Email marketers have a simple dream: 100% inbox placement rate (IPR), with a 100% open rate and a
100% conversion rate. It sounds simple. Whenever you send an email to a customer (or a future
customer), they open it, read it, and click on the button you ask them to click. But this dream is further
from reality than time travel.
Emails can go on one of three routes. The first route goes directly to the recipient’s inbox. The second
route goes to the spam folder. And the third route leads to a dead end, which returns to you. No matter
how hard you try, you’ll never achieve 100% IPR. But the challenge lies in getting as close to it as
possible. What if you’re the first to do it?
By following these top email practices, you’ll ensure your email doesn’t end up in spam.
Wait, let’s define spam
Spam, or junk email, happens when someone sends unpersonalized emails to a bunch of accounts who
didn’t sign up for them. And the nature follows the law of three. It can be about promoting a product or
service, spreading malware, or phishing you out of your hard-earned money.
But wait, promotional emails count as cold emails, right?
Yes, and they’re different from spam emails. Junk mail has a few more characteristics:
– It’s unsolicited (no consent)
– Bad spelling and grammar
– Deceiving headlines
– Sent in bulk
– Many hyperlinks
– They ask you for personal data (passwords, credit cards, or Social Security numbers)
– They aren’t pretty
– Sent anonymously (or by random accounts)
How does an email provider know what is spam?
Spam used to be a big deal in the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s. Email Metrics Report estimated that 90% of
the total email traffic was spam. The numbers aren’t much different today because around 162 billion
spam emails get sent daily. But there’s a catch – spam filters.
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) started implementing filters that prevent harmful, low-quality emails
from getting to your inbox. They are the shield that protects you from offers that help you “triple your
income,” “lose 20 pounds in a week”, and “get money from your relative in Nigeria who has left you an
inheritance of $200 million in gold”.
Of course, spammers and filters evolved over the years, and now they’re more advanced. Now ISPs are
looking at user engagement, previous interactions, double opt-ins, and your score with the email
provider, as well as individual subscribers. They monitor every action and classify it as good or bad.
Good actions:
– Opening mails
– Replying to emails
– Moving to folders
– Flagging as not junk
– Adding to the address book
Bad actions:
– Moving to junk
– Deleting without opening
Top Practices To Help Your Email Game
Avoid getting flagged as spam with these best practices:
Build Your Own List
It’s better to have a list of 100 people who are genuinely interested in your product/service than to have
a million emails who have no idea how your email got to their inbox. Build your list organically, and it
will pay off major dividends in the long term.
Don’t buy emails from third parties, even if they classify them as warm leads. Don’t share lists with
partners. And never use bots to scrape emails online. This is like choosing to go to the spam folder on
purpose. Think of adding people to your list as making new friends. Slowly and with time.
If you want to be anonymous while building your list, you can use VPN servers to avoid exposing your IP
address. That way, you will not be identified, and your data will remain private and untouched. This is
extremely safe and has added security features, which make it perfect for a new venture you don’t want
anyone to know about.
Always Use A Double Opt-In
If someone wants to subscribe to your newsletter, they should confirm their subscription. And there’s a
good reason why. It confirms their interest in your emails, lowers your spam rating, and keeps your
delivery rates high. From a user’s perspective, it’s a one-time thing that takes a minute to complete, but
it’s a must-have for every company.
Personalize the content
Personalization isn’t just about changing the name of the recipient. It’s so much more. You can filter
your audience by who interacts with your emails the most, frequent buyers, people who haven’t
purchased in a while, and targeting them like individuals.
Send a promo offer to people who haven’t bought anything in a few months. Send some custom
recommendations to your frequent buyers. Use data to your advantage, and make the most of
personalization.
Make it relevant
An email needs to have a purpose. Does it provide relevant, urgent, or new information? Have you
talked about something similar recently? Is the content inside valuable? Which part of your audience
should you send it to?
The answers to these questions will help you become better with your copy, offers, promotions, and
sales!
