Email marketing can be one tricky marketing strategy. Knowing that our emails landing into a folder of any kind can give us sweaty palms. It is because we know ourselves and that if the email does not sit in the primary inbox of an email recipient, they may never see it.
So, how do you lower the chances of your email landing in a dreaded spam or promotions folder? First, you have to respect some email marketing best practices, as this is the only way to get email marketing to benefit your business. Therefore, you should...
1. Get your emails whitelisted.
Getting your emails whitelisted is not as complicated as it sounds. All you have to do is ask your email subscribers to add your email address to their contact list. If a subscriber takes this action, it will show their email service provider (i.e., gmail.com) that your emails are important to them and should be in their inbox. This is the best thing you can do to improve your open rates.
2. Not directly email people on email lists you've purchased or borrowed.
Just don’t do it. People who do not know you will mark your emails as spam, or their inboxes will do it for them. If enough of your emails end up marked as spam, you might tank your business. The "powers that be" will blacklist your IP address, killing your ability to email anyone from your home or business.
You don’t want that, do you? Instead…
3. Collect emails organically and keep your list clean.
Collecting emails organically means that people sign up to receive your emails because they want to read your content. They are also more likely to open and read your emails.
A great engagement rate increases your chances of not landing in your subscribers' spam or promotion folders in the future, too. And, just because you have email addresses does not mean all emails are created equal.
Twice a year, run your email addresses through an online email verification system. By doing this, you will make sure that all your emails are still functioning.
Sometimes, we have company-based emails on our email list. And, when people leave their companies, their email addresses are shuffled out with them. To improve your open rate, make sure you do not have these types of dead emails on your email list.
4. Automate.
Don’t call yourself launching an email campaign with one email auto-responder. Instead, put time aside to create and schedule 2 to 3 months’ worth of emails.
Writing your content in bulk will help you craft thoughtful emails you know are unique. It will also help you to create a sequence of emails with a flow.
And, to make sure people feel like the emails you are sending are meant for them, personalize them. Refer to email recipients by their first names. You can program emails to populate names automatically with an email service provider, which will increase your click-through rates.
It would help if you also were careful not to send prospects emails meant to convert them to clients. Or sending clients emails intended to keep them as clients or to onboard them as referral sources. It would be best if you had different goals for each audience, which should be reflected in two separate email drip campaigns.
5. Design all your emails for mobile.
I don’t care if you are writing an informal follow-up email. Make all your paragraphs 1 to 2 sentences long, or they will look like big chunks of text on mobile devices.
People have very short attention spans, and they will glaze over a dense section of text. And, with most people reading emails on mobile phones, don’t let your content look too dense on them.
With this said, also try to put your email’s main message above the point at which a person would need to scroll down to see more information on their cell phones. This way, the person will get the point of your email as soon as they open it.
6. Optimize your email subject lines.
Do a Google search for free email subject line testers, and find one you like. Then, use it to write better email subject lines. Also, learn which words are considered spammy and avoid using them. Pull out the thesaurus and find new words to use. It will also help you to expand your vocabulary. *Perk*
Seriously, creating an email subject line is one of the most challenging parts of email marketing. The subject line must be compelling, concise, optimized for mobile reading, and devoid of spammy words.
7. Avoid using "no-reply" or "info@yourcompanyname.com."
As a business, don’t you want people to contact you if they want to know more information about your services? Well, sending emails from a “no-reply” does not leave this door open. Instead, it tells your readers that you do not want to hear from them and are unwilling to help them.
“No-reply” email addresses will also make it hard for people to opt-out of receiving your emails if they do not want them. Don’t create barriers for people to leave your list. If they want to go, let them — even celebrate them leaving. Sometimes it’s a harsh reality, but it is what it is.
Also, avoid using info@ email addresses. Emails like this, and ones like “contact@” and “admin@,” are considered catch-all email addresses. They are not only impersonal but more likely to be flagged as spam.
In Conclusion
Let’s do a quick recap:
1. Keep your emails simple.
2. Don’t buy or borrow email lists.
3. Collect emails organically and keep your list clean.
4. Don’t wait. Automate by programming emails in advance of launching a campaign.
5. Design all your emails for mobile.
6. Optimize your email subject lines.
7. Avoid using "no-reply" or "info@yourcompanyname.com."
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