Ensuring requested opt-in email is delivered to subscriber inboxes is an increasingly
difficult battle in the age of spam filtering. Open and click thru response rates
can be dramatically affected by as much as 20-30% due to incorrect spam filter classification.
- Permission
Confirming that the people who ask for your information have actually requested
to be on your list is the number one step in the battle for deliverability. You
should be using a process called confirmed opt-in or verified opt-in to send a unique
link to the attempted subscriber when they request information. Before adding the
person to your list they must click that unique link verifying that they are indeed
the same person that owns the email address and requested to subscribe.
- Subscriber Addresses
When requesting website visitors to opt-in ask for their "real" or "primary"
email address instead of a free email address like Yahoo or Hotmail. Free emails
tend to be throw away accounts and typically have a shorter lifetime than a primary
ISP address.
- List Maintenance
Always promptly remove undeliverable addresses that bounce when sending email
to them. An address that bounces with a permanent error 2-3 times in a 30 day period
should be removed from the list. ISP's track what percentage of your newsletters
bounce and will block them if you attempt to continually deliver messages to closed
subscriber mailboxes.
- Message Format
Usage of HTML messages to allow for text formatting, multiple columns, images,
and brand recognition is growing in popularity and is widely supported by most email
client software. Most spam is also HTML formatted and thus differentiating between
requested email and spam HTML messages can be difficult. A 2004 study by AWeber.com
shows that plain text messages are undeliverable 1.15% of the time and HTML only
messages were undeliverable 2.3%. If sending HTML it is important to always send
a plain text alternative message, also called text/HTML multi-part mime format.
- Content
Many ISP's filter based on the content that appears within the message text.
- Website URL: Research potential newsletter advertisers before allowing them
to place ads in your newsletter issues. If they have used their website URL to send
spam, just having their URL appear in your newsletter could cause the entire message
to be filtered.
- Words/phrases: Choose your language carefully when crafting messages. Avoid
hot button topics often found in spam such as medication, mortgages, making money,
and pornography. If you do need to use words that might be filtered, don't attempt
to obfuscate words with extra characters or odd spelling, you'll just make your
messages appear more spam like.
- Images: Avoid creating messages that are entirely images. Use images sparingly,
if at all. Commonly used open rate tracking technology uses images to calculate
opens. You may choose to disable open rate tracking to avoid being filtered based
on image content.
- Attachments: With viruses running rampant and spreading thru the usage of malicious
email attachments many users are wary of attached documents. It's often better to
link to files via a website URL to reduce recipient fear of attachments and reduce
the overall message size.
- CAN-SPAM Compliance
The January 2004 Federal CAN-SPAM law introduced a number of rules regarding
the delivery of email. It's important you have your legal counsel review your practices
and ensure you are in compliance. The two most important rules include having a
valid postal mail address listed in all commercial messages and a working unsubscribe
link that is promptly honored to remove the subscriber from future messages.
- Reputation
Reputation services are often used by large ISP's as a way to vet email senders
regarding their email practices and policies. Businesses listed with these services
are then given less stringent filtering or no filtering at all. Several reputation
services are:
http://www.isipp.com/iadb.php http://www.bondedsender.com http://www.habeas.com
- Relationships & Whitelisting
Contact with major ISP's and email providers is essential in letting them know
about your requested subscriber email. Many large providers such as AOL and Yahoo
have specific whitelisting programs and postmaster website areas to ensure your
email is delivered as long as you meet their policies and procedures in handling
your opt-in list.
Email deliverability is about ensuring requested opt-in email is delivered to
the intended recipient. While no single tip will enable you to get 100% of your
email delivered each one utilized as a group can go a long way to reaching that
goal.
