To ensure a printed direct mail piece reaches the intended recipient’s mailbox, affix sufficient postage. The good ones arrive. Those with bad addresses are returned and deleted from the list: end of story.
Unfortunately, e-mail deliverability is vastly more complicated thanks to spammers and viruses. Internet service providers work hard to block illegal messages and protect their customers, but they subsequently and inadvertently end up blocking legitimate e-mail as well. Savvy marketers, however, can take an active role in managing and maximizing e-mail campaign deliverability. The following are steps you can take to ensure your e-mail gets to the inbox.
First, maximize performance: At the end of the day, it’s about getting your message out at the speed of business, which means almost zero latency. In today’s business world where communication is instantaneous, if you’re using a slow-speed e-mail platform, you might as well not send the e-mail at all. Utilize technology that provides the bandwidth you need for instant e-mail delivery.
Then, insist on virtual IP support: Choose a solution that allows you to segment traffic by utilizing unlimited IP addresses on a server. This gives you fine-grain control over your outbound mail processing and contributes substantially to improving deliverability.
It is also important to establish bounce classifications and a list hygiene process . Eliminating bad addresses by setting up automated bounced processing reduces your list and improves overall deliverability.
In addition, you should obtain workflow and policy management capability . Setting mail processing policies such as thresholds to alert administrators of deliverability problems will help catch problems early so they can be corrected.
Another way to increase deliverability is to prepare for authentication t o prevent messages from being blocked by ISPs using authentication technology like implementing DomainKeys Identified Mail and/or Sender ID.
Maintaining a good reputation is also critical to deliverability. Do this by contracting with a third-party reputation service or establishing an in-house ISP relations team.
In addition, adopt e-mail monitoring: E-mail monitoring lets you know if your message landed in the inbox, a junk folder or was blocked by spam catchers, giving you a better chance of discovering what you can do to deliver more mail into inboxes.
Finally, insist on real-time reporting: Real-time analytics provides immediate insight into individual e-mail deliverability, allowing you to make adjustments to improve deliverability on future campaigns.
Deliverability is vital to your e-mail campaign’s overall success. By implementing these policies, you can dramatically improve the success of your marketing initiatives.
