
• Authenticate Your Domain: Set up SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and BIMI records. These are making sure your email domain authentification is secure (so the networks knows you're sending these emails, and not someone else)
• Use a Subdomain (or another domain): Protect your main domain's reputation by sending marketing emails from a subdomain (e.g., email.yourdomain.com). Or another domain - but if there's a mistake one day, or any kind of issue, protect you own root domain at all costs.

And again, any change you're making that could affect this setup, make sure to review it and that the changes are taken into account by your ESP. You don't want to mess it up (talking from experience here 😬)

Your List (Forms and Sign-Ups)

Your deliverability checklist grows when you're actively adding new subscribers: it's your responsibility to make sure you're sending the right content to the right person. One, for moral reasons, but also because each person that receives something they do not expect (or like), might signal you and worsen your deliverability.

• Protect your forms: Use captchas and tools to block bots, then validate email addresses (double opt in) - so you'll only be emailing people who really want to receive your emails.
• Set clear expectations: Be upfront on your sign-up form about what kind of content you'll be sending.
• Use double opt-in: Again, ask new subscribers to confirm their email address. This builds a more engaged and higher-quality list.
• Craft a great welcome email: In your first message, tell subscribers what to expect and how often they'll hear from you. Encourage a simple engagement, like a click or a reply, to start the relationship off right.

This last advice is the best one I could give you: on top of engaging with your audience, it sends signals to the network that your subscribers are directly engaging with your content.

How to send

How and when you send your emails has a huge impact on your reputation.

• Never buy lists: I don't even know why I'm writing this as it's obvious, but still, I kinda have to. Only email people who explicitly signed up to hear from you. Purchased lists are full of spam traps that will damage your reputation - and the more you do this, the harder it's going to be to fix your reputation.
• Keep your volume consistent: Avoid sudden, massive email blasts. Send your emails in batches over several hours to maintain a steady sending rate. Networks prefer to see consistent sending patterns, rather than spikes, which can signal bad behaviours, hacks or or spams.
• Warm up new domains: If your domain is new, start with a low sending volume and increase it gradually. Do the same before a large, planned campaign like Black Friday. Again, your goal is to avoid spikeS.
• Write honest subject lines: Avoid misleading or "tricky" subject lines that can lead to spam complaints.

My best advice here: avoid spikes. Be consistent and change gradually how much emails you're sending. That does somuch good to your deliverability.

Your content should be perfect

What you send and who you send it to are just as important as how you send it.

• Provide value: The best way to ensure good engagement is to send interesting content that your audience wants to read and click on.
• Be professional: Avoid link shorteners and include your physical address in the email footer. Make it easy for people to reply.
• Make unsubscribing easy: A clear, one-click unsubscribe link is a must. Hiding it will only lead to spam complaints, which are far more damaging.
• Clean Your Lists regularly: Periodically remove unengaged subscribers. This improves your engagement metrics and reduces sending costs. Consider a "sunset flow" to try and re-engage inactive users before removing them.

Monitoring and Troubleshooting

Keep a close eye on your reputation and know what to do when problems arise.

• Watch your spam rate: Use the free Google Postmaster Tools to monitor your spam rate. Keep it below 0.1%. If it creeps toward 0.3%, you are in a danger zone.
• Fixing issues: If you run into trouble, first identify the root cause. It could be anything from your forms to your technical setup. Once fixed, reduce your sending volume for 2-3 weeks, emailing only your most engaged segment to rebuild your reputation.

If you have a deliverability issue - Google Postmaster v2 is the best place to get started. You'll see right away if you have a spam problem. Works most of the times, trust me :)

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