secrets to inbox success
DESCRIPTION
So, you want to increase your deliverability rates. And you think you’re doing everything to make that happen: solid process, all of the components for a successful email campaign have been included, deployment timing is right. But for some reason, the numbers that you want to see for deliverability success are just not quite there. Well, we have the webinar for you! Join Rob Dyson, Pardot’s Technical Project Manager, as he takes us through the ins and outs of successful email deliverability.TRANSCRIPT
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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
@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