Download - Email Deliverability

INSIDE:Gmail tabbed inboxYahoo! deactivationThe key to the inboxand more!

2

THE EMAIL DELIVERABILITY BEST PRACTICES NOTEBOOK

Email deliverability is on a lot of email marketers’ minds during the holidays

because of increased volume from almost all senders.

Although delivery is important for seasonal email campaigns, delivering

smarter is vital all year round. It’s more important than ever to make sure

your messages not only get delivered, but also make it into the inbox where

they can be seen and acted upon.

We’ve taken copious notes about the recent shakeups at Gmail and Yahoo,

as well as everyday delivery challenges. Inside this notebook, we have ideas

and best practices for optimizing your inbox placement during the holidays

and all year long.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• Changes at Gmail and Yahoo

• What changes took place

• How they affect you (and the email industry)

• Whether you should react – and how

• Engagement as the key to the inbox

• How personalization and targeting improve delivery rates

• The effect of user engagement on your deliverability

• When it’s time to say good-bye

There’s no guarantee your emails will always get into the inbox.

However, by understanding the way ISPs look at emails and following

evolving deliverability best practices, there’s an excellent chance your

emails will make it into subscribers’ inboxes!

What if your email never reaches the inbox?

http://www.facebook.com/WhatCountsEmail

https://twitter.com/whatcounts

http://www.linkedin.com/company/whatcounts

3


What’s inside

4

Gmail Tabbed Inbox

11

Yahoo! Account Deactivation

13

The Key to the Inbox

21

Q&A with a Deliverability Expert

25

Deliverability Definitions




4


CHAPTER 1

Introducing the Gmail Tabbed Inbox

In early June 2013, Gmail quietly announced the addition of tabs to its

inbox. What this meant was that from now on, emails would be

automatically sorted into tabs.




5


Primary Tab:

The tab automatically displayed when a user opens his or her Gmail account,

the Primary tab displays emails from people users know, as well as emails

that don’t fall into the other tabbed categories. By default this also includes

any starred conversations.

Social Tab:

Facebook friend requests, Twitter DM notifications, Pinterest invites – all

these emails and others like it get sent to the Social tab in Gmail.

Promotions Tab:

This tab mostly contains promotional or marketing emails.

Updates Tab:

Emails from financial institutions and things like order and shipping

confirmations will usually end up here.

Forums Tab: (user-added)

If you’re following comments on a form or forum, the Forums tab is where

Gmail will reroute notification emails.

The Tabs




6


Gmail’s recommendations come via:

Behavior:

Basically, Google crowd sources emails.

How other people categorize certain

emails affects the way Google

categorizes emails into tabs.

For example, if most people open

your emails and move them to the

spam folder, that’s where Gmail will

most likely send your emails.

Google algorithms:

Gmail has been close-mouthed about the details of the tabbed inbox,

including how its algorithms work. Just because you don’t understand

something doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, though. What is known is that the

algorithms are based on Gmail data, to which no one except Google has

access. Not to worry, though, as there are still ways to improve your chances

of inbox placement. We’ll discuss a few of those later.

Your emails are filtered based on Gmail’s recommendations.




7


Gmail Tabbed Inbox is Here to Stay

After slowly releasing the tabbed inbox to some Gmail accounts, in July

2013, Google went “whole hog” and released the new feature to everyone.

Not only did desktop accounts see the change, but tablet and mobile devices

using Gmail apps were also updated with the new tabbed interface.

What happened to the messages email marketers sent? Since most

commercial and marketing emails are routed to the Promotions Tab, not

the Primary tab, many marketers assumed their messages were doomed. It

seemed like the end of the world for open rates.

The not-so-good news is that yes, some open rates have been affected by

the Gmail tabs feature. The good news is the decrease is so slight, it

probably hasn’t impacted your email marketing overall. On average, digital

marketers reported only a one to three percent decrease in opens. In fact, a

few individual senders have reported slight increases in opens.




8


Some marketers have sent emails asking readers to move their emails to the

Primary Tab. Maybe you’re one of them. Or maybe you didn’t send one of

those emails and are still wondering if you should.

As with most ideas in email marketing, there is no right answer.

Sure, industry data can certainly give you a baseline to work from.

If companies similar to yours have seen open rates soar after sending a

specific move-our-emails-to-the-Primary-tab email, perhaps you should

consider it.

However, your own open and conversion rates should be the driver of any

decision you make in email marketing.

Pinpoint your motivation for sending a notification email to subscribers

about Gmail tabs. If your emails aren’t seeing a negative impact from this

feature, don’t send a special message. It’s a privilege for you to send

subscribers emails; make sure you don’t abuse that privilege by sending

unwanted or pointless emails.

Your own open and

conversion rates

drive any decision

you make in email

marketing!

Should you take action?




9


If your metrics indicate you should send an email to subscribers

encouraging them to move your emails to the Primary Tab, include concise,

correct directions for doing so.

Drag and drop:

Encourage users to drag and drop emails from one tab to the other. Gmail

will prompt the user to allow all future emails from your email address to be

rerouted to that tab. This prompt allows subscribers to move your emails

ONCE or ALL. If it’s not apparent, encourage subscribers to choose ALL.

If You Send that Email




10


The prompt asks if a person wants to move emails based on your email

address, so make sure it’s the same for all the emails you send. If you have

different email addresses for different mailings, Gmail users will have to go

through the prompt several times to move all your emails to the Primary tab.

That’s a hassle for readers – it’s probably best to avoid asking them to take

this action.

Star a message:

Another way to get a message to display in the Primary Tab is to star it.

However, stars only apply to that specific message. It will not move future

emails to the Primary Tab. It’s a manual change similar to flagging a message

in Outlook.

Use a consistent from address in all your emails.




11


About the same time Gmail introduced its tabbed inbox,

another ISP dropped a bomb on email marketers. In June 2013,

Yahoo! announced it would be deactivating any account not

accessed in 12 months. Yahoo! also said it would allow users

to request the deactivated usernames, which would be

reactivated just one month later.

Concerns skyrocketed about increased hard bounce rates for deactivated

accounts, as well as spam complaints for the reactivated accounts. Yahoo!

repeatedly asserted there would be little to no impact in these areas. They

stated the deactivation would affect only a small amount of Yahoo! mail

users; most of the affected accounts were other types of Yahoo! accounts.

The deactivation date rolled around on July 15, 2013.

WhatCounts: Our users saw no significant increase in hard bounces.

Other sources: Most marketers reported little or no change in hard

bounces.

On August 15, 2013 Yahoo began reactivating requested accounts.

WhatCounts: Our users saw no significant increase in spam complaints.

Other sources: Reported scattered complaints of users receiving emails not

intended for them.

CHAPTER 2

Yahoo! Account Deactivation

“If you’re following email marketing best

practices, you’re running re-engagement

or win back campaigns that get rid of

inactive subscribers. Or you’re tossing

out subscribers after one hard bounce.




12


In theory, someone who reactivates an old Yahoo! email address could log

into a site like Facebook and ask the social media site to send them a reset

password link. The new user would then be able to access the old user’s

Facebook account. This potential issue could affect many social networks

and even financial institutions using online log-ins.

Yahoo! worked with Facebook to create a special header for senders with

sensitive data who use their email addresses as login keys. If you send

sensitive and/or personal data in your emails, implementing this header is a

good idea. This “Require Recipient Valid Since” header requires the recipient

to confirm owning the email address before the deactivation (June 2013).

Yahoo! also rolled out a “this is not me” button to benefit those who

requested and were given a reactivated account. If these subscribers

receive any emails intended for the old recipient, they can click this button

and Yahoo! will filter those emails from their inbox in the future.

Our Support Team can

answer questions about

Gmail and Yahoo! changes,

and help determine the

best solution for you.

Potential Yahoo! RisksAnd what to do about them

Reach out to us!

[email protected]




mailto:support%40whatcounts.com?subject=

13


Nearly all major ISPs have recently increased their focus on

user engagement as the primary factor in email delivery.

In years past, the factors were certain words or phrases in a

message. Sending to specific types of users also affected

inboxing, which still matters, but not as much.

ISPs determine positive engagement levels through certain metrics.

There are also metrics contributing to negative engagement.

CHAPTER 3

The Key to the Inbox: Engagement

D OPEN rates

D CLICK rates

D CLICKING the “not spam” button

U SPAM complaints

U NOT opened

U NO ACTION taken within the email




14


“To keep up, marketers must adapt their

practices to target engaged users and

foster engagement in others.

Send relevant

content to

targeted users.

Set clear expectations for new subscribers.

Provide a

prominent

unsubscribe link.

Clean lists regularly. Cut ‘em loose if they’re not engaged.




15


Smart Delivery = Relevance + Targeting

Provide content subscribers want to read, not the content you want to send

them. When they want to read it, engagement with your messages goes up.

For example, just because you have three specific items on sale doesn’t mean

that’s what your subscribers want to buy.

Tailor mailings to segments of subscribers based on demographic data. In

the WhatCounts Smart Marketing Engine, segment by zip code or state.

Take it a step further and segment by psychographic data: target

back-to-school messages at college students, teenagers, or parents.

Give subscribers a reason to keep opening your emails instead of deleting

them. The more times someone engages with your emails, the more times

they’re going to convert on your email and the better placement your future

emails will have in the inbox overall.

Use open, click and purchase data to target your most active and loyal

subscribers. Send these subscribers an extra email each month with

never-before-seen content or special offers. Doing this not only drives

engagement metrics. It also boosts revenue since repeat buyers produce the

most return-on-investment.




16


When new subscribers sign up for your emails, they should know exactly

what to expect in their mailboxes. It’s essential for you to include vital

information about each of your emails on your Preference Site. At a

minimum, you should address these topics:

Who is sending:

Identify from which email address the email will be coming. This address

should be clearly identifiable with your company.

Type of email:

Create a short blurb about the content in the email. It doesn’t have to be

long; just a sentence or two indicating whether the email is a newsletter,

event invitation, a promotion or educational content.

How often:

This is mucho important. Tell people how often, on what day, and at what

time they’ll be receiving your email: daily, weekly or monthly. If you don’t

say you’ll be sending a daily email, people who sign up for it expecting a less

frequent email will burn out quickly. Be honest and upfront about your send

frequency.

Set Clear Expectations

“Unclear expectations at the time of

sign up are often the drivers of spam

complaints. Clearly outline these items

to reduce these complaints.




17


Topics of interest:

Preference Sites provide customization options for pinpointing specific

topics in which subscribers are interested: deals and specials, hot products,

newsletters. Target people by what information they want to receive.




18


It goes against your instincts to promote the unsubscribe link: you don’t

want people to unsubscribe from your email list. You think smaller lists are

bad. You think losing subscribers means losing ROI.

No, it’s not crazy to think this way. Consider the alternative to

unsubscribing. Inactive, unengaged subscribers would most likely mark your

emails as spam or delete them. This could lead to bigger deliverability issues

overall and a definite loss of ROI. Think about a person who unsubscribes as

one less individual who could hurt your engagement metrics.

Promoting the unsubscribe link in your emails will help your delivery rates.

Hidden or hard-to-find unsubscribe links will generate spam complaints

from unhappy users who aren’t interested in the content of your emails

anymore.

Where should the unsubscribe link appear in your email? Placing the link in

the preheader has been shown to reduce spam complaints in many cases.

Promote the Unsubscribe Link

The truth is,

you should value

unsubscribes.




19


Who knows why subscribers stop reading your emails. It could be they’ve

abandoned their email addresses. Perhaps they rerouted your emails to a

folder they purposefully never open.

Whatever the reason, it’s time to say farewell to these subscribers.

For every email marketer – no matter who you are or what you’re sending

– there comes a time when you must say goodbye to non-engaged users on

your lists. No matter how enticing your subject lines, no matter how

delicious your deals, these people aren’t reacting. There’s no clicking, no

opening, no action whatsoever on your email. All they’re doing by sitting

motionless is damaging your deliverability - doing nothing is (almost) as bad

as clicking the spam button.

How do you know when to officially bid farewell to subscribers? Generally,

a good rule of thumb is to say bye-bye when users don’t open your last 50

emails or six months of inaction. This is based on a sending frequency of a

couple of times a week, so if you only send an email once a month, this time

period will be longer. Overall, subscriber inactivity behavior should be based

on your company’s particular target market and send frequency.

So long, farewell




20


Last Shot: Re-Engagement Campaign

You’ve figured out the love is gone between you and your

inactive subscribers. Is it time to throw them to the curb?

Try a re-engagement campaign first.

Re-engagement campaigns are one way to recapture some

of your unengaged subscribers. Best practices recommends

sending a series of two or three emails based on subscribers’

behaviors. For example, the first email would go to subscribers who’ve been

inactive subscribers for over six months. The second email would send to

those who received the first email, but didn’t open it after two weeks.

Type of content for re-engagement campaigns:

Remind subscribers this is their last chance to stay on your list.

Create strong calls-to-action for the subject line and preheader.

Promote a coupon or special offer in the content of the email.

Grab their attention with a catchy subject line: “We’re saying goodbye.” “Are

we breaking up?” “Don’t go!”

Most importantly, let go. After sending these emails, and not receiving any

responses, it’s time to remove these non-responsive contacts.

Your deliverability will be better off!




21


You’ve got questions about deliverability and we’ve got

answers. Here to help is our resident expert. Brad Gurley is

the Director of Deliverability at WhatCounts and has over

10 years’ experience working for email service providers.

He’s got the skinny on getting into the inbox.

Do ISPs factor engagement into overall reputation or at the individual junk

inboxing level?

Both: User-level engagement drives individual placement and aggregate

data drives overall placement.

No doubt, engagement is getting more critical. Any idea how much the

individual webmail providers are currently using it?

All of the big four (Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook and AOL) are using engagement,

with Gmail probably using it most heavily. Smaller ISPs and third-party

filters are also becoming more reliant on engagement by the day.

Related to engagement, how essential would you say responsive email

layouts are?

Responsive email layouts are usually only seen once a reader is engaged. But

these templates can foster future opens. For example, if I know Company A

sends mobile-friendly emails, I’ll be more likely to open its emails going

forward. An email marketer’s primary focus should be developing a

relationship with subscribers and fostering long-term engagement. A move

to a responsive email template is a big one, but worthwhile, as mobile email

opens are overtaking desktop email opens.

CHAPTER 4

Q&A with an Expert




22


Is image-to-text ratio still a concern?

Image-to-text ratio still matters, but not as much as it used to. Most filtering

has moved from content to engagement. It’s still important to include

text-only versions. Omitting them can cause delivery issues.

What’s the biggest difference between B2B and B2C delivery?

B2C inboxes mostly use similar filters, especially the big four (Gmail, Yahoo,

Outlook and AOL). B2B inboxes have a much wider range of filter methods.

Overall, complaints/spam trap hits are still the #1 driver for delivery.

Is there a benefit to serving images in email over https instead of http?

There can be security and user experience advantages, but there’s not

necessarily any provider using that to determine inbox vs. spam folder

placement.

Has Comcast had any recent changes?

We have not seen any indication of changes at Comcast.

Typically, mail blocked at Comcast indicates your volume of spam complaints

and/or spam trap hits are too high. List cleaning is usually the best option.

If you have questions on specific delivery difficulties, you can contact our

Technical Support team for further assistance.

How can I determine a good open and click-through rate?

This question is probably better suited for our Strategy Team, but I can say

what is considered “good” for open and click rate varies widely by industry

and market. The “average” open rate across all sectors is typically in the

10-20 percent range.




http://www.whatcounts.com/email-marketing-company/contact-us/



23


Many companies are using the little graphics in subject lines. Does that

affect deliverability?

All of the testing we’ve done, along with data from others in the industry,

indicates most symbols in the subject line do not affect delivery rates – yet.

In fact, many tests indicate they increase open rates considerably. However,

there’s always the possibility spam senders may start using these characters

frequently, which could lead to a delivery impact down the road.

When we launch a campaign that includes thousands of emails to Google,

Yahoo, Outlook/Hotmail, and certain other services/ISPs, mail servers

begin to throttle the receipt of email and start bouncing mail once we

reach a certain limit/hour.

Is this common, and is there a way to overcome this problem?

ISPs and mail providers rarely block mail based solely on volume. Any blocks

are usually based on reputation or engagement. While most ISPs do have a

connection limit or limit on number of messages sent per connection,

WhatCounts’ mail software is already set up not to exceed those thresholds.

So any blocks you’re seeing would likely not be based on the volume of mail

sent, but on other factors.

If you could give one tip to everyone doing email marketing, what would it

be?

GET PERMISSION! Send timely, relevant email to engaged users who have

explicitly requested it (maybe I cheated – that’s really about four tips rolled

into one!)




24


The notes we took on deliverability best practices will help you send

smarter, more personalized messages that get into your subscribers’

inboxes. But we wanted to leave you with one last idea.

Every company is different – each has unique goals, target markets and

email marketing programs.

Testing your email marketing and comparing those metrics against your own

past metrics is how you should measure improvement. Industry standards

are a way to see if your metrics are significantly off. However, improving

your metrics against yourself should be your primary goal.

One Last Thought

All of the information in this notebook is available on

our webinar recording -

Deliver Smarter: Insights on Reaching the Inbox.

Watch it!




http://www.whatcounts.com/email-marketing-resources/webinars/deliver-smarter-webinar/



25


blacklist - a list of IP addresses identified by an ISP as unacceptable or spam

senders. Placement on some blacklists will cause much of your outbound

email to be outright blocked.

click-through rate - the rate at which subscribers open your email messages

and click inside them.

complaint - when a subscriber clicks a “junk” or “spam” button while reading

your email, this is registered as a complaint, as opposed to an opt-out. High

complaint rates negatively impact deliverability.

hard bounce - when an ISP’s mail server explicitly rejects a message due to

any number of reasons, such as an invalid email address, your email being

blocked, etc.

ISP (Internet Service Provider) - an email provider such as Gmail, Hotmail,

Yahoo!, AOL.

open rate - the rate at which subscribers open (or view) email messages, e.g.

if one subscriber out of a hundred opens a message, then the open rate is

one percent for that particular send.

soft bounce - when an ISP’s mail server temporarily withholds delivery of a

message in order to try again sometime later. This is often due to mailboxes

being full, for example.

spam - unsolicited bulk email messages.

spam trap - email addresses which have been inactive for a very long period

of time and are then recycled by ISPs for the purpose of identifying

spammers. Also sometimes known as honeypots.

whitelist - a list of email addresses or domains that a user grants explicit

permission for sending email, usually to prevent the spam-filtering of

desired email.

Deliverability

terms to know:




WhatCounts provides data management, software, and services to

marketing professionals seeking to deliver smart personalized digital

messages to their target audiences. Each day our team partners with over

800 customers to leverage email, social media, mobile devices, and the web

to drive revenue.

We believe that smart marketing equals personalization which requires

marketers to have the right data, a content strategy and automation. Using

smart technology, some of our customers are seeing email marketing ROI as

high as $200 returned for every $1 invested.

We’re headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with offices in Seattle, Sydney,

Baltimore, and other regional locations.

Learn more at www.whatcounts.com.

About Us

© 2013 WhatCounts, Inc. All rights reserved.

W H AT C O U N T S , Inc.

3630 Peachtree Rd. Telephone: 404.995.8600

Suite 900 Toll Free: 866.804.0076

Atlanta, GA 30326 Fax: 404.995.8611

www.whatcounts.com Email: [email protected]

ATLANTA • BALTIMORE • SEATTLE • SYDNEY

http://www.whatcounts.com

http://www.whatcounts.com

mailto:sales%40whatcounts.com?subject=

Download - Email Deliverability

Top Related