Email marketing campaigns are an effective way to reach your customers, but only if your emails actually reach your customers' inboxes.
Just because you send something doesn't mean it'll escape your junk mailbox or spam filter. Email deliverability requirements are more stringent than ever, so monitoring and improving deliverability is essential to staying in touch with your audience.
Email deliverability allows email marketers and sellers to run effective email campaigns. There are over 4 billion email users worldwide, and global email marketing revenue is expected to reach an estimated $17.9 billion by 2027. If you want to keep your marketing emails from turning into spam messages, learn about the factors that affect email deliverability and how to improve your email marketing. success.
What is email deliverability?
Email deliverability measures whether your marketing emails reach your subscribers' inboxes. The term “email delivery” refers to the successful delivery of an email (that is, it did not bounce but may have become spam), whereas “email deliverability” , measures whether the email actually reached the recipient's inbox.
Improving email deliverability can reduce the extent to which email service providers send email messages to spam folders. Email deliverability affects email campaigns. The more frequently your messages reach users' inboxes, the more conversions and engagement you're likely to see.
In 2024, Gmail and Yahoo tightened email deliverability requirements for high-volume senders. To ensure that your emails continue to arrive in your inbox, you must follow email verification and spam prevention best practices. This includes verifying your email and enabling easy unsubscribes, but you also need to stay below the new spam rate threshold. Follow these steps to ensure compliance as a Shopify store owner.
What factors affect email deliverability?
There are multiple factors that affect email deliverability. Consider each point as you set up and iterate on your email marketing strategy.
Email sender reputation
Internet service providers (ISPs) determine an email sender's reputation based on a variety of considerations, including spam complaints and low open rates. A sender's reputation tells your inbox provider how trustworthy a sender is and influences whether an email ends up in your spam folder. Sender reputation can vary depending on your internet service provider, but it is usually expressed in the form of a sender score that ranges from 0 to 100.
IP reputation
While an email sender's reputation is specific to a company or domain, IP reputation refers to the quality of the server used to send email. If the sender's girlfriend's IP address sends a large amount of spam messages, her IP reputation will be lowered.
Send high-quality emails from a dedicated IP address to improve your IP reputation and increase the likelihood that your email messages will appear in your customers' inboxes.
spam trap
Spam traps are fake email addresses created by ISPs and other organizations to find scammers. These are common email lists that can be purchased or rented online. Spam traps attempt to identify scammers by enticing them to send spam to a fake email address. Inadvertently sending marketing emails to spam trap email addresses can negatively impact email deliverability.
Email list quality
The quality of your email list also affects the deliverability of your email marketing. If your list contains invalid email addresses, your ISP will be notified that your email won't arrive correctly in your inbox, impacting your sender reputation.
Practice good email list hygiene by eliminating unknown users with strange email addresses and avoiding spam traps at all costs by not buying or renting email lists. To improve email deliverability and ensure your emails reach their inboxes, keep only interested users on your email list.
email volume
Unreliable email volume can negatively impact email deliverability. Internet service providers notice that the frequency of email marketing campaigns increases sharply. For ISPs, this is a sign that scammers may have hacked your email account and triggered spam filters that negatively impact your sender reputation and email deliverability.
Open rate
Email service providers monitor how often recipients open their emails. By keeping your email list healthy, creating quality content, and writing engaging email subject lines, you increase your chances of getting a high open rate. When your open rates start to drop, so will your email deliverability.
bounce rate
Bounce rate measures how often your emails don't reach their recipients. He has two types of bounces: hard bounces and soft bounces. A hard bounce is a permanent error. The most common case is when you send an email to an invalid email address. A soft bounce indicates a temporary problem with the email, such as a technical issue or the recipient's inbox is full.
A high bounce rate (above 2%) can reduce your email deliverability. Be sure to remove email addresses that trigger hard bounces from your list, and investigate soft bounces to ensure there are no technical issues with your IP address or ISP infrastructure.
ISP infrastructure
The Internet service provider you use affects the quality of your email delivery. Send your marketing emails through a trusted ISP infrastructure to increase email deliverability and avoid technical issues with your campaigns. Tools like Shopify Email allow you to send well-designed emails using a powerful ISP infrastructure.
Tips for improving email deliverability
Email distribution requires a strong strategy, but when done well, it can get your campaign in front of your customers. Here's how to avoid the dreaded spam folder.
Verify email
Use an email verification tool to notify your internet service provider that you are sending legitimate email.
Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is an authentication method that checks emails against a specific list of IP addresses, making it impossible for fraudsters to forge email addresses other than dedicated IP addresses. DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) is another authentication method that uses encryption keys and digital signatures to verify email content and prevent identity theft and phishing. Finally, Domain-Based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) builds on SPF and DKIM to coordinate domain information.
SPF, DKIM, and DMARC work together and complement each other by covering different aspects of the email authentication process.
Create high-quality email content
To avoid receiving spam complaints, craft emails that are relevant and informative to your target audience's needs. When you focus on relevant content that your customers want, you increase your chances of high open rates and improved email deliverability. Increase engagement with optimized images and design elements. Attachments can trigger spam filters, so choose a simple and clear CTA button that directs the recipient to the desired information or web page.
Maintain good email list hygiene
Eliminate inactive subscribers frequently and be aware of spam trap email addresses that may end up on your email list. Removing inactive email addresses from your list allows you to send emails only to recipients who are interested in your content, increasing open rates. Build your email list organically and avoid buying or renting lists, as this can affect your email sender's reputation.
Split your email list
Consider segmenting your email list and sending email campaigns to specific subcategories within your list. For example, if you run an online furniture store, you can send emails about mid-century modern designs to customers who have purchased items in this category in the past. By sending targeted email campaigns to sections of your email list, you can send more customized content and increase engagement.
Send emails on a consistent schedule
Mail servers monitor the frequency of e-mails that users send and adjust the deliverability of e-mails accordingly. If he sends one email a week for several months, and then in a week he sends 10 emails, some of his 10 emails will get caught in the spam filter. There is a possibility. Maintain a consistent sending schedule for your email campaigns. If you need to send a large number of emails for a new campaign, increase the volume slowly and avoid sending too many emails at once.
Implement a double opt-in process
A double opt-in process requires users who sign up for an email list or newsletter to also click a confirmation link sent to their inbox. While you may want to simplify the sign-up process, adding a verification step increases your chances of building an email list with active recipients. The more engaged your subscribers are, the better your email deliverability will be.
Create a compelling subject line
Write attractive and attention-grabbing subject lines. Use active language to clearly articulate your brand's unique value proposition and explain the value of your products, services, and company.
Use your subject line to help your audience understand what useful content and relevant information your email provides. Avoid using spam trigger words such as “Free!” or “I guarantee it!” because it can cause your mailbox provider to mark your email as spam.
Make it easy for recipients to unsubscribe
Include a clear unsubscribe link in all emails. An effective email marketing program will give your subscribers the opportunity to opt out without any hassle, allowing you to maintain a quality email list and your company's reputation. Avoid hiding unsubscribe links or using confusing language within design elements.
Include plain text version of email
When sending your email, include a link to the plain text version, which loads faster for users with poor internet service. Optimizing the plain text version of your email allows more recipients to open the version of your content.
Use effective email marketing tools
Email marketing software tools like Shopify Email offer a user-friendly system that allows you to run professional email campaigns. Email marketing tools with customizable templates, comprehensive analytics, and reliable infrastructure allow you to create campaigns and monitor their strength.
Email deliverability FAQs
What is good email deliverability?
While it varies by company, reliable email deliverability is often over 95%.
What are the common reasons for poor deliverability?
Some of the most common reasons for poor email deliverability include poor sender reputation or IP reputation, low open rates, spam traps, and poor email list hygiene.
How can I monitor email deliverability performance?
You can use email marketing software tools like Shopify Email to gain insight into your overall performance. Monitor bounce rates, open rates, and spam complaint rates to better understand your email deliverability.
How does email deliverability affect email campaigns?
Maintaining good email deliverability determines whether your email campaign reaches your target audience or whether spam filters block your target audience. Even with a well-crafted email campaign, merchants must implement good email delivery practices to ensure that all of their efforts actually reach their intended recipients.
Are email deliverability best practices different for transactional and marketing emails?
The strategy is slightly different. Businesses send transactional emails one at a time in response to customer actions (such as purchases). Marketing emails, on the other hand, are sent to a broader audience to encourage potential customers to take action. Transactional emails contain specific content that is relevant to the customer and typically have high open rates, whereas marketing emails (such as new product launch announcements) have low open rates and clear unsubscribes. Links are often required.
