Boosting Deliverability and Making a Win at Email Marketing

Email marketing is used by 95 percent of companies with an online presence. This statistic is possible because email marketing is effective and affordable.

The cost-effectiveness of the email marketing to the user can be measured in email deliverability numbers. Achieving email deliverability is a skill to be learned by every email marketer.

Wondering how to go about that? Not to worry, we got you covered here.

Below are eight tips to help you do better at deliverability and make you successful at Email marketing. Here We Go:

Prune your list

As the pruning of a garden of weeds is done, remove inactive users from your list. Don’t be caught thinking that one day some certain uninterested users will get interested. Here, success is not defined by the number of people on your list. It is defined by having active users. If a user has not opened your email for once in six months, do not waste more resources on that user.

List Maintenance

This is a very delicate issue. Some powerful growth engines (ReferralCandy, Dojomojo) leave you with sub-standard emails. This effect occurs even when you are trying to improve on your list using these engines. These emails demand an active maintenance. This action amongst many others has a negative effect on deliverability.

For your list maintenance, find out the methods that give the highest return-on-investment. The best methods are quantified based on delivery to your audience of interest.

Make Sure All Images Have an Alt Tag

Tell users about what an email is saying by adding an alt tag to every image. Leaving your alt tag blank is interpreted by the inbox provider as an empty space. This way, your ends up in the spam folder since it all looks blank. In a case where users can’t access the image, alt tags also make sure they are not devoid of the information it provides.

Focus on Communicating with Engaged Users

You would always have users who haven’t paid attention to your last email on your list. Be careful to not make them a target the next time you communicate. Your focus should be on your active list. This would ensure your deliverability metrics is on a great level. In the long run, your inbox provider will tag you a good sender. Thus, your deliverability ratings will increase.

Make It Easy for a User to Unsubscribe

If your email service provider does not show an “unsubscribe” icon or link at the foot of each email, add one.  Make sure it is very easy to see and accessible for any uninterested user to leave. It is important that you do not complicate this process by making it hard. Remember, having engaged subscribers is the goal.

Don’t Include the Words “Click Here” in an Email

Including “click here” is the easiest way to attract spam filters. Even if it’s for a user to unsubscribe, do not use the phrase “click here”. Instead, choose to use terminologies with alternate action words. You can also make use of questions to achieve your goal.

Set up DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM)

With DKIM, every company handles its message.  When one has a DKIM set up, the validity of the domain’s identity is done. This process is made possible through cryptographic authentication.

Perform List Hygiene and Verification

Be willing to pay the expert providers for hygiene and verification checks. Do not wait till a related problem damages your image before running these checks. If your reputation is tampered with, using these third-party services is a must. Webbula and BriteVerify are great providers for this evaluation.

CONCLUSION

Deliverability ratings hardly skyrocket overnight. It is harder if your reputation is already damaged. By using the tips provided above and staying disciplined, improvement is very possible. These improvements are usually evident in click-through rates. It is possible to make your email list the most reliable and cost-effective user acquisition tool in your possession.

Written by Demi Oye