Earlier this month we co-hosted a Twitter chat titled Diagnosing and Solving Deliverability Issues with Email on Acid, a pre-deployment email tool that helps you to find & fix email mistakes while you QA, even if you don’t know HTML. During the Twitter chat, Email on Acid tweeted out deliverability questions and welcomed anyone who was following along to respond in live time.
Through this casual Q&A format, we intended to educate our followers on the basics of deliverability, something that can get lost in the shuffle when addressing high-level concerns about delivering to certain ISPs or increasing open rates. With Email on Acid’s email expertise and the overwhelming amount of #emailgeeks we have over here at SparkPost, together we answered and addressed deliverability questions big and small:
Here are the questions Email on Acid asked during the Twitter chat:
- What is the difference between delivery and deliverability?
- How can you determine if your email campaign is successful?
- How can you ensure that you are sending to legitimate addresses?
- How can sending to invalid addresses negatively impact deliverability?
- How does engagement affect my deliverability?
- What steps should you take to warm-up your IP address(es)?
Check out the answers to these deliverability questions below!
A1: Delivery is whether or not your message is accepted by a receiver. Where that message ends up once it’s accepted (i.e. inbox or spam folder) is #deliverability. #EOAChat https://t.co/RxojFm9Zcu
— SparkPost (@SparkPost) October 8, 2019
A2: Pay attention to bounces and engagement data– use #SparkPostSignals to keep a pulse on your email sending. Be sure to remove bouncing addresses from your lists and send less or no mail to recipients who have stopped engaging. #EOAChat https://t.co/NzJdEshhXR
— SparkPost (@SparkPost) October 8, 2019
A3: Use strong list acquisition processes built around confirmed opt-in and remove bouncing and unengaged recipients quickly. Additionally, try using an #emailverification tool like @SparkPost’s Recipient Validation. #EOAChat https://t.co/I98HoP5Tb7
— SparkPost (@SparkPost) October 8, 2019
A4: Frequent hard bounces due to sending to non-existent addresses can indicate to ISPs that you aren’t using best practices when collecting and maintaining your email lists. #EOAChat https://t.co/94pCnelgFn
— SparkPost (@SparkPost) October 8, 2019
A5: Having high engagement rates can show the ISPs that your recipients want your mail, and increase the likelihood of getting your mail accepted in your current and future campaigns. #EOAChat https://t.co/CuGQhXJBz4
— SparkPost (@SparkPost) October 8, 2019
A6: Limit sending from new IPs initially to small volumes of your most engaged recipients, and gradually ramp up volume over time. Make sure to use good list hygiene and follow a published schedule or use an automated warmup tool. #EOAChat https://t.co/lTqtzaw4UF
— SparkPost (@SparkPost) October 8, 2019
While the above questions may seem very basic to a seasoned email pro, there is no harm in re-reviewing their answers as concerns around deliverability are ever-changing. On the other side of the coin, these questions and answers offer a great jumping-off point for those just getting started in email sending.
For those looking for more information about deliverability, we recommend checking out our guide: The New Rules of Email Deliverability. In addition to addressing the changes to deliverability seen in recent years, this guide also includes new rules and techniques that email senders should be following. Additionally, if you’re looking for a quick read check out some of my favorite blog posts on deliverability:
17 Ways to Improve Email Deliverability
10 Steps to Email Deliverability for Beginners
Deliverability: Half Art, Half Science
How to Segment your Subscriber Data to Improve Deliverability
We hope that our Twitter chat with Email on Acid was helpful and would love your feedback! What topic should we focus on for our next Twitter chat? Feel free to drop me a line and let me know!
~ Erica
