Having trouble getting your emails to intended inboxes? Read on to learn more about email deliverability: why it matters, what impacts it and tips for improving it.
Email deliverability is the cornerstone of any successful business communication strategy. It’s no surprise that getting your messages delivered to the right people on time is a huge challenge for today’s marketers and businesses.
The good news is that there are ways to improve your chances of email success, if you know how. In this guide, we will explore strategies around ensuring Email Deliverability, so you can get your messages to their intended recipients every time.
From understanding what email deliverability is, to learning how to authenticate with SPF, DKIM and DMARC, we have everything covered in this comprehensive guide - so let's get started!
What is email deliverability?
Spam folder, bounce rate, double opt-ins, soft bounce, inactive subscribers, email campaigns...oh my! Where to begin with deliverability issues?
Email deliverability is the process of ensuring that your legitimate emails reach the inboxes of the intended recipients on your contact list, rather that the spam folder. We know this happens on a daily basis!
It is more than just making sure your emails don't get flagged as spam, but also involves using best practices and industry standards to ensure that your messages are delivered successfully. This includes things like email list segmentation, authentication protocols, image optimization, and avoiding purchased lists. By taking the time to understand and implement these measures, you can greatly increase the chances that your emails make it to their destination instead of in a spam trap! You work hard on your email content as you communicate with email subscribers.
Why Does Email Deliverability Matter?
Email deliverability matters for businesses of all sizes because it ensures that their messages actually reach the intended recipients. This is important for obvious reasons—if your message never arrives, then your customers won't be able to take action on it. Furthermore, a failure to reach customers reduces the performance of a marketing email and can affect reputation. On top of this, some ISPs have a reputation system in place, so if you continue to send emails that don't get delivered or are flagged as spam, your reputation with them will suffer, leading to even fewer emails getting through. For these reasons, it's important for businesses to understand how email deliverability works and use best practices in order to ensure their messages make it where they need to go!
What Affects Email Deliverability?
Email deliverability is a crucial factor in any successful business’s marketing strategy. There are several factors that can affect your email deliverability rate and it's important to be aware of them. Sender reputation, authentication, content, and being blacklisted are all common issues that can lead to low email deliverability rates.
Having a good sender reputation means that you need to build trust with the receiving mail server. This can be achieved by sending emails from an established domain and making sure your message follows industry standards. Authentication is also important as this validates that the emails are actually coming from you and not someone else. The content of your message is also key and should be clear about what it contains, who it’s for and why it’s relevant to them. Finally, if you find yourself on a blacklist, it's important to take steps to get removed as soon as possible as this will hamper delivery even further.
By understanding these elements and implementing best practices when sending out emails, businesses can ensure that their messages make their way to the intended receiver, no matter the email provider.
Selecting the Right Infrastructure
Selecting the right infrastructure is key when it comes to email deliverability. The wrong setup with your email service providers can easily lead to messages going astray or being blocked altogether. To ensure emails reach their intended destination, businesses need to think about which hosting provider they choose and if using a shared IP address is really the best option for them. A private IP address can be beneficial as it offers more control and reliability but this does come at an additional cost. Additionally, make sure your provider offers SMTP authentication – this will validate that you are who you say you are and your emails won't get flagged by a spam filter. With the right infrastructure in place, businesses can rest assured that their messages will make it where they need to go!
1) Authenticate with SPF
Authentication with SPF is a great way to make sure emails from your domain arrive in their intended inboxes. SPF stands for Sender Policy Framework, and it's a form of authentication which tells incoming servers which hosts (or IP addresses) are allowed to send emails with a given address. When an email arrives at the server, it's checked against the SPF record – if it matches then the message is delivered, but if not then it might be rejected before even reaching its destination. Setting up SPF records can vary depending on your hosting provider, so make sure you do some research beforehand and find out how to do this. The effort will pay off as you'll be able to guarantee that all messages sent from your domain reach their intended recipients!
2) Authenticate with DKIM
Authentication with DKIM is a great way to make sure your emails are delivered to their intended inboxes. DKIM stands for DomainKeys Identified Mail, and it's a form of authentication which allows incoming servers to check if an email was indeed sent from the owner of the given email address. It uses encrypted details such as message body or/and headers, sender's domain and others, and when an email with DKIM is received by an incoming server, it will recreate the signature with a public key and compare it against the DKIM received. If there's a match, then the message will get a significant boost in deliverability. Setting up DKIM records can vary depending on your hosting provider but making sure you do this properly is essential for successful email delivery. Taking the time to authenticate with DKIM will ensure that all messages sent from your domain arrive at their intended recipients!
3) Authenticate with DMARC
DMARC authentication is a must for businesses of any size. DMARC stands for Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance, and it's the most advanced method of email authentication. It uses both DKIM and SPF (Sender Policy Framework) to ensure that the emails sent by your domain are indeed yours. Additionally, it adds an extra check known as 'alignment test' which allows incoming servers to verify that the message was in fact sent from the owner of the given email address. DMARC also allows you to specify what should happen to messages that fail the alignment test: either discard them right away, quarantine them or treat them like regular emails. Furthermore, you can receive reports about any failed tests so that you can take action quickly if needed. Taking these steps will help make sure your emails reach their intended recipients!
Understanding what affects email deliverability is part of a successful business communication strategy. Getting your messages delivered to the right people on time is a huge challenge for today’s marketers and businesses. The success of your email marketing campaigns, delivery rates, and engagement rates is an important part of how many small businesses operate.
There are ways to improve your chances of email success and with the help of Transpera you can rest assured that your messages arrive at their intended recipients every time.
Contact us to ensure email deliverability isn't negatively impacting your email marketing strategy or your email sender reputation!