SmallBusinessNewz

SmallBusinessNewz conducted a little Q&A on email marketing and deliverability issues with Jeremy Saibil, the Director of Deliverability at email marketing firm Campaigner.

SmallBusinessNewz: There have been a lot of email marketing deliverability studies and reports recently – why is it such a hot issue right now?

Jeremy Saibil: Email deliverability has always been a huge challenge for marketers – if your email isn’t delivered, your campaign has failed. I think that deliverability is the hot issue right now because marketers are starting to become more aware of its importance and are becoming smarter about implementing best practices in order to ensure campaign success.

While it is understood that the performance of your ESP most definitely impacts on the success of a campaign, we are seeing a marked shift in the perceived balance of responsibility. Much of email marketing deliverability is actually in the hands of marketers themselves and it all starts with following email marketing best practices.

These recent studies and reports prove that deliverability is an issue that’s not going to go away – and marketers are going to have to play an active role in improving the deliverability of their campaigns.

SBN: What factors determine whether or not your emails make it to the inbox?

JS: Following email marketing best practices is the best way to make sure your emails are making it into the inboxes of your subscribers.  If you ignore or neglect best practices you are guaranteed to see deliverability rates and performance drop.

The Demystifying Email Deliverability report by the Aberdeen Group revealed that choosing the right email service provider is also crucial to the deliverability rate of your campaign.

Many ESPs advertise astronomical delivery rates of 99.99% or similar. This is an unrealistic expectation. Any ESP that makes the claim that they alone can get you that level of deliverability should be questioned. To make sure emails are delivered, marketers must use a trusted email service provider as well as implement email marketing best practices.

Follow best practices and you will be rewarded with high deliverability rates.

SBN: How much control do marketers themselves have over deliverability rates?

JS: The low cost and incredible, proven ROI for email marketing is a double-edged sword.

The fact the medium is so cost effective generally makes marketers want to send too frequently. There’s also a tendency to prepare campaigns at the last possible minute.

A very large part of successful email delivery is in the hands of the marketer. There are two key pillars on which successful email delivery is based: permission and relevance. These factors are definitely in the direct control of the Marketer. If you are not following a proper protocol for acquiring permission from recipients in advance, then your content will be viewed as spam. Morals aside, non permission-based mail is characterized by excessive spam complaints, high hard bounce ratios and other factors that have significant negative impacts on delivery rates. In addition to asking for permission, marketers must offer their subscribers information that interests them. Being relevant, timely and providing valuable information and offers are ways marketers can ensure campaign success.

Marketers should however be careful to choose an ESP that provides back-end deliverability automation features and services. Even the best of mail streams hit turbulence from time to time, so a good ESP not only provides you with the best technical platform to fly with, but also an experienced co-pilot.

SBN: What are some practical tips small business owners can implement to improve email marketing deliverability?

JS: The following tips provide practical steps marketers can implement over time to improve deliverability rates.

Get permission – Nobody wants spam or ‘unwanted email.’ Make sure your subscriber lists are actually comprised of people who want your emails.

Set expectations -- When asking for permission, take the opportunity to set expectations. Let your customers know how frequently they will receive email communications from you as well as what kind of information you will be sending.

Rid your content of deliverability red flags – Make sure your ‘from’ name and email address is consistent. Encourage your recipients to white list this address. Consistency will be recognized and will make your emails more likely to be read.  It’s also important to test your emails before sending out an entire campaign. This will ensure your graphics/text balance won’t create deliverability problems.

Use key words to entice your readers. Using relevant key words throughout your email campaigns plays a big role in influencing your readers to click on your content. Put yourself in the shoes of your subscriber: test whether or not your emails are functional; ensure there are no traditional spam content issues, and; deliver the content you promised, when you said you would.

Leverage your stats – Figure out the “normal” performance of your campaigns by using as much data as possible. Once you understand the “normal” performance of your campaigns, use this information to alter future campaigns to improve your results. Metrics offer marketers valuable insight as to what is and isn’t working in their campaigns. If something doesn’t seem to be working, look at the metrics, adjust and keep trying!

Keep a squeaky clean reputation – Make sure you keep your reputation clean by providing your subscribers with information they want. Your reputation can be adversely affected if too many subscribers mark you emails as spam. This is not a result any marketer would want!

Keep your emails easy to recognize and full of enticing information and offers to keep your reputation clean.

Know your customers’ interests – If your message isn’t relevant to your subscriber you will have a failed campaign. Provide information to your subscribers that speaks to their specific needs and interests. Base your campaigns on what subscribers want to know. There are plenty of ways to make sure you are providing your subscribers with valuable information, such as:

- Keep an eye on your metrics – what are they clicking on, buying, etc. All this information guides you to things that interest your readers. Start segmenting your lists to target your customers better.

- Ask them! Ask them what they are interested in when they sign up for your newsletter, or send them a quick email. Find out what they want to hear about and be sure to include their interests in your campaigns.

I'd like to thank Saibil for providing SmallBusinessNewz readers with his insight and tips for email deliverability.