The successful delivery of your meticulously crafted messages to your target audience’s inboxes holds paramount significance.
This intricate procedure is commonly referred to as email deliverability, and its significance cannot be overstated in the context of effective email marketing campaigns.
We will embark on a comprehensive exploration of email deliverability, equipping you with the insights and resources needed to guarantee that your emails not only find their way to the inbox but also captivate your audience and yield tangible, positive outcomes.
What is Email Deliverability?
Ensuring the successful delivery of emails from a sender to their intended recipients is the essence of email deliverability. This intricate process is influenced by several critical factors that shape its outcome.
Here, we delve into the essential elements that impact email deliverability:
- Sender Reputation: Sender reputation is a barometer of an email sender’s credibility, meticulously evaluated based on the quality and quantity of their outgoing emails. Internet Service Providers (ISPs)rely on this metric to decide whether to accept emails from a specific sender and how to prioritize their delivery. Factors that can sway sender reputation include the quality of email content, bounce rates, instances of spam complaints, and the duration emails remain in the user’s inbox.
- Message Content:The content of your emails wields substantial influence over their deliverability. Certain content attributes can trigger spam filters, hindering successful delivery. These attributes include excessive use of capitalized words, phrases with multiple asterisks (e.g., free**), HTML elements and formatting characters like “>”, common spam phrases like “Click Here” or “Order Now,” suspicious attachments, poor grammar and spelling, and phrases often associated with spam emails, such as “guaranteed money” or “Congratulations!“
- Anti-SPAM Legislation: Laws governing email communications vary from one jurisdiction to another but generally prohibit activities such as disseminating emails with false or misleading information, harvesting email addresses from publicly available sources, and masking the origin of email messages. Violating anti-SPAM legislation can lead to fines and penalties, making compliance crucial.
Email deliverability is also contingent on other variables, including domain reputation, IP reputation, server performance, and adherence to authentication protocols. These components collectively define the success rate of email delivery and play a pivotal role in the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns.
Factors Affecting Email Deliverability
The successful deliverability of your carefully crafted messages hinges on several pivotal factors. Let’s explore these influential factors in detail:
List hygiene
Maintaining the vitality of your email subscriber list is a meticulous, ongoing process that warrants regular assessment. It is paramount to uphold the quality of your list by promptly addressing issues that might lead to sending messages to non-existent or undesirable email addresses.
Here, we explore some straightforward yet effective techniques to enhance the health of your email list:
Request Subscribers to Whitelist Your Email Address
Encourage your subscribers to whitelist your email address by adding it to their contact list. This proactive step serves a dual purpose – it not only ensures that your emails sidestep the perilous spam folder but also fosters a more direct and unimpeded channel of communication with your audience.
Incorporate an Unsubscribe Option in Every Email
In the spirit of transparent and permission-based email marketing, it is imperative to include a clear and accessible unsubscribe option in every email you send. This practice not only aligns with regulatory requirements but also guarantees that you maintain an engaged and willing audience. Subscribers who no longer wish to receive your emails can gracefully opt out, minimizing the risk of negative engagement and spam complaints.
Employ a Re-Engagement Strategy
An active email list is the cornerstone of email marketing success. To ensure the vibrancy of your list, it’s advisable to institute a re-engagement strategy. This approach involves identifying and addressing inactive email addresses. Inactive addresses can prove detrimental to your email reputation, potentially leading to deliverability issues or even encountering spam traps. Thus, systematically removing such addresses is a proactive measure that contributes to list health and overall campaign effectiveness.
Authentication protocols (DKIM, SPF, DMARC)
Establishing robust email authentication is the bedrock upon which you can demonstrate to mailbox providers that your identity is legitimate and trustworthy. The pivotal protocols that form the foundation of proper email authentication are as follows:
Sender Policy Framework (SPF)
SPF empowers a domain owner to specify the IP addresses or domains authorized to send emails on their behalf. This is achieved through a DNS TXT entry, allowing for precise control over email authentication.
DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM)
DKIM enhances email authentication by enabling your organization to claim responsibility for the emails you send. As part of the authentication process, DKIM adds a layer of trust and accountability to your messages.
Domain-Based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC)
DMARC is a potent defense against phishing and spoofing attempts that could misuse your domain. It establishes clear guidelines for inbox providers on how to handle messages that do not pass the authentication checks, thereby safeguarding your domain’s integrity.
Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI)
BIMI is a progressive feature that allows you to elevate your brand’s visibility. By displaying your sender logo alongside your messages in the inbox, BIMI enables subscribers to swiftly recognize your brand, reinforcing trust and recognition.
The Email Deliverability Test
Recent data from EmailToolTester unveils an essential metric in the email marketing realm – the average email deliverability rate, which typically hovers around the 80% mark. It’s crucial to comprehend that this number signifies the threshold for a commendable email deliverability rate. Any rate surpassing 80% is indicative of successful email delivery, while anything less should sound the alarm for an email deliverability test.
Furthermore, prudence dictates that email deliverability testing should not be confined to the aftermath of an email campaign but should be an integral part of your campaign’s prelude. To maximize the efficacy of your email marketing endeavors, it is prudent to conduct email deliverability tests proactively, especially when your campaign spans an extended duration. Regular intervals of email deliverability testing ensure that your messages consistently reach their designated inboxes, unimpeded by unforeseen issues.
Diving into the world of email deliverability testing reveals a multifaceted approach that encompasses the following key aspects:
Authentication Testing
Authentication testing is the initial checkpoint in the email deliverability testing process. It evaluates whether your outgoing mail server is meticulously configured to pass the various authentication checks that service providers employ to verify the genuineness of incoming messages.
Content Testing
Content testing is an integral component of email deliverability testing that scrutinizes the email content meticulously. By subjecting your content to popular spam filters, this test identifies potential issues that might lead to your email being flagged as spam by service providers like Gmail and Outlook. It assesses elements such as specific words, phrases, links, images, and coding used in your emails.
Seed List Testing
Seed list testing is an invaluable tool in your email deliverability testing arsenal. This method involves selecting a small sample of authentic email addresses and employing them to evaluate the deliverability of your marketing emails across various email services. Seed list testing swiftly uncovers critical deliverability concerns, enabling timely intervention and optimization of your email campaigns.
Choosing the right tools for testing
GlockApps stands as a robust solution that caters to the needs of email marketers, providing an array of essential checks that are instrumental for achieving superior email deliverability. Here’s a glimpse of the capabilities that GlockApps brings to the table:
- Email Deliverability Testing:As an email deliverability tester, GlockApps enables you to gauge the effectiveness of your email campaigns by conducting in-depth assessments. It scrutinizes your IP and domain information, subjecting it to scrutiny against over 50 industry blocklists. This critical step ensures that your emails do not encounter unnecessary roadblocks that can hamper their journey to the inbox.
- ISP Compatibility Tracking:GlockApps goes a step further by monitoring the compatibility of your content and IP with various Internet Service Providers (ISPs). It meticulously tracks whether your messages face any hindrance when attempting to reach recipients using platforms such as Gmail, Yahoo, and others. This knowledge empowers you to fine-tune your campaigns for optimal deliverability.
- MailChimp Integration:GlockApps seamlessly integrates with MailChimp, providing a valuable synergy for MailChimp users. This integration streamlines the process of testing your marketing campaigns directly from the GlockApps website. It’s a user-friendly collaboration that simplifies the task of ensuring that your emails perform at their best.
Running the Email Deliverability Test
Step 1: Access Manual Test
Begin by logging in to your GlockApps account. On the dashboard, you’ll find a user-friendly interface that guides you through the process. Click on the “Create Spam Test” button, and a pop-up menu will appear. From this menu, select “Start Manual Test.” This initiates the process of evaluating the deliverability of your email.
Step 2: Select Filters and Providers
In this step, you have the opportunity to customize your manual spam test. Choose the specific spam filters and email service providers you want to test your email against. It’s advisable to opt for a comprehensive selection that represents a wide range of filters and providers. This approach provides a holistic understanding of how your email performs in different environments and with varying criteria.
Step 3: Folder Selection and Personalization
To make your manual spam test more effective, you can select a target folder for your test. Additionally, you have the option to add a note for differentiation if needed. This step allows you to tailor the test to your specific requirements. You can also toggle the Link Checker feature based on your preferences, ensuring that your test accurately reflects your email’s content.
Step 4: Copy and Paste ID String
GlockApps provides a unique ID string that plays a pivotal role in linking your test results to the personalized report you’ll receive. Copy this ID string and paste it into your email’s content or headers. This string serves as the bridge that connects your test to the detailed GlockApps report, providing you with valuable insights.
Step 5: Send to Seed List
Your manual spam test involves sending your email to GlockApps’ Seed List. This list comprises meticulously managed mailboxes that replicate real-world scenarios. By sending your email to this list, you gain a clear understanding of how your email performs under varying conditions.
Step 6: View the Comprehensive Report
After completing the previous steps, click “View Report.” Allow a few moments for the comprehensive report to be generated. This report provides you with detailed insights into how your email fared in the spam test. It highlights any potential issues, allowing you to take proactive measures to enhance your email’s deliverability.
By following these steps and conducting a manual spam test with GlockApps, you gain valuable knowledge about your email’s performance, enabling you to make informed decisions and improve your email deliverability.
Conclusion
Your email deliverability directly impacts the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns. By conducting email deliverability tests, maintaining a clean list, implementing authentication protocols, crafting engaging content, and staying vigilant, you can maximize your email deliverability and achieve success in your email marketing efforts.
