Email deliverability refers to the ability to successfully deliver emails to your subscribers’ inboxes. Achieving strong inbox placement is crucial for any business or marketer relying on email campaigns to engage customers and drive results. However, many factors can impact your email delivery rate, from technical setup to content and subscriber engagement.
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Factors Affecting Email Deliverability
Sender Reputation
Your sender reputation is one of the most critical factors that influence email deliverability. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) assign a sender score to each marketer or organization based on the recipients’ actions, such as opening emails, clicking links, unsubscribing, or marking messages as spam. Maintaining a high sender score, typically between 80-100, is essential for optimal deliverability.
To build and preserve a stellar sender reputation:
- Monitor your unsubscribe rates and spam complaints closely
- Promptly remove inactive subscribers and invalid email addresses from your list
- Encourage recipients to add your email address to their contact list or safe sender list
- Consistently deliver valuable, relevant content to your subscribers
Subscriber Engagement and List Hygiene
Maintaining a clean, engaged subscriber list is essential for optimal email deliverability. Regularly monitor your list for inactive subscribers, invalid email addresses, and high bounce rates. ISPs consider these factors when determining your sender reputation.
To keep your email list healthy:
- Implement a double opt-in process to ensure subscribers genuinely want to receive your emails
- Regularly remove inactive subscribers who haven’t engaged with your emails in a specified timeframe
- Use an email adress validator to identify invalid email addresses
- Monitor your open rates and aim to keep them above industry benchmarks
- Provide an easy-to-find unsubscribe option to allow recipients to opt-out if they no longer wish to receive your emails
Email Content and Subject Lines
The quality and relevance of your email content, as well as the effectiveness of your subject lines, play a significant role in email deliverability. Crafting compelling subject lines that entice recipients to open your emails while avoiding spam triggers is crucial. Some best practices include:
- Steer clear of using all caps, excessive exclamation points, and known spam trigger words
- Keep your subject lines concise, descriptive, and relevant to the email content
- Personalize subject lines when appropriate to increase engagement
- Ensure your email content is well-structured, visually appealing, and provides value to the reader
- Avoid including attachments or using video, Flash, or JavaScript within the email body, as these elements can trigger spam filters
Email Infrastructure and Authentication
Your email infrastructure, including the hardware and software used to send emails, can impact deliverability. Implementing proper email authentication protocols, such as SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), helps validate your emails and prevent spoofing, forging, and phishing attempts.
When setting up your email infrastructure, consider:
- Configuring SPF and DKIM records correctly to establish trust with ISPs
- Monitoring your IP reputation and ensuring your sending IP addresses are not blacklisted
- Using a reputable email service provider that prioritizes deliverability and follows best practices
- Addressing any complications that may arise when emails are forwarded outside the designated domain
Best Practices for Improving Email Deliverability
Maintain a Clean Email List
A clean and engaged email list is the foundation of successful email deliverability. Avoid purchasing or renting email lists, as high-quality email addresses are never for sale, and sending to these lists can lead to high spam complaints and damage your sender reputation. Instead, use double opt-in for new subscribers to ensure you have permission and are collecting valid email addresses. Make the unsubscribe process easy to keep your list clean and maintain positive relationships with your subscribers.
Regularly perform email validation and remove inactive subscribers and invalid email addresses from your list. Continuously sending to these addresses will negatively impact your deliverability and signal to ISPs that your emails may be unwanted.
Authenticate Your Email Domain
Email authentication is crucial for proving to ISPs that you are a legitimate sender and helping your emails reach the inbox. Implement SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) to authenticate your email sends.
- SPF allows you to specify which IP addresses are allowed to send email on behalf of your domain. Add an SPF record, which is a TXT record, to your domain’s DNS settings.
- DKIM provides an encryption key and digital signature that verifies an email hasn’t been tampered with. Set up DKIM by generating an encryption key and adding the public key to your domain’s DNS.
Monitor Your Sending Frequency and Volume
Your email frequency and volume can significantly impact your deliverability. Sending too many emails in a short period can hurt your sender reputation and annoy your subscribers, leading to unsubscribes and spam complaints. Find a consistent sending frequency that your audience expects and engages with to maintain positive sending patterns in the eyes of ISPs.
When growing your email volume, avoid drastic increases overnight, as ISPs may view sudden spikes as a sign of potential spam. If you need to significantly increase your sending volume, do so gradually over time to maintain a positive sender reputation and ensure consistent deliverability.