By Patti Renner
In this age of split-second attention spans and increasingly skeptical consumers, email deliverability is more important than ever. And, while a marketer's ability to reach consumers with timely, relevant content is still paramount, there are more pieces of the puzzle to consider. When detailing the fundamentals of deliverability, it is important to note that the integration of your data with the sent content plays an instrumental role in closing the gap between you and your customers.
It's essential not to overlook the fact that even the most brilliant emails will go unnoticed if your messaging isn't received at the right time -- or worse yet, not at all. Just making it to the inbox can be a harrowing experience. Therefore, here are the requisite steps to ensure that your messages reach their destinations, efficiently increasing your campaign's effectiveness.
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The basics
The fundamental ways to reach your costumer's inboxes are white listing, formatting messages correctly, creating solid subject lines, maintaining lists, and making sure your campaigns are CAN-SPAM compliant.
Delivery rate boosters
Maintaining a good relationship with internet service providers like Yahoo and Gmail helps ensure successful message delivery. In addition, choosing the right email service provider makes a significant difference, as one bad client can impact the deliverability of other clients. Furthermore, creating messages that don't heavily rely on images can help you find the inbox, and obtaining up-to-date data boosts delivery rates as you reach customers with highly relevant information. Additionally, it's important to scrub out un-subscribers and bad email addresses frequently.
Subject lines
Even before your email hits inboxes, subject lines are a make-or-break proposition. If your message is too "spammy," it can be flagged as such. If your message makes the cut but is not compelling, it may be overlooked. Subject lines that clearly communicate the benefit of the email consistently outperform those that lack clarity. Unfortunately, subject line best practices are frequently neglected, seen as something to be taken for granted.
Email experience
A successful email campaign doesn't just do one thing well. From design to deployment, all the elements must work together. Although messaging with consistency is an effective strategy, it is made more efficient when costumers are reached when they are ready to act on your message. Assuming you're complying with CAN-SPAM regulations, the next major obstacle is making sure your message adds value to the customer experience. This is where deliverability and content merge.
You should see your content as currency. In other words, you must be able to trade on your own name. While a customer may be committed to your brand, that doesn't necessarily translate to rock-solid deliverability and open rates. You must create content that matters. When customers see your email, they should know that there's something worthwhile inside. Don't waste their time. Your messaging will be ignored if your emails contain outdated or irrelevant information. However, if you can prove to your costumer that you're bringing something of value, something they can use -- whether it's an offer or just helpful information -- you're enhancing a positive reputation. It would be a shame to think that after all the trouble you took, without the right content, the value of your email community is rotting from within.
Know your customers
Now let's backtrack a bit. Before you invest time and energy in design, copy, and subject lines, you need to get the facts about your customer. Your ability to know what customers want, when they want it, is vital to your ROI. How closely your data and content align can determine the success of your campaign.
Here's where your email service provider (ESP) comes in. There are plenty out there to choose from -- some good, some great -- but if you really want to make an impression, you need to know what separates them, and why.
Data matters
How ESPs handle your data is a key factor in determining the good from the great. We all know how quickly the market changes, and that your campaigns are only as good as the data that supports them. But, what does this mean? It's simple -- if you're relying on an external data feed from a third party that requires you to upload, import, and export to try to make things work, you could be putting yourself at risk. Not only will data fall through the cracks (hurting potential ROI), but you also compromise your standing with customers by inadvertently sending them outdated or irrelevant messaging.
When an ESP gathers and manages data natively, the ability to communicate effectively with customers increases exponentially. Every impression, click, and open becomes an opportunity to keep pace with the individual's ever-changing interests. This allows you to serve them with highly targeted emails based on the most recent data.
Consumers are growing increasingly wary of marketers. Only the most relevant messaging makes the cut. As inboxes fill-up faster than ever, you can't afford to have your emails miss their mark.
Marketers need to increase their understanding of the difference between a so-so campaign and an industry-leading one. This means not only knowing the fundamentals of deliverability (CAN-SPAM compliance, white listing, and strong subject lines), but also going above and beyond. Take a look at what you're sending. Ask the tough questions about your content. Dig into where your data is coming from, how it's managed, and whether or not it's properly used to power relevant campaigns. Having an integrated platform to easily manage customer-focused campaigns across all channels is key.
Patti Renner is the director of marketing at Knotice.
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