Email best practices news
Here’s a situation our support team runs across from time to time: A client calls us in a panic because her email list has been deleted, and she doesn’t know it happened or who was responsible. What a nightmare! But it doesn’t have to happen to you. There are some simple preventative measures you can take to avoid a similar scenario.
Lionel Richie asked this question (well sort of) back in the ’80s, with his heartstring-tugging hit song Hello.
And you could ask the same question of your subscribers. You know, the ones who haven’t opened one of your mailings in a while. Or the ones who haven’t engaged with you in a way that shows they’re still interested.
In our last post, we explained why it’s important to test your emails before they go out. There are many benefits to incorporating this practice into your email marketing program, from catching typos and grammatical errors to ensuring optimal image display and maximum delivery.
But the biggest benefit of all is a little more abstract.
Picture this: you’ve created a phenomenal email. One of your best ever, in fact. It’s got highly compelling content that’s relevant to your subscribers, gorgeous images, and a call to action that’s practically irresistible. This email is so good, you can’t wait to put it out there and watch the clicks and conversions start rolling in. So you’re really tempted to just pull the trigger and skip the whole testing phase. After all, you know your email is practically perfect.
What could possibly go wrong?
You want to include that beautiful photo you took, or that gorgeous artwork you created, in your latest mailing. Your image is so good, you can’t wait for everyone to see it. But there’s a problem: when your email goes out, all your subscribers see is a blank space where your image was supposed to be, along with this message:
So what happened??
Here’s a scenario for you: You’re new to email marketing, or you’ve got a new list of thousands of addresses that you want to send to. You’ve got an account with an ESP, so you should be ready to go, right? Not so fast! You can’t just open the floodgates – your sending has to be “ramped up”. But what the heck does that mean??
Addresses from dead domains are like zombies. They exist in your list and look kind of like the real thing (i.e., valid addresses that you can send to). They may have been on your list for a long time, maybe since you started collecting addresses way back when. But, like zombies, they are mere shadows of their former selves.
When compliance folks like me talk about dead domains, we are referring to addresses within a sender’s list that are from domains which are no longer in business, or are no longer providing mail client services. Having addresses from these domains on a mailing list is an indication to any good compliance specialist that the list is in dire need of clean-up, or that the list owner may have purchased addresses. Neither of these scenarios is good for the client’s sender reputation, nor the ESP’s overall reputation.
What’s the most important part of any email marketing program?
CONSISTENCY!
Huh? Wha-? Not what you expected? Well, think about this:
Your subscribers joined your mailing list because they love your products, they’re crazy about your service, and they want to hear what you have to say. Setting expectations around how often your subscribers will hear from you, and then fulfilling those expectations, is the key to keeping them happy and getting the best results from your email marketing efforts.
Spoofing and phishing. If you watch the Fox television show Gotham (@Gotham), those terms might sound like something Edward Nygma, a.k.a. The Riddler, might use to confound James Gordon and the Gotham City PD.
Whenever I talk to new employees about what the Abuse, Compliance and Delivery group does here at Net Atlantic, I usually get a few giggles when I bring up spoofing and phishing. Heck, they still make me chuckle sometimes! But even though they might sound funny, spoofing and phishing are no laughing matter. In fact, these practices are actually pretty nefarious!
As you know by now, I’m an email nerd and – surprise! – I’m a comic book geek, too. I’ve been collecting comics since way before it was cool – long before tattooed specialty shop clerks (who try to make me feel like I don’t know the history of the Justice Society) were even born! I love the golden age heroes, like Earth-Two, Dr. Fate and The Helm of Nabu – heck, he was even based in Salem, MA (just like Net Atlantic)!
So what does this all have to do with email? Aside from the fact that I’d love a shout-out from @dandidio1, @JimLee or @geoffjohns – KAPOW! – quite a bit! Take the idea of the Multiverse. Comic book authors use the Multiverse as a way to tell stories about different versions of the same hero. And each version of the hero is interpreted differently by the readers. This is similar to the idea behind sending a multi-part email message. How?
