Struggling to get your emails into your
audience's inbox instead of their spam folder? You're not alone. Email
marketing is a powerful tool, but poor deliverability can sabotage your
efforts. The key to success lies in boosting your email deliverability rates
and avoiding those frustrating spam filters. In this
guide, we’ll share 12 actionable tips to help your emails reach their
destination and engage your audience effectively.
Understanding Email Deliverability
Understanding email deliverability is
vital for ensuring your messages reach your audience’s inbox. It hinges on the
relationship between sender reputation, content quality, and deliverability
rates. A strong sender reputation boosts deliverability but can be damaged by
spam complaints, high bounce rates, or subpar content.
To succeed, focus on crafting quality
emails and maintaining your reputation. Learn how to improve email deliverability
rates to maximize your campaign’s impact.
Building consistency and regularly monitoring performance is essential to
maintaining a strong sender reputation.
Tips To Increase Email Deliverability Rates
1. Clean Your Email List Regularly
One of the most imperative practices
for improving deliverability is having a clean email list. Over time, emails go
inactive or invalidated on your list. These significantly damage deliverability
rates since they lead to high bounce rates and do damage to the sender's
reputation. According to a study, 21% of
legitimate messages never end up in the inbox because of
deliverability issues, among which are being marked as spam.
Removing inactive subscribers, as well
as correcting email addresses, is one of the ways spam filters may be avoided.
Use email validation tools to check and remove the addresses that are not
valid, thereby ensuring that only people with actual interest in your content
receive your emails.
2. Authenticate Your Emails with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC
Proven authenticity through your
identity as an authentic sender calls for authentication protocols. Sender
Policy Framework, DKIM that stands for DomainKeys Identified Mail, and DMARC
stands for Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance,
form a very necessary part of emails.
These protocols validate the identity
of the sender, as well as protect your domain from spoofing and phishing attacks.
When your messages are authenticated properly, spam filters tend to treat them
less skeptically, hence your deliverability rates.
3. Use a Reliable Email Service Provider (ESP)
A good, reputable ESP will, then, have
a big impact on your sender's reputation. A good ESP should follow best
practices, comply with anti-spam regulations, and provide tools for monitoring
email campaign performance.
A trusted ESP will also offer features
like feedback loops, spam complaint tracking, and deliverability reports,
allowing you to stay on top of your email reputation and optimize your
campaigns for better results.
4. Avoid Spammy Language in Subject Lines and Content
Spam filters come with complex
algorithms that help them identify spam words. Certain words or phrases may
trigger the spam filters, and your emails might land in the spam folder. For
instance, "free," "guaranteed," or "urgent" might
activate the spam filters.
Instead, use engaging, straightforward
language that resonates with your audience. For example, instead of saying “Get
your gift,” try something like “Claim your special offer today.” Keep subject
lines clear and concise, avoiding excessive punctuation and capital letters.
5. Segment Your Audience for Targeted Campaigns
Sending valuable and relevant content
to a specific audience will most likely increase engagement and reduce spam
filters. One way to segment is to break up your email list into various
categories, such as behavior, demographics, or purchase history.
Targeted campaigns increase the chances
of engagement and reduce the likelihood of recipients marking your emails as
spam, improving deliverability rates over time.
6. Maintain a Consistent Sending Schedule
Sending your emails sporadically can
harm your sender's reputation, thus labeling your emails as spam. To improve
the deliverability of your emails, have a regular sending schedule that takes
on the preferences of your audience.
Based on engagement metrics and your
industry, determine the best frequency for your campaign. If your audience
reacts well to a weekly newsletter, maintain that rhythm rather than
sporadically sending emails.
7. Focus on High-Quality, Engaging Content
High-quality content is key to
maintaining a good sender reputation. If your emails contain irrelevant or
low-quality material, recipients are more likely to ignore them or mark them as
spam.
Creating engaging, relevant content for
your audience not only boosts engagement but also improves deliverability
rates. Personalization is an excellent strategy here—tailor your emails to
specific segments of your audience, offering valuable insights, tips, and
offers that meet their needs.
8. Optimize for Mobile Devices
Since mobile devices are now the new
platform for email checking, there is a pressing need to optimize your emails
for mobile. The responsive email design ensures that all content is amazing on
any device, increases engagement, and reduces complaints that will affect
deliverability.
Ensure that your subject lines are
short and to the point, images are properly optimized, and buttons or links are
easy to click on mobile devices.
9. Monitor and Maintain Your Sender's Reputation
Your sender's reputation is one of the
most critical factors influencing email deliverability. It’s determined by how
your recipients interact with your emails, as well as how frequently your
emails are flagged as spam.
Monitor your reputation by using tools
such as sender score trackers and feedback loops from your ESP. Regularly check
your bounce rates, spam complaints, and engagement metrics to maintain a
positive reputation and avoid deliverability issues.
10. Test and Monitor Your Emails
Testing is the most important aspect of
improving the deliverability of email. Run A/B tests on your campaigns
regularly and find out what works best for you. Test different subject lines,
formats, and times for sending out content to see which combination works best
for you.
By continuously testing and monitoring
your emails, you can make data-driven decisions to optimize your campaigns and
boost your email deliverability rate.
11. Avoid Overuse of Attachments and Links
Including too many attachments or links
in your emails can trigger spam filters. These elements are often associated
with phishing attempts or unwanted solicitations.
Keep your mail simple and well-focused.
This means if an attachment or any link is necessary in the mail, keep it
relevant or from a valid source. Do not overdo lots of links or large files.
12. Request Feedback from Subscribers
It would be helpful for better email
marketing, higher engagement rates, and most importantly- to listen to feedback
and recommendations of subscribers. Inquiring about what content and format
they wish to receive is very helpful for learning what their audience wants.
Conclusion
Deliverability will only improve if
there is a continuous effort applied with best practices. An email lands in
front of the right target audience with a clean list, authentic messages, and
quality content. Keep looking and monitoring the campaign, adjust it according
to feedback, and apply these 12 actionable tips so that your email doesn't end
up in spam folders and make effective email marketing.
FAQs
1. Why do important emails keep going
to spam?
If you find an email in your junk
folder that shouldn't be there it could very well be because the individual
email triggered one of these common triggers: There are too many images in the
email.
2. What’s the difference between a
bounced email and a spam complaint?
A bounce occurs when an email can’t be
delivered to an inbox, while a spam complaint happens when a recipient marks
your email as unwanted.
3. How do I permanently stop spam
emails?
The most effective way to stop spam
emails is to unsubscribe from unwanted spam email campaigns and systematically
report and block spam. But to put a more permanent stop to spam emails
blighting your inbox, you'll also need to adjust your privacy settings and
change your online habits.
