How can we improve deliverability?
How can we improve deliverability?
Deliverability is all about sending mail users want and expect to receive. The key to good deliverability is getting permission from recipients and meeting their expectations, as well as creating and maintaining an excellent IP address and domain reputation.
There are some technical and process pieces as well, including:
- Authentication
- Sending mail users want
- Address acquisition and list hygiene
- Complaint management
- Frequency and engagement
It is strongly recommended that work be done to segment out anyone that has not actively engaged with your email in a chosen amount of time. The usual starting place is 1 year, and then moving to 6 months, 3 months, etc. depending on results.
Flawed address collection processes and bad sending practices result in spamtraps being added to mailing lists. The presence of spamtraps confirms the underlying data problems, so we would furthermore recommend:
- A rigorous review of how data is collected and verified,
- Adding CAPTCHA to any webforms that may be insecure,
- Ensuring that a confirmation email is sent to any new subscribers. This helps prevent both malicious signups and typographical mistakes. If the prospect does not respond to the confirmation email, no further email should be sent to that address.
- This process will greatly improve the quality of mailing lists, increase ROI, and significantly reduce the possibility of hitting spam traps.