2 Major Reasons Why You Should Care About Email Deliverability

If you’re just getting started with email marketing, you might be wondering what all the hoopla’s about when it comes to email deliverability.

Whether you’re unsure how it impacts your email success, or if you’re just not convinced it’s that big of a deal, we wanted to help bring clarity to the sometimes puzzling topic. Here’s why email deliverability should definitely be on your radar:

Reason #1: You want people to read your emails.

I know, this one is kind of obvious. Of course you want people to read your emails! But there’s a whole lot that goes into making that happen – and a big chunk of it has to do with email deliverability. 

Unless you pay careful attention to the things that impact your deliverability, the basic goal of getting people to read your emails becomes extremely difficult to attain.

One big factor that plays into whether or not you have good email deliverability? Your email reputation.

Every email sender has an email reputation score, which is generated by Internet Service Providers like Comcast and Roadrunner, and mailbox providers like Yahoo! and Gmail. The score is determined by a number of factors, such as how many emails you send, your complaint rates, your bounce rates, how many times you’ve landed in the spam folder, how many inactive/old addresses and more. And if your score is low, that could prevent your emails from making it to the inbox.

Fortunately, there are simple ways you can prevent getting flagged as spam or hitting the spam folder. Sending email with content relevant to your subscribers, setting clear expectations about your emails from the start and not buying email lists are good places to start. Respecting your subscribers’ inboxes as if they were your own is essential to keeping your deliverability strong.  

Pro Tip: Before you send an email, see if it passes the “You” test. Would you like to receive these offers? Would you be happy with the amount of emails you receive, and when you get them? That’ll help you identify a good starting point for your emails. To see if what you have in mind clicks with what your subscribers want, review your email analytics to identify their habits. If your subscribers prefer to receive emails with short subject lines, for example, send emails accordingly.

Reason #2: You don’t want to be labeled a “spammer.”

Not everyone wakes up each morning and thinks, “I want to send spammy emails today.” Unfortunately, however, many send spam or engage in spammy behaviors without even realizing it.

If people mark your messages as spam, that might cause your deliverability to take a dip. When that happens, any future emails you send to other subscribers might end up in the spam folder too.

Not sure if you’re sending spam? Here’s a telltale sign: you send email content that doesn’t align with what your subscribers expect to receive from you. Or, the majority of your email content is too promotional.

To avoid sending spam, set clear expectations for your subscribers about the email content you send. Then, deliver on that promise.

But what if you send regular, relevant content to your subscribers?

Sometimes the fault isn’t on the sender, but rather the recipient. Maybe someone accidentally signed up to your list or realized they no longer want to receive your emails. While they should unsubscribe from your email list, many often flag emails as spam to prevent them from going to their main inbox. After all, the average email subscriber doesn’t know the impact that can have on a sender’s email reputation.

If that’s the case, make sure your unsubscribe button is easy to find in your email. You might also want to include a line of copy that tells people that if they no longer wish to receive your emails, they should unsubscribe from your list instead of marking you as spam.  

For subscribers who do want to receive your emails, ask them to add your “From Address” to their contact list. This also helps improve your email reputation score, which ultimately means more of your emails will get routed to the inbox instead of the spam folder.

Improving Your Email Deliverability

Deliverability is an important piece of every email marketing plan. Are there areas where you might be able to make improvements to your own strategy? I encourage you to use the tips above to help you get started today!

The post 2 Major Reasons Why You Should Care About Email Deliverability appeared first on Email Marketing Tips.

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