Sunday, March 01, 2009
Improve Your Email Deliverability
Do you have the problem of getting spam complaints even though you are not a spammer?
Here is an informative post I found from AWeber that I thought would be good to share with you. In case you are not aware AWeber is still the premier automated emailing service used by internet marketers. They help small businesses automate email follow up and newsletter delivery for website visitors.
This may be helpful if you are having spam complaints when you are not actually spamming.
Here is a summary of a problem an email marketer was having with spam complaints:-
• He was getting much more complaints than he’d like.
• In fact his emails were not even promotional – I quote “We are still in start up mode and not [even] selling anything. Our emails are short two-paragraphers linking to a high-content blog post.”
• His subscriber base is “entirely web-based sign ups” so these should be people who want his emails.
• He emails weekly (“so it’s hardly too much or too little that they forgot who we were”).
So I am sure you would agree that basically this marketer is trying to do the right thing, the same you would be. So why is this happening?
Well spam complaints can happen, in fact not all complaints occur because emails are ‘spam’ as we usually define it. Here some examples and what you might be able to do to mitigate the risk:-
1. It’s easy to click the ‘spam’ button - and not as easy to find the unsubscribe link.
Suggestion: make it easy to unsubscribe - consider putting an unsubscribe link near the top of your email.
2. Some recipients don’t trust unsubscribe links and/or have heard they shouldn’t click them unless they remember subscribing.
Suggestion: remind people when/where they signed up and why they’re getting your email (you can use personalised fields to include information like the date/time/URL that a subscriber signed up on).
3. The email was requested but not relevant.
Suggestion: make sure that your emails closely address your subscribers’ needs and wants. Track what subscribers are responding to in order to create more relevant campaigns as you go.
4. Similarly, the content or timing of the email was not what the subscriber expected (perhaps because expectations about the specific email content and frequency were not explicitly set when the subscriber opted in).
Suggestion: set expectations clearly when subscribers opt in. Tell them what they’re going to get, when they’re going to get it and who it’ll be coming from.
5. The subscriber didn’t like something about the email - or something else about the company sending it (”I had a bad experience on Company X’s website/in Company X’s store, so now I’m marking their email as spam.”).
Suggestion: request feedback from prospects and customers. Find out what they do and don’t like about your emails - and your business as a whole. Customer service, product selection, pricing, policies, everything… they can all affect subscriber perception of your company. Then take that feedback and improve.
There are certainly other possible reasons for spam complaints, and other courses of action that you might take, but by addressing these areas of your email marketing, you can reduce your exposure to spam complaints and maximize your mail delivery.
If you want to find out more about AWeber Click here.
Until next time all the best
Kev Richardson
Here is an informative post I found from AWeber that I thought would be good to share with you. In case you are not aware AWeber is still the premier automated emailing service used by internet marketers. They help small businesses automate email follow up and newsletter delivery for website visitors.
This may be helpful if you are having spam complaints when you are not actually spamming.
Here is a summary of a problem an email marketer was having with spam complaints:-
• He was getting much more complaints than he’d like.
• In fact his emails were not even promotional – I quote “We are still in start up mode and not [even] selling anything. Our emails are short two-paragraphers linking to a high-content blog post.”
• His subscriber base is “entirely web-based sign ups” so these should be people who want his emails.
• He emails weekly (“so it’s hardly too much or too little that they forgot who we were”).
So I am sure you would agree that basically this marketer is trying to do the right thing, the same you would be. So why is this happening?
Well spam complaints can happen, in fact not all complaints occur because emails are ‘spam’ as we usually define it. Here some examples and what you might be able to do to mitigate the risk:-
1. It’s easy to click the ‘spam’ button - and not as easy to find the unsubscribe link.
Suggestion: make it easy to unsubscribe - consider putting an unsubscribe link near the top of your email.
2. Some recipients don’t trust unsubscribe links and/or have heard they shouldn’t click them unless they remember subscribing.
Suggestion: remind people when/where they signed up and why they’re getting your email (you can use personalised fields to include information like the date/time/URL that a subscriber signed up on).
3. The email was requested but not relevant.
Suggestion: make sure that your emails closely address your subscribers’ needs and wants. Track what subscribers are responding to in order to create more relevant campaigns as you go.
4. Similarly, the content or timing of the email was not what the subscriber expected (perhaps because expectations about the specific email content and frequency were not explicitly set when the subscriber opted in).
Suggestion: set expectations clearly when subscribers opt in. Tell them what they’re going to get, when they’re going to get it and who it’ll be coming from.
5. The subscriber didn’t like something about the email - or something else about the company sending it (”I had a bad experience on Company X’s website/in Company X’s store, so now I’m marking their email as spam.”).
Suggestion: request feedback from prospects and customers. Find out what they do and don’t like about your emails - and your business as a whole. Customer service, product selection, pricing, policies, everything… they can all affect subscriber perception of your company. Then take that feedback and improve.
There are certainly other possible reasons for spam complaints, and other courses of action that you might take, but by addressing these areas of your email marketing, you can reduce your exposure to spam complaints and maximize your mail delivery.
If you want to find out more about AWeber Click here.
Until next time all the best
Kev Richardson
Labels: marketing on internet
