1. Engagement Factors in Email Marketing
ESPs track basic metrics like open rates, clicks, bounces, and unsubscribes. ISPs, on the other hand, get more detailed information about user behavior: how long it takes to read emails, how they forward them, how they categorize and handle them.
Users can complain to the ISP, the Spam/Junk button, or report them to a blacklist. ISPs are particularly interested in complaints to the postmaster group or blacklist.
All of these factors create a holistic picture of engagement, which helps ISPs evaluate sender reputation. They know your read rates, read times, and how users handle your emails.
2. Best Practices for Engagement
Effective email marketing depends on sending the right content, to the right audience, at the right time. A good email needs to have:
A catchy subject line, which should be optimized with analytics tools. A strong brand is shown through a recognizable sender name and email address.
The content needs to be unique, personalized, and relevant to the recipient’s goals. Details about email content will be mentioned in the next section.
3. Messaging
Effective email marketing relies on sending quality content to the right people at the right time. Subject lines should be optimized using specialized analytics tools.
Build a strong brand through a recognizable sender name and email address. Email content should be unique, personalized, targeted, and engaging. Details on content design will be covered in the next section.
4. Email Timing
Send timing should be based on recipient preferences. Emails should be triggered by user behavior, such as welcome emails or abandoned cart reminders.
Analyze your data to determine when your emails are most opened and engaged. Consider major time zones, business hours, and weekends to choose the right time.
Absolutely avoid sending emails that are no longer relevant, such as promotional announcements after the program has ended.
5. Email Frequency
Maintaining a consistent sending cadence is important. Sending too many emails at once can be detrimental to your relationship with your recipients and your reputation.
ISPs track sending frequency for 30 consecutive days. Adjust your frequency based on user engagement. Emails should be consistent and meet initial expectations when users sign up.
Most spam complaints come from not meeting user expectations. Be transparent about email frequency and content from the start, then follow through on your promises. ISPs track sending frequency to differentiate spammers and ensure the quality of their IPs.
6. Request Whitelisting
Ask recipients to add your email address to a whitelist in the first email. This helps the email appear in the inbox and is considered trustworthy by ISPs.
Make this request on the thank you page after registration and the welcome email. Include visual instructions for easy implementation.