If you’ve ever spoken to our Support team about email delivery, you’ll know there is no magic bullet to guarantee perfect delivery to the inbox each time. Our team here do a fantastic job handling the technical side of things, but there are additional things you should do in order to maximise the chances of reaching the inbox. Here are some tips that may help you on your way.
The 'from' address
This is the key indicator for your subscribers to be sure who is contacting them. It's incredibly important that your subscribers recognise you, otherwise they may simply disregard your email without much thought.
- Make sure that your subscribers know the 'from' address you're using by regularly sending from the same address; avoid swapping and changing. They’ll quickly get to know your emails and will be less likely to mark them as "spam". Avoid using noreply@ addresses as these can come across as unfriendly and discourage interaction.
- Add a tag line towards the top of your email, suggesting they add your 'from' address to their "safe senders list" or "inbox contacts" (how to do this depends on the email client your subscriber is using). This can mean your email is less likely to be caught in spam and arrives in the inbox each time.
- Have you got a SPF record set up on your 'from' address domain? Does this record include Sign-Up.to? Some providers (for example Microsoft) are checking this much more actively, so getting this arranged is considered best-practice. It’s also useful if you’re having trouble receiving preview sends.
Content
Your subscribers are not the only people that read your campaigns - spam-checker tools scan your emails on delivery, just to make sure it’s a legitimate email. Make sure your content is easy on the eye and relevant to your subscribers needs.
- Avoid the use of multiple "hot" words, as these can attract the eye of spam-filters. There are many blatantly obvious ones to avoid, such as "FREE" and "viagra", however others can be less obvious - "opportunity" and "click me" for example can also be considered to be in this category. Consider the phrasing of your email and call-to-actions. Remember, don’t just focus on the body of your email - the subject line counts too!
- Having a campaign that is mainly images is one of the top reasons a campaign will go to spam. Try breaking your campaign up with blocks of text and clear call-to-action buttons, aiming for a good balance of image to text.
- Ever noticed that spam emails usually contain spelling mistakes, lots of links and poor formatting? Chances are spam filters do too, so put some extra time into your email to make sure it looks good. Check spelling and grammar, make your text clear and concise, and avoid over-use of punctuation such as exclamation marks. Use our Email editor to handle the HTML coding of your campaign for you, ensuring your campaigns render optimally.
- You'll be using links in your email, however the reputation of these sites also has an effect on your delivery. Check domains you're linking through to on MXToolbox against known blacklists and avoid the use of link shorteners such as Bit.ly. The reputation of these domains is nearly always questionable and spam filters will wonder what you’re trying to hide.
- Make your campaigns relevant to your subscribers. If the information you're sending is not relevant or interesting, you'll get poor interaction, unsubscribes or even worse: complaints. Word your content so that it is relevant to your subscriber base - segment your data based on information you hold about them or even consider setting up a preference centre to make sure you know what your subscribers want to receive.
Engagement
Many spam filters use complex algorithms to see how people are interacting with your email. They then use this information to help decide exactly what to do with your email - do they let it through, place it in the "junk" folder or simply reject it?
- Send regular emails to your most engaged subscribers. Doing this helps to build a reputation as a good sender. You can use our subscriber engagement ratings to help you establish who is most likely to open and click your emails.
- Consider how people are reading your email. Over 50% of emails are now opened on a mobile device, so responsive design (content that adjusts depending on the size of the screen) should be a top priority. Make your call-to-action clear and concise in your emails, and place it near the top so it's visible in any preview windows. Remember, increasing your opens and clicks can make it easier to reach the inbox in the future.
- Clear out your subscribers who are not engaged with your campaigns. These subscribers don't open or read your emails and this can make other emails you send less likely to reach their destination, as this negatively impacts their reputation. Alternatively, consider a re-engagement campaign for these subscribers.