Email strategy consultant Jeanne Jennings shares some important insight
We talk at lengths about the power and relevancy email plays in today’s digital world.
As a habitual activity familiar to the majority of online users, email doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. Although some age groups may not use it as much for communication with friends as they use social media, the relevance still lies in being a trusted medium for business activities and financial transactions. From paying bills to receiving email newsletters, email provides a means to an end not found through other online services.
Due to the continual popularity of email, the associated processes have become more profound. The massive usage of email has spurred rules and regulations for appropriate email behaviors. If companies do not follow these requirements, their messages will likely end up in spam filters or lost in cyberspace. If they break other rules, their IP address could get blacklisted.
To provide you with proven information for today’s Email Delivery Workshop, I consulted an expert in the field.
These following seven steps to email delivery come from Jeanne Jennings, Email Marketing Strategy Consultant. Jennings has worked with a variety of companies to better their email efforts, including Hasbro, Verizon and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce among others.
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The Email Delivery Workshop
1. Getting your email delivered takes effort before you develop the message or hit the send button.
2. Make sure you have sender authentication in place — SenderID, SPF,
DomainKeys and/or DKIM.
3. Content filters, like Spam Assassin, can identify content that may inhibit your delivery, but there are many other things that can cause your email to be diverted from the inbox.
4. Use opt-in or double opt-in to build your own list — buying lists from third parties increases the risk of delivery issues.
5. Make sure your HTML code is clean and doesn’t include any code, which could be perceived as malicious by an ISP.
6. Use a dedicated IP address; most delivery filtering is done by server or IP address, so if someone else using your IP address gets blacklisted your mail will also not be delivered.
7. Know what your email reputation is and take proactive steps to protect it.
Now that you are aware of these seven steps to better email deliverability, take a critical look at your email program. Is there something you’ve missed in setting it up? Associated issues may be the reason why your email marketing isn’t as effective as it could be.
