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Presented  by:    Rob  Dyson,  Technical  Project  Manager,  Pardot  LLC    

Secrets  to  Inbox  Success  

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Can  You  Guess?  

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Email  Deliverability  is  a  Pain  

Pardot  provides:  • Easy  list  maintenance  • Bounce  and  spam  complaint  reporJng  • MulJ-­‐part  emails  (text  and  HTML)  • ThroOling  • Security  • AutomaJc  opt-­‐outs  • Helps  you  stay  CAN-­‐SPAM  compliant    

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What  Else  Should  You  Do?    

•  Concise  and  poignant  messages  •  AuthenJcaJon  •  Monitor  bounce  and  spam  complaint  rates  

•  Know  about  CAN-­‐SPAM  

•  Never  purchase  lists  •  OpJmize  your  content  to  avoid  spam  filters  

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What  We’re  StarJng  With  

75%  Average  B-­‐to-­‐B  deliverability  rates  

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We’re  Working  Towards  

100%  Average  B-­‐to-­‐B  deliverability  rates  

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Beauty  in  Brevity  

•  Get  to  the  point  and  stay  on  topic    •  People  do  not  read  long  emails    •  Coincidentally,  concise,  poignant  emails  are  people-­‐friendly  and  less  likely  to  get  marked  as  spam    

•  Don’t  waste  the  recipient’s  Jme!  

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Content  is  King  

•  Crabing  good  content  usually  yields  high  deliverability    •  Concentrate  on  your  content  –  make  sure  you’re  giving  your  subscribers  well-­‐wriOen,  valuable  content    

•  Many  readers  are  not  aware  of  the  difference  between  ‘spam’  and  email  they  forgot  they  signed  up  for    

•  Marking  a  message  as  ‘spam’  hurts  your  deliverability  rates,  unsubscribes  do  not  

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What  is  AuthenJcaJon?  

•  Confirms  your  idenJty  as  a  sender  -­‐  email  providers  check  your  domain  or  IP  against  a  database  of  trusted  senders    

•  Helps  prevent  phishing  and  spoofing    •  Protocols  differ  by  ISP,  see  our  knowledge  base  for  instrucJons  on  sefng  up  authenJcaJon  with  your  ISP    

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Monitoring  Bounce  &  Complaint  Rates  

•  Keep  your  hard  bounces  under  3%  and  spam  complaint  rate  under  0.1%    

•  Hard  bounces  can  occur  when  an  email  address  is  invalid,  or  the  ISP/mail  provider  has  blocked  you  

•  Sob  bounces,  which  can  occur  when  a  user’s  mailbox  is  full  or  when  the  mail  server  is  backed  up,  can  be  converted  to  a  hard  bounce  depending  on  provider  rules    

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CAN-­‐SPAM  

•  Law  that  sets  basic  rules  for  commercial  email    •  Common  sense,  including:  •  Don’t  use  misleading  header  info  •  Don’t  use  decepJve  subject  lines  •  Honor  opt-­‐out  requests  promptly    •  Penalty  for  violaJng,  rarely  enforced    

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Reduce  Spam  Complaints  

•  Use  confirmed  opt-­‐in  •  Don’t  take  permission  for  granted  •  Set  expectaJons,  stay  consistent  •  Remove  inacJve  subscribers    

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Do  Not  Purchase  Spammy  Lists!  

•  Spam  traps  •  Non-­‐existent  email  addresses  •  UnsuspecJng  recipients    

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Spam  Traps  

•  Spam  traps,  also  known  as  ‘honey  pots’  are  dummy  email  addresses  set  up  by  ISPs  to  detect  spammers.  The  only  way  you  can  run  into  issues  with  spam  traps  is  by  buying  a  bad  list.    

•  According  to  Return  Path,  the  presence  of  just  one  spam  trap  can  drop  your  deliverability  raJng  by  up  to  53%    

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Non-­‐Existent  Email  Addresses  

•  Campaigns  with  high  numbers  of  non-­‐  existent  email  addresses  have  an  average  deliverability  rate  of  44%,  according  to  Return  Path    

•  Over  10%  is  considered  high    

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UnsuspecJng  Recipients  

•  Unsolicited  emails  lead  to  higher  spam  complaint  rates,  because  users  click  “Report  as  Spam.”  

•  Applies  to  inacJve  prospects.  Use  automaJon  rules  to  keep  your  prospect  lists  fresh.    

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Spam  Filters  

•  Spam  filters  on  the  recipient’s  end  automaJcally  check  your  email  for  suspicious  content    

•  Server-­‐side:  Barracuda,  MessageLabs,  PosJni,  SpamAssassin  

•  ISP  filters:  Gmail,Yahoo!  Mail,  Lycos,  Fastmail,  Mobile  Me    

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Content  to  Avoid  

•  Forms  •  Javascript  •  Flash  

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OpJmizing  Your  Content  

Typical  email  newsleOer.    Or  spammy  spam  spam?  

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Spam  Rules  are  a  Pain!  

•  Dear  xyz  •  Click  here  •  Toll-­‐free  number  •  ...for  only  $199  •  Click  below  

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Basic  Spam  Rules  

•  Subject  line  needs  to  reflect  message  •  DON’T  SHOUT!  •  High  text  to  image  raJo  •  Avoid  generic  sales  terms  (Free!  No  commitment!)  •  Include  contact  informaJon  

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Basic  Spam  Rules  

ARGH!  

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Fear  Not.  

•  Most  spam  rules  are  easy  to  comply  with  

•  Compliance  is  not  all  or  nothing  

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Mobile  

•  In  the  first  half  of  2011,  email  opens  in  mobile  email  clients  increased  150%!    

•  Same  spam  rules  apply.    

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Resources  

•  The  UlJmate  Email  Deliverability  Checklist  

•  This  presentaJon  (link  will  be  sent  as  follow-­‐up  to  webinar)  

•  PresentaJon  by  VP  of  Sales,  Derek  Grant,  enJtled  “Email  Deliverability  101”  on  the  Pardot  website  (under  Resources/Webinars)  

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QuesJons  

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Robert  Dyson  Technical  Project  Manager  

robert.dyson@pardot.com  

@rdyson  on  TwiOer  

Pardot  950  East  Paces  Ferry  Rd  Suite  3300  Atlanta,  Georgia  30326  

   

404.492.6848  877.3B2B.ROI  www.pardot.com  

Contact  InformaJon