Deliverability Basics Thursday, March 21, 2013 12:00pm 12:30pm EDT #asaewebinar Presented by: Jenny Lassi Professional Services, HighRoadSolution This complimentary webinar is brought to you by HighRoad Solutions and ASAE-Endorsed Business Solutions. 6-Part Lunch Learning Series Session 1: Mobile Email 101 Jan. 17 Pre recorded webinar available at www.asaecenter.org/endorsedsolutions/onlineresources Session 2: Session 3: Email Deliverability Basics Mar. 21 Go Social! May 17 Session 4: Member Preference Center 101 July 18 2 Session 5: Session 6: The Value of Integration Sept. 19 Member Holiday Inbox Basics Nov. 21 1
Your Presenter: Jenny Lassi Professional Services Jenny Lassi comes to HighRoad Solution from a digital marketing management background where she sourced web based e communication solutions to round out a direct marketing agency s client offering. With experience handling deployments and deliverability for a wide range of clients with optimized recipient engagement topof mind, Jenny routinely trouble shoots deliverability issues from ISP level filtering to email client level filtering (email Forensics as she refers to them). She also consults with clients on content, content strategy, email preference center management & other deliverability optimization tactics. 3 Today s Content Why is monitoring your deliverability beneficial to your organization? What contributes to email deliverability? The 5 C s What are the different reasons your organization s emails could be filtered or blocked from reaching recipient inboxes? How can you overcome deliverability obstacles to optimize your email programs? Best practices Resources takeaways 4 2
Why is continually monitoring deliverability important for your organization? 5 Wasted Email Spend 6 Invalid email Addresses + Excessive email Bounces + Emails Filteredtoto Junk/SPAM Folders = Wasted $$ 3
Are Your Emails in an Inbox? 7 What contributes to your deliverability or ability to reach an inbox? 8 4
Wait for it. Wait for it 9 The sum of all parts of a solid email strategy plan. Do you have one of those? No? Get in line 10 5
Where should you start to build your email strategy plan? 11 Email Strategy Plan 12 6
The 5 C s of Email Marketing Strategy Configuration Content Create Criticize Continue 13 The 5 C s: Configuration Firewall Settings IP Address (Dedicated or Shared) DKIM (Domain Keys) Sender ID (SPF Record) 14 7
The 5 C s: Content Content recipients find value in Content recipients asked for Content recipients expect Clear call to action Content delivered when recipients want it Content that renders correctly on whichever desktop or device recipients are using 15 The 5 C s: Create Clean html email template Clean layout using Read More links to keep most exciting content above the fold Newsletters should have a table of contents (TOC) Template that renders correctly on whichever desktop or device recipients are using. Create automated recurring message type emails to free up resources who can put more energy into strategy & analysis 16 8
The 5 C s: Criticize Analyze delivery metrics (bounces, opens & clicks) Use bounce logs to address deliverability issues 24 48 48 hours post deployment (not a month later) Isolate subscribers who are not engaged with your emails (no opens/click throughs) Create a Win Back campaign for non engaged subscribers with an incentive to respond Suppress non engaged subscribers until they respond to your Win Back campaign Analyze how many subscribers opt down or unsubscribe from particular messages (maybe the perceived value of content is low) 17 The 5 C s: Continue Use what you have learned and apply it to future deployments 18 9
What are the different reasons your organization s emails could be filtered or blocked from reaching recipient inboxes? 19 Email Filtering Email Filtering Layers 20 10
Trouble Shooting Filtering Issues Firewall Issues: Your organization s firewall needs to be configured to allow in email traffic originating from outside of your firewall if you are using any email system hosted outside tid of your organization. Configuration Issues: Email authentication like DKIM (Domain Keys) and Sender ID (SPF Record) Blacklisting Issues: RBL listing resulting from SPAM traps or recipient complaints Engagement Issues: Web based ESPs (Example: Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo!) are looking at metrics like messages deleted without being read, percentage of email opens from any one specific sender to only inbox wanted mail and the rest are routed to spam folders. 21 Trouble Shooting Filtering Issues Email Server Filtering Software Issues: Email server filtering software (Example: Postini, Message Labs) use a complex mixture of engagement, keywords, IP blocks, and DNSBL/RBL (Real time Blackhole Lists) that may route your email to SPAM or Junk folders Email Client Issues: Email clients like Outlook, MAC mail, Mozilla Thunderbird, etc. all have junk folders that the Email recipient needs to train over time to inbox what is considered a wanted email. 22 11
What filtering hoops can you jump through to reach inboxes? 23 Jumping Through The Hoops 24 Firewall Hoops: Have your IT department whitelist the IP block or IP address your email account is sending mail from. Not every email service handles IP addresses the same way so speak to your provider on best next steps. Configuration Hoops: Ask your provider for instructions on how to implement DKIM (Domain Keys) and Sender ID (SPF Record) for your organization s domain DNS. Usually this is only possible if your email service has a dedicated IP address for your organization. If you have a dedicated IP and implement DKIM and Sender ID, always warm the IP address first by sending small and consistent bursts of email traffic daily. Blacklist Hoops: Look up your organization s domain or IP address with an RBL tool (Example: http://mxtoolbox.com/blacklists.aspx, http://whatismyipaddress.com/blacklist check) to see if you are on any blacklists. If so, follow instructions on how to be removed as each RBL will have it s own way of being removed. 12
Jumping Through The Hoops Engagement Hoops: Web based ESPs (Example: Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo!) are looking heavily at engagement metrics. Try A/B testing to know what content, email type or call toaction is getting the best lift in engagement and response. Email Server Filtering Software Hoops: Reach out to postmaster@ or abuse@ at the domain using the email filtering software (Example: Postini, Message Labs). Ask them to whitelist the IP address or IP block associated with your email service. Email ilclient Filtering i Hoops: Ask your email recipients to add you to their safelist or as a trusted sender in the preheader of your email. Engagement hoops also play into this so try A/B testing to know what type of content resonates with your audience and will elicit the best open/click through rates. 25 Best Practices Takeaways Be more strategic with your email sends with a 5 C strategy. Only send to good email addresses. If you don t know if an email address is good, run a test using an email validation service. A good service is http://www.briteverify.com/ Only send to recipients who asked for it. If they didn t and you want to send to them, ask for permission in a permission pass email first. Never purchase an email list. If you do a reverse append process to get an email address of a record you already own, don t assume it s ok to send to it. Do a permission pass email first. 26 13
Permission Pass Briefly explain the reason for asking permission Have clear Yes or No call to action buttons You can have minimal marketing messaging, but the main point to the email is asking them Yes or No you can email them. This can be used when reaching out to prospects or for asking existing members if you can send a new type of email message to them. 27 Questions? Jenny Lassi Professional Services 28 14
Please join us for our next Lunch & Learn session: Go Social! May 17, 2013 12:00 12:30 p.m. EDT 29 Thank you! Other questions for Jenny? Contact ASAEBusinessServices, Services, Inc. Email: EndorsedSolutions@asaecenter.org Call 202.626.2880 Tweet us at #asaewebinar 30 15