Email campaigns can increase revenue and improve customer relationships. According to a report by Forrester Research, email ranks as the third most widely used B2B marketing tactic next to public relations and direct mail. The downside is the issue of deliverability, and this can prove more complex for B2B marketers than for their B2C cousins.
However, there are steps you can take to improve your chances of hitting the inbox. The following can help you get the upper hand on email deliverability.
1. Back to basics
- Mail regularly. Most marketers worry about emailing too much, but sending too little can be as big a problem. To keep bounces at a minimum, be sure to email everyone on your list at least once every 90 days.
- Check content. Always run your outbound email through a content-check, such as SpamAssassin, to reduce the chance your email will get tripped up by filters.
- Use your brand. Make sure recipients recognise your messages. Put your brand in the “from” field and subject line, and make sure your brand and logo are viewable in an email preview pane.
- Test renderability. Make sure you always test your message to ensure it will render properly for different recipient email clients.
2. Get authenticated
Authentication is among the most promising tools for improved deliverability. It enables ISPs and network operators to verify that emails actually originate from the Internet domain associated with the message. ISPs use authentication to decide if a message should be delivered and if it should bypass the junk folder and make it to the inbox.
3. Control email reputation
Outside of a sender’s domain and the content of the email, a lot of filters rely on reputation so keep your messages relevant, practice good list hygiene and sign up for feedback loops from ISPs.
4. Avoid blacklists
Even legitimate B2B senders can end up on a blacklist. To decrease the chances of this, provide easy opt-outs, only send content recipients registered to receive and keep your list clean of opted-out or incorrect addresses.
5. Explore whitelists
Senders who pass rigorous requirements that vary across ISPs can get their IP address placed on a white list. This status confers deliverability advantages such as bypassing some spam filters and increasing allowable send volumes.
6. Monitor performance
Keeping a close eye on key metrics such as open rates, click-throughs and bounces can help you uncover any deliverability problems.
7. Manage bounces
Bounce management is especially important for marketers mailing to corporations because employee turnover can be high. Bounce data should be captured automatically and the data reviewed regularly to keep your lists clean.
8. Tell recipients to expect your message
Be sure to let recipients know with the opt-in that your message will arrive shortly and then send it right away while they are thinking about you.
In your message, ask recipients to add you to their email address book to ensure that they continue to receive your emails.
9. Implement “message throttling”
If the volume of email from your server exceeds a designated threshold, ISPs may place a temporary block on all messages coming from that source. Understanding the volume restrictions of ISPs and corporations you send to and more tightly managing the flow of your outgoing email will prevent this from happening.
10. Enlist the help of professionals
The major email service providers will have access to deliverability professionals and processes to help ensure your messages reach the intended recipients. They can also help by auditing your emails to determine why they aren’t reaching inboxes.
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