overcoming the 3 challenges to optimizing your email program
TRANSCRIPT
Moderator: Ali Swerdlow VP, Industry Rela1ons LiveIntent @swerdtoyourmom @LiveIntent
Chris Arrendale CEO Inbox Pros @Arrendale @InboxPros
Tami Forman VP, Corporate Marke1ng & Communica1ons Return Path @TamiMForman @returnpath
Putting ads in email is a natural thing.
We’ve aligned with key partners to ensure our publishers and advertisers maximize their investment in their email marketing programs and in their LiveIntent engagement.
Inbox Pros & Return Path for LiveIntent Clients
Over one-third of the worldwide population will be using email by year end 2019. - The Radicati Group, Inc. "Email Statistics Report,
2015-2019" (2015)
4 Steps to Reaching the Inbox
1. Configure – Set up authentication - SPF,
SenderID, DomainKeys, DKIM.
4 Steps to Reaching the Inbox
2. Make Friends – Get signed up on all feedback loops
and white lists possible – not all ISPs and inbox providers have one, but do the research and sign up!
– Research reputation.
4 Steps to Reaching the Inbox
3. Design Campaigns – Make sure your image-to-text ratio is ~30:70.
– Include an “Add to Address Book” statement.
– Brand messages.
– Include text or html unsubscribe link (not an image) – one click opt-out is best.
– Include postal address in footer.
Anatomy of a successful email
To: John Smith From: Lenovo
Subject Line
HTML Headline for Email Subject
Hi, John,
Text. Embedded call-to-action.
Text.
Text. Re-iterate call-to-action.
Graphic
Graphic
Pre-header Text
Text.
Footer + Unsubscribe Verbiage
Ensure subject lines are substantive (not promotional) and speak to business benefits; ideal length is 100-140 characters and more than 16 words
Personalization is optimal in B2B emails for higher conversions; avoid “Dear X.”
Ensure domain reputation for landing page URLs remains high; also, make sure there are both text and graphic links to landing page
Smaller section graphic or highlight graphic of offering in the content offer email
Include pre-header test that is essentially the “boilerplate version” of your Content Offer email
Maintain 70/30 ratio with essential graphics highlighting Content Offer or product/service
Design email content with “images off,” ensure high mobile readability
Optimize the footer and unsubscribe verbiage
4 Steps to Reaching the Inbox
4. Maintain – Keep user engagement high – target recipients
with relevant content and stop sending to any that are not interested.
– Keep your abuse complaint rate below 0.3% -remove complaints immediately.
– Keep your bounce rates below 10% - remove hard bounces immediately.
– Entice and remind recipients to add your from address to their address book.
What is Deliverability?
• Delivered is the way to measure that the email was accepted by the recipient’s mail server
• Deliverability is getting to the inbox and
measuring the open/click statistics
Understanding Bounces
• Hard bounces – Occur when the email server rejects the
email due to permanent conditions
– Examples: bad mailbox, bad domain
• Soft bounces – Occur when the email server rejects the
email due to a temporary condition
– Examples: mailbox full, temporary ISP block
Bounces & Sender Reputation
• Bounce rates impact your Sender Reputation • If your bounce rates are too high, the ISP may
think you are a spammer and may block your domain or IP address
• There is no “magic number” that can get you blocked/bulked
Sending Volumes
• Sending volumes to smaller domains is key to getting delivered.
• Major ISPs publish rate limits and connection settings.
• B2B and smaller B2C domains do not publish these settings.
• Key is to send smaller volumes to not ‘flood’ the recipient’s mail server.
• Get whitelisted, if possible.
• Communicate this with your subscribers!
Reporting – Keys to Deliverability
• Inbox Placement Rate
• Open rates: How many subscribers open your newsletter
• Click rates: How many subscribers click the link on your newsletter
• Bounce rates: How many emails don’t make it into the inbox
• Complaints: How many “abuse” complaints your campaign receives
• Unsubscribes: How many people unsubscribe from your newsletter
5 Metric Takeaways
1. Fear not, the word "free" will not automatically send your email to the junk folder.
2. Yahoo! accepts only 1 out of 8 emails.
3. 47% of subscribers use the "spam" button to unsubscribe.
4. 77% of marketers experience emails being diverted to the spam folder.
5. Many URL shorteners are on blacklists. Don’t use them!
Around the world, 16 million phishing messages arrive in inboxes every single day… Source: Symantec Security Technology and Response Group, August 2012
…50% of them are opened… …10% of them are clicked on Source: Symantec Security Technology and Response Group, August 2012
Authentication – Your Passport to the Network
IP and domain authentication are very important for deliverability • SPF
– IP Authentication – DNS record update supplied by your MAP or ESP
• DKIM
– Domain Authentication – DNS record update supplied by your MAP or ESP
“If your domain doesn’t protect itself with DMARC, you will be increasingly likely to see your messages sent directly to a spam folder or even rejected.” Google Product Manager John Rae-Grant
DMARC: anti-phishing standard today, inbox placement factor tomorrow
Source: DMARC.org, press release, February 2015
Key Takeaways
1. The inbox is full of opportunity – to engage with your audience, learn more about them and drive them to action
2. Getting to the inbox is the key to optimizing email marketing results – know your inbox placement rate (IPR) and the factors that drive it
3. Lack of trust in email authenticity will drive down response rates and erode your brand equity – batten down the hatches to prevent fraud
4. The inbox is a unique media environment where the battle for attention is intense – know who you are competing against and how you stack up