How to Check Email Deliverability and Improve It

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You’ve spent precious days or even weeks creating the best email marketing campaign your company has ever seen.

You’ve done your research and found the perfect leads to target.

You’ve set up your email outreach to hit on a certain day and time to reach the best prospects at the perfect moment.

You hit send to launch your email campaign expecting stellar results.

Minutes go by, then hours and possibly days and the results are less than stellar and quite lacking.

Why?

Even the best-laid marketing plans can go to spam, junk, bounceback or just completely miss your target.

At Connect 365, we don’t want you to miss your mark or waste your time and marketing dollars.?

This is why we’ve laid out a simple and practical guide to improving your email deliverability to reach your best prospects.?

Why is Email Deliverability Important?

The answer to this question is easy. It’s important because if your email doesn’t get opened, its effectiveness is ZERO. Your time is valuable. So, is your budget.?

Creating the perfect email marketing campaign that will not only reach but make an impact is difficult enough. Figuring out how to deliver that campaign to the right prospects at the right time requires a whole new level of thought and planning that not every company has the resources to devote to.

That’s where Connect 365 can help.

First, it’s important to understand the difference between email delivery and email deliverability because one maximizes your effort and the other one does not.

Email delivery is exactly what it sounds like. Did the recipient’s server accept your email or not? It doesn’t matter where it ended up or if it’s being opened just that it was delivered. Additionally, if an email bounces back for any reason it will be counted as a failed delivery. Failed delivery is not ideal and not what you’re looking for which is why you want to focus on improving email deliverability instead.

Email deliverability focuses on delivering an email directly to a recipient’s inbox and there are many factors that will help you get that perfect placement.

Want a better system for getting leads and clients with email?

Sign up for my upcoming workshop that goes step by step through our lead generation process that has been so successful in our clients’ businesses -- the L.E.A.D. Blueprint..

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Top 10 Tips to Test Email Deliverability and Improve It?

The good news is that there are several steps you can take to test email deliverability before you click send to ensure your email makes it to the right place. Taking these extra steps, in the beginning, will help improve email deliverability overall.

Set Up a Test Email Account. An email sent internally has great odds of getting to a fellow co-worker and the same email address, but what will happen externally? Setting up a test email account will also help to protect your company’s domain and reputation.

?Verify Domain and IP Reputation. Several tools exist on the web that allow you to verify domain and IP reputation, and many are free. They also allow you to verify that your web category is correct to ensure you’re set up for success.

Learn the Lingo. Two very important terms to know and understand are Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM). In a nutshell, SPF prevents anyone else from sending emails on your behalf. DKIM adds another layer of protection and allows your recipient’s server to check if the sender is legit. Taking these two vital steps will help improve your email deliverability.

Know Email Limits. Each provider sets up limitations of how many emails can be sent each day and even each hour. Exceeding these limits may cause your email to be blocked.

?Watch Email Content. There are certain words and images that will get blocked or even worse … blacklisted. Like ‘free’, ‘money’, ‘risk-free’, ‘apply now’, the list is huge. Don’t be too salesy or try too hard because your email may never reach your lead’s inbox. Make sure that you’re sending quality content that won’t go straight to the spam folder.

Be Personable. Adding a personal touch to subject lines makes each email look different and avoids looking like spam. Personalized emails also have a higher likelihood of delivery and increased open rates.

Keep It Simple. Email campaigns filled with html, images, gifts, fancy fonts, and other bells and whistles may get the wrong kind of attention and look like spam. At the same time, plain and simple may also be flagged. It’s important to find the right balance but always remember that the intent of the message is key.

Focus on Targeted Sends and build gradually. If you start sending large batches on day one, inbox providers might see this as a threat and a spam attack. Therefore, your email will automatically be marked as spam. ISP providers look for consistency in behavior.

Remember Quality Over Quantity. Qualify your leads and send emails to your best prospects. While expanding your customer base is always a goal, you want to do it the right way and not waste time on junk email lists that will affect your email deliverability. You also don’t want to bombard leads so check your frequency and find the balance that won’t affect email deliverability.

Keep Contact Lists Clean. You want to add to your lead generation lists but don’t let the names pile up. Look for bouncebacks and keep your lists current and fresh with your best prospects.

Email Deliverability Takeaways

When you’re laser-focused on the day-to-day, it’s easy to lose sight of email strategy. Making sure everything is set up from the very beginning is critical, but so is monitoring every step of the process. If you don’t have the time or resources to devote to your email outreach strategy that is where Connect 365 can help.?From email automation to lead management to social media automation, our focus is to help you achieve your goals, build relationships and create lifelong customers. Request an invite and let’s connect today!

Your Turn

Learn How to Implement The Trust Equation in My Upcoming Lead Blueprint Workshop

Want a better way to get leads and clients? Sign up for my upcoming workshop that goes step by step through our lead generation process that has been so successful in our clients’ businesses -- the L.E.A.D. Blueprint.

In the workshop, I’ll be teaching:

Exactly what an Authority Leadership Platform is and how you can leverage our Authority Amplifier process to position yourself above the competition, putting your business on an entirely different playing field.

How to target high-end prospects using online platforms (social media + email) in a unique way that builds instant trust by doing the polar opposite of what most ‘salespeople’ try

How to develop real relationships online using a highly-personal Multi-Touchpoint Messaging Campaign to naturally guide the conversation towards an appointment

The right way to automate processes that build trust, improve credibility, and increase responsiveness in your campaigns.

Join an upcoming workshop session by signing up here!

Implementing the Trust Equation is a game-changer and can propel your small business in front of more prospects, generate more leads and grow your business.

From email automation to lead management to social media automation, Connect 365 can help you turn those cold leads into warm prospects and create long-lasting, lifetime customers.

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