Kristin Connors
No matter how beautifully your email is designed and no matter how perfectly your copy is written, if you can’t reach the inbox your email campaigns can’t work their magic.
So, how do you stay on top of deliverabilty? Just follow these four simple tips to overcome issues now and keep your lists cleaner and problem-free going forward.
Don’t Purchase or Rent Lists
Do not purchase email lists or rent email lists. Don’t obtain them from a third party. Ever.
Remove Inactives from Email Sends
A quick way to suppress or remove inactive emails is to create a query or segment that includes everyone who:
- Has NOT opened an email in 12 months
- AND has never made a purchase
- AND whose opt in date is not within the last 12 months
In other words, non-customers who have been in your database for a while but haven’t open your emails in quite some time. Then, just exclude this query on each send.
Run a re-engagement campaign
Next, send a re-engagement email to this group. If they open it, they are considered re-engaged and can be removed from the list we created in the step above. Never sent a re-engagement campaign before? Not to worry. Download our playbook for a visual, step-by-step guide.
Keep an Eye on Email Address Quality
For example, a sudden increase in webform submissions (even if it’s not a large increase) could indicate a spambot. Contests and promotions are great for list building, but can yield poor/inactive/non-existent email addresses, etc. Avoid these issues by:
- Immediately remove suspicious looking email addresses and emails with typos
- Encourage valid email addresses for contests as much as possible (winner will be notified by email, for example)
- Send an email to just the contest/promotions participants. If they open the email, keep them on your marketing list. If they don’t open the email, unsubscribe them
A Great Start
There are many more tips and suggestions for better deliverability, but the above items are the most simple and most important steps to help your emails have the greatest chance of reaching the inbox.
If you have anything to add or need a hand with your own deliverability, just let me know. I’d love to hear.
