In the ongoing effort to block unwanted email communication, commonly known as “spam” or “junk mail,” Internet Service Providers (ISPs) initially created mechanisms to filter out seemingly inappropriate email content. Shortly after that, users were provided with a way to designate unwanted email communications. Now the gatekeepers of deliverability are stepping up their game and looking at new ways to determine whether your email makes it to the in-box.
As email marketing and communications evolve rapidly, so do those people who break the rules of compliance. Because the safeguards for email communication have drastically increased, email providers and mass marketers must shift their strategies and stay abreast of email marketing best practices and new guidelines to ensure their message reaches its intended recipients.
According to deliverability expert, Laura Atkins, “Spammers have gamed the spam-complaint-rate metric—the percentage of recipients who hit the “report spam” button—rendering it less useful as a factor in determining whether incoming mail is unsolicited or not.” (Directmag.com 2009)
In the past, a sender’s spam complaint rate has been largely used by ISPs to determine whether that sender’s email is legitimate. According to Atkins, “some spammers have set up thousands of dummy e-mail accounts, sent e-mail to them, and then hit the “this is not spam” button to artificially drive their complaint percentages down.” (Directmag.com 2009)
This sort of abuse has resulted in email service providers (ESPs) now looking at recipient’s engagement with the email communication, to determine how they interact with not only a sender’s message, but the actual content within it.
It’s difficult to determine how one might measure engagement, but most likely it will be based on open and click rates, how many people actually visit their spam filter to remove the messages from spam, how many recipients are forwarding the messages, how many actually reply to the messages, and how many add the mailer to either their address books or their “This is not spam” list. (Directmag.com 2009)
So, now that engagement is seemingly becoming the new spam filter, what does that mean for marketers looking to spread their message via mass email campaigns?
In order to increase recipient engagement, you must understand user behavior, send targeted emails and ultimately have the content to convert more prospects into return customers who will willingly accept emails from you. There are some important things to remember when setting up and sending an email campaign, through Net-Results, or any email provider.
Here are a few tips to help shift your mass email marketing strategy to one based on engagement:
Use short, concise subject lines that state the content of the email.
Under CAN-SPAM law, your subject line cannot be misleading. You also have a higher chance of getting c aught by a spam filter if you use characters like exclamation points and asterisks, or type words in all caps. Other words like “Free,” “Cheap,” or “Discount” can also put you higher on the spam scale. Also consider including the name of your company in your subject lines, as well as a consistent company message. The point is that you want to be as open and upfront with the recipients of your email as possible and your subject line is your first (and sometimes only) impression… so make it count.
Consider sending your emails on Thursday.
Research indicates that emails sent on Thursday generally have a higher open rates and click through rates, according to eROI, “Email Marketing Statistics By Day and Time”. Remember, with Net-Results you will be able to individually identify contacts and track their movements from the moment they open or click through your email. So, whether they’ve been to your site anonymously in the past or they return to your site via direct access later, Net-Results is always on.
Customize your drip campaigns based on visitor data.
We suggest you build a campaign to send out a small email blast to an existing list of around 50 contacts. Create your first campaign action to send a basic email advertising your products or services to the entire list. Then create subsequent actions within the campaign that will be targeted to unique visitor actions. For example, if you have a distinguishable product listing on one page of your website, set up an email action to trigger when someone visits that page and looks at it for more than 10 seconds. Or, set up an email action to trigger anytime an individual visitor visits the contact us or sign up page but does not see the thank you page. Tailor the emails based on the specific actions of these visitors and watch your open and click through rates rise. Use the intelligence you gain from this exercise to coach your sales team.
Use a recognizable “From” line.
The “From” line of an email tells your recipients who sent it. Research indicates that the majority of business people review the “From” line and consider it a factor when deciding to open an email, according to Bredin Business Information. The “From” line also cannot be misleading, similar to the subject line. The objective is to accurately tell recipients who sent the email as something they will recognize and in turn open it. Generally this could be your company name or personal name.
Keep lists fresh and updated.
While marketers often cringe at taking people off of their lists, those individuals who at one point signed up or opted in to a list, but no longer respond to your permission based emails, are actually hurting your reputation. By continuing to send to these non responsive contacts, you as a sender start to be automatically redirected to a recipient’s spam filter, as the filter begins to recognize that the recipient repeatedly does not open or respond to your emails. Always keep your lists scrubbed and updated by getting rid of contacts that haven’t done anything with your mail in 12 to 18 months.
Like most email service providers, Net-Results will enable you to view your campaign statistics to gain an idea of how your email campaign performed on all levels. However, the best part about Net-Results is that you can actually view your visitors’ engagement once they’ve reacted to your emails, whereas with other ESPs, your view into their behavior stops short at their first glance of your message. Net-Results strives to constantly keep you informed and updated on industry changes, new best practices, and creative ideas to keep your email marketing on top of your competition.
