27 Best Practices to Boost Email Deliverability

While open rates and click through rates get the lion’s share of attention when it comes to email marketing, email deliverability should be at the forefront of any email marketing strategy.

Deliverability optimization is key to avoid getting blacklisted, prevent messages from landing in spam folders, and maximize exposure to increase open rates, click through rates, conversions, and revenues from email marketing.

The most important thing to remember is receiving Internet Service Providers (ISPs) filter emails based on reputation. Follow these lists of email deliverability dos and don’ts to ensure your emails land in your recipients’ inboxes.

16 Things To Do To Increase Email Deliverability

1. Use a double opt-in procedure when collecting email addresses. If you have to purchase a list, make sure you vet the provider and only purchase from reputable, trusted companies.
2. Make it clear to subscribers what types of messages they will be receiving. On the sign-up page, let them know the nature and frequency of your email communications.
3. Ask your subscribers to whitelist you by adding your email address to their address book.
4. Regularly run your lists through a list cleansing service like BriteVerify to validate your lists and remove hard bounces and inactive emails. It’s best to remove addresses with no activity in the past 12 months.
5. Use protocols to help email receivers identify your messages as legitimate emails. Examples include DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), SPF (Sender Protection Framework), and SenderID.
6. Setup a dedicated IP address to send your messages from.
7. Seek email sender accreditation from a third party.
8. Focus on sending quality, valuable emails from the start. Email providers use engagement metrics (opens, clicks, etc.) to identify which emails are legitimate and which are spam. If your email engagement is low, you may find your emails in the spam folder.
9. Send emails on a regular, consistent basis to increase engagement and prevent your contact lists from becoming stale.
10. Segment your lists to deliver targeted content to the right audience. This will help increase your engagement metrics.
11. Make sure your email content matches the subject line.
12. Use a familiar sender name, such as your company’s CEO or a regional salesperson. This builds trust and helps recipients identify your message as coming from a known source.
13. Offer both an HTML and text-based message.
14. Run each email through a spam filter before sending. Your marketing automation software has a tool to check for common indications of spam. If your email has any spam warnings, do not send until you resolve the issues.
15. Always preview your messages before sending. Don’t forget to check how your emails render on all device types. Most marketing automation systems have this functionality built in, but if you need to use a third party tool, try Litmus.
16. Send re-engagement emails to either reconnect with recipients or identify contacts that are no longer interested in your emails.

11 Things To Avoid To Improve Email Deliverability

1. Never send emails to distribution accounts (info@domain.com, sales@domain.com, etc.). Members of those lists are likely to mark your messages as spam, which can damage your reputation.
2. Don’t copy the spammers. Take a look at the messages that land in your own spam folder for great examples of what NOT to do.
3. Refrain from using common “trigger” words such as free, no obligation, guarantee, bonus, amazing, bargain, etc. that can trigger spam filters.
4. Avoid deceptive tactics. In compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act, identify your message as an ad (if applicable), include your business address in the footer, offer a clear opt-out link, grant all opt-out requests in a timely manner, and never use misleading subject lines.
5. Don’t include too many links in your emails. Ensure the links you do use follow traditional hyperlink formatting.
6. Don’t use large embedded images in your emails, which are characteristic of spam. Ideally, you want a high text-to-image ratio.
7. Never stuff keywords. Emails with repetitive keywords often are marked as spam.
8. Don’t use Flash or JavaScript, which aren’t supported by most email clients.
9. Avoid misspelled words, improper capitalization, excessive punctuation, symbols, and invisible text. Proof, proof, and proof again!
10. Never include attachments or embedded forms. Instead, link to a webpage that contains your asset or form.
11. Don’t repeatedly send emails to contacts that bounce. This can cause your IP address to be blacklisted.

Successful email marketing campaigns require hard work, persistence, and of course, excellent messaging and content – but the payoff is well worth the effort! Strategic email marketing consistently delivers high ROI for our clients. If you need help with email marketing or marketing automation, give our outsource marketing agency a call at 877-887-7611.