While there are tons of must-dos when it comes to optimizing email deliverability, there are also don’ts every company must adhere to. This post enumerates seven to help you get the most out of your email marketing campaigns.
1. Don’t Use All Caps
Some may think using all caps is a means to grab someone’s attention, but most get the feeling they’re being shouted at. Capitalizing all of a word’s letters could translate to yelling on any form of online communication (emails and chats, to be specific). If your goal is to keep readers engaged, don’t you think shouting at them would turn them off?
2. Don’t Be Spammy
Although you need to impart a sense of urgency among readers, keep in mind that moderation is still vital. Overly sensationalizing email subject lines and content could automatically land your messages in intended recipients’ spam or junk folder. That translates to overpromising or saying things that are too good to be true. Email (ESPs) and Internet service providers (ISPs) employ filters that keep spam out of their users’ mailboxes. And they do so by utilizing a list of spam trigger words. That said, digital marketers should keep around 400 words or phrases out of their emails. Examples include “as seen on,” “dig up dirt on friends,” and “be your own boss.”
3. Don’t Forget to Personalize
Everyone likes being acknowledged. Customization should, however, extend beyond addressing recipients by their names. Today, you can choose from various email optimization tools that dive into analytics data to tell you about every customer’s previous experience with your brand. For example, if he/she has been browsing your mobile phone page, you can include a pitch for the latest model in your email.
4. Don’t Neglect Authentication
Before you even think about employing a service provider, digging deep into it first is a must. Find out specifically if your provider has been authenticated. This step is critical because authentication means your identity has been verified. Your recipients are bound to appreciate that. Authentication also gives your messages a better chance of getting delivered successfully, which will affect their open rate. The process requires users to use a consistent sender email address and adhere to Sender Policy Framework (SPF), DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), and Domain-Based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC), and Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI). Note that only emails that get opened can increase your profits.
5. Don’t Keep Sending to Invalid Email Addresses
An email list can only be effective if it’s clean and well-maintained. That means it doesn’t contain invalid, fake, temporary, and unreachable email addresses. You can check the integrity of any address with the help of an email verification tool. Running your entire database on a bulk email verification service can help you spot email addresses that don’t follow the syntax prescribed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), are disposable, and more violations. Unreachable email addresses translate to a high bounce rate and low deliverability, which can ultimately land you on ESPs’ or ISPs’ blocklists.
6. Don’t Forget to Include an Unsubscribe Link
One of the reasons emails get sent to the spam or junk folder is that they lack an unsubscribe link. While your main goal is to give readers valuable information or sell a product, you need to leave them with a choice. They need to find value in your message on their own. Without an unsubscribe link, you may just continue communicating with people who aren’t really interested in your offering. Instead of helping, you may end up getting negative reviews.
7. Don’t Neglect Testing
Finally, like software or any other offering, emails, which are marketers’ end products, need to be tested before they get sent. Everything must go according to plan. To know if your intended recipients will appreciate your email, test it on yourself and others. Fix what needs fixing until your message is fully optimized.
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At the end of the day, email optimization can improve engagement, help companies obtain loyal followers, keep bounce rates to a minimum, improve email deliverability (more tips here), and boost returns on investment (RoIs). Keep the seven don’ts mentioned above in mind and conscientiously do them to generate leads and obtain revenue successfully from well-optimized email marketing campaigns.
