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The role of email deliverability in email marketing

November 17, 2023 | Jimit Mehta

In today's fast-paced world, email marketing has become an essential part of any business strategy. Whether you're a small business owner or a marketing professional at a large corporation, email marketing can help you reach your target audience, build relationships with your customers, and ultimately grow your business. However, there's a critical element of email marketing that often goes overlooked: email deliverability. Put simply, email deliverability is the ability of your email to reach your recipient's inbox, and it's a critical factor in the success of your email marketing campaigns. In this article, we'll explore the role of email deliverability in email marketing and offer some tips to help ensure your emails make it to your audience's inbox.

Understanding email deliverability and its impact on your email campaigns

Understanding email deliverability and its impact on your email campaigns is critical to achieving success in email marketing. Email deliverability refers to the ability of your emails to reach your subscribers' inboxes. It's not just about whether an email is delivered or not, but also whether it lands in the primary inbox or the spam folder.

The impact of email deliverability on your email campaigns is significant. Low email deliverability rates can result in lower open rates, click-through rates, and ultimately, lower conversions. This can lead to wasted resources and a lower return on investment for your email marketing campaigns.

To achieve high email deliverability rates, you need to understand the factors that can impact your email deliverability. This includes things like email content, sender reputation, list quality, and more. By understanding these factors and implementing best practices, you can improve your email deliverability and ensure that your emails reach your subscribers' inboxes.

It's also important to monitor and measure your email deliverability to identify any issues and make necessary adjustments. By regularly checking your email deliverability rates, you can identify any potential problems and take steps to rectify them before they harm your email marketing campaigns.

Overall, understanding email deliverability and its impact on your email campaigns is crucial for success in email marketing. By taking steps to improve your email deliverability, you can ensure that your emails are reaching your target audience and achieving the desired results.

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Factors that affect email deliverability

When it comes to email deliverability, several factors can impact whether your emails make it to your subscribers' inboxes. Here are some of the most critical factors that can affect email deliverability:

  1. Sender reputation: Your sender reputation is a score assigned to your email address based on factors like email engagement rates, spam complaints, and bounce rates. A poor sender reputation can result in your emails being flagged as spam, and your email deliverability rates can suffer as a result.

  2. Email content: The content of your emails can also impact email deliverability. Spam filters may flag certain types of content, such as excessive use of sales language, specific phrases, or even certain images. Email providers may also analyze the links in your emails, which can be another factor that affects deliverability.

  3. Email frequency: Sending too many emails in a short period can signal to email providers that you're a spammer, and your emails may be flagged accordingly. To maintain good email deliverability, it's important to strike a balance between staying in touch with your subscribers and not overwhelming them.

  4. List quality: The quality of your email list is also crucial for good email deliverability. If your list is outdated, filled with invalid or inactive email addresses, or purchased from a third party, your email deliverability rates can suffer.

  5. Authentication: Authentication is a process that verifies the identity of the sender and helps email providers determine whether an email is legitimate or not. Without proper authentication, your emails may be marked as spam.

  6. Email service provider: Finally, your choice of email service provider can also impact email deliverability. Some email service providers have better delivery rates than others, and it's important to choose one that prioritizes email deliverability and provides the necessary tools and resources to maintain high delivery rates.

By understanding these factors that can impact email deliverability, you can take steps to ensure that your emails reach your subscribers' inboxes and achieve the desired results.

Best practices for improving email deliverability

To improve your email deliverability rates, there are several best practices you can implement. Here are some of the most effective strategies:

  1. Build a high-quality email list: One of the most important factors in email deliverability is having a clean, engaged email list. Make sure you're only sending emails to people who have opted in to receive them and are actively engaging with your content.

  2. Use a recognizable sender name and email address: Using a sender name and email address that your subscribers will recognize can help improve email deliverability. This is because people are more likely to open emails from senders they know and trust.

  3. Segment your email list: Segmenting your email list allows you to send more targeted, relevant content to your subscribers. This can improve engagement rates and ultimately lead to better email deliverability.

  4. Use a clear and concise subject line: Your subject line is the first thing your subscribers will see when they receive your email, so it's essential to make it clear and concise. Avoid using spam trigger words and be straightforward about the content of your email.

  5. Optimize email content for engagement: The content of your email plays a significant role in email deliverability. To improve engagement rates, make sure your content is well-written, visually appealing, and provides value to your subscribers.

  6. Authenticate your emails: Email authentication is a crucial step in improving email deliverability. Authenticate your emails by adding an SPF (Sender Policy Framework) record, a DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) signature, and a DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) policy to your domain.

  7. Monitor and measure your email deliverability: Regularly monitoring your email deliverability rates can help you identify any potential issues and take corrective action before they become a problem. You can use email marketing tools that provide detailed reports on email deliverability rates.

By following these best practices, you can improve your email deliverability rates and ensure that your emails are reaching your target audience's inboxes. Implementing these strategies may take some effort, but the results can be well worth it in terms of increased engagement, higher conversion rates, and better ROI for your email marketing campaigns.

How to monitor and measure email deliverability

Monitoring and measuring your email deliverability is crucial to the success of your email marketing campaigns. By tracking your email deliverability rates, you can identify potential issues and take corrective action before they become a problem. Here's how to monitor and measure your email deliverability:

  1. Use email marketing tools: Most email marketing tools have built-in reporting and analytics that allow you to track your email deliverability rates. Use these tools to monitor your email open rates, click-through rates, bounce rates, and spam complaints.

  2. Monitor your sender reputation: As mentioned earlier, your sender reputation is a critical factor in email deliverability. Monitor your sender reputation by checking your Sender Score or Reputation Authority regularly.

  3. Check email authentication: Email authentication is an essential factor in email deliverability. Make sure your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are set up correctly and functioning properly. You can use email authentication tools to check whether your authentication settings are correct.

  4. Keep an eye on your email list: Your email list quality has a significant impact on email deliverability. Monitor your email list regularly to ensure that it's up to date and that you're only sending emails to engaged subscribers.

  5. Run tests and experiments: A/B testing can be a valuable tool in identifying factors that impact email deliverability. Test different subject lines, email content, and sending times to see how they impact your email open rates and engagement.

By monitoring and measuring your email deliverability regularly, you can identify potential issues before they become a problem and take corrective action to maintain good email deliverability rates. With the right tools and strategies in place, you can ensure that your emails are reaching your subscribers' inboxes and achieving the desired results for your email marketing campaigns.

Common mistakes that can harm email deliverability

When it comes to email deliverability, even small mistakes can have a big impact. Here are some common mistakes that can harm your email deliverability rates:

  1. Not getting permission to send emails: Sending emails to people who haven't opted-in to receive them can result in a high number of spam complaints, which can harm your sender reputation.

  2. Ignoring email list hygiene: Not regularly cleaning up your email list can result in a high number of bounces and unsubscribes, which can also hurt your sender reputation.

  3. Using spam trigger words: Using spam trigger words in your email subject lines or content can trigger spam filters and result in your emails being sent to the spam folder.

  4. Not testing emails before sending: Not testing your emails before sending can result in broken links, formatting issues, and other errors that can harm your sender reputation.

  5. Sending too many emails: Sending too many emails to your subscribers can result in high unsubscribe rates and low engagement rates, which can harm your email deliverability over time.

  6. Not segmenting your email list: Not segmenting your email list can result in sending irrelevant content to your subscribers, leading to low engagement rates and high unsubscribe rates.

  7. Not following email authentication best practices: Not setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC correctly can result in your emails being marked as spam or rejected by email providers.

Avoiding these common mistakes and following best practices can help you maintain good email deliverability rates and achieve your email marketing goals. By taking the time to regularly monitor and optimize your email campaigns, you can ensure that your emails are reaching your subscribers' inboxes and driving the desired results.

How to troubleshoot email deliverability issues

Even with the best email marketing practices, sometimes issues can arise that affect your email deliverability rates. Here are some tips for troubleshooting email deliverability issues:

  1. Check your email content: Sometimes, issues with email deliverability can be caused by the content of your emails. Check your email content for any spam trigger words or phrases and remove them.

  2. Check your sender reputation: Your sender reputation is a critical factor in email deliverability. Check your Sender Score or Reputation Authority to see if your reputation has been impacted by recent email campaigns.

  3. Check email authentication settings: Check your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to ensure they are set up correctly and functioning properly.

  4. Check your email list: Your email list quality has a significant impact on email deliverability. Make sure that you're only sending emails to engaged subscribers and that you're regularly removing inactive or unengaged subscribers.

  5. Monitor email bounce rates: High bounce rates can be a sign of email deliverability issues. Monitor your email bounce rates and take action to remove invalid email addresses from your email list.

  6. Monitor spam complaints: High spam complaints can also be a sign of email deliverability issues. Monitor your spam complaint rates and take action to improve your email content and email list quality.

  7. Contact your email service provider: If you're still experiencing email deliverability issues after troubleshooting, contact your email service provider for assistance.

By troubleshooting email deliverability issues, you can identify potential problems and take corrective action before they become a problem. With the right tools and strategies in place, you can ensure that your emails are reaching your subscribers' inboxes and achieving the desired results for your email marketing campaigns.

The importance of building and maintaining a clean email list

When it comes to email marketing, the quality of your email list is just as important as the content of your emails. Building and maintaining a clean email list is crucial for achieving good email deliverability rates and maintaining a positive sender reputation. Here are some reasons why it's important to build and maintain a clean email list:

  1. Avoid sending to invalid email addresses: Invalid email addresses can result in high bounce rates and harm your sender reputation. By regularly cleaning your email list, you can ensure that you're only sending emails to valid email addresses.

  2. Improve engagement rates: By targeting engaged subscribers and removing inactive or unengaged subscribers, you can improve your email engagement rates and achieve better results from your email marketing campaigns.

  3. Reduce spam complaints: By only sending emails to subscribers who have opted-in to receive them, you can reduce the risk of spam complaints, which can harm your sender reputation and email deliverability rates.

  4. Maintain a positive sender reputation: A positive sender reputation is critical for email deliverability. By regularly cleaning your email list, you can maintain a positive sender reputation and ensure that your emails are reaching your subscribers' inboxes.

  5. Save money: By only sending emails to engaged subscribers, you can save money on email marketing costs and achieve a better return on investment for your email marketing campaigns.

In summary, building and maintaining a clean email list is essential for achieving good email deliverability rates and maintaining a positive sender reputation. By regularly cleaning your email list, you can avoid sending to invalid email addresses, improve engagement rates, reduce spam complaints, maintain a positive sender reputation, and save money on email marketing costs.

The role of email service providers in email deliverability

Email service providers (ESPs) play a critical role in email deliverability. They are responsible for delivering your emails to your subscribers' inboxes and ensuring that your emails are not marked as spam. Here are some ways that ESPs impact email deliverability:

  1. Email authentication: ESPs use email authentication protocols such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to verify the authenticity of the sender and the email message. Proper authentication helps to prevent spoofing, phishing, and other fraudulent activities.

  2. Sender reputation: ESPs monitor the sending behavior of their customers and assign a sender reputation score based on factors such as email volume, spam complaints, and bounce rates. A good sender reputation is essential for achieving good email deliverability rates.

  3. Deliverability optimization: ESPs use a variety of tools and strategies to optimize email deliverability. For example, they may use algorithms to monitor email engagement rates and adjust email delivery times and frequency to improve engagement rates.

  4. Spam filtering: ESPs use spam filters to prevent spam emails from reaching their customers' inboxes. They use a variety of techniques to filter spam, including content analysis, sender reputation analysis, and user feedback.

  5. Reporting and analytics: ESPs provide reporting and analytics tools to help their customers track email deliverability rates and identify potential issues. They may provide data on email open rates, click-through rates, bounce rates, spam complaints, and other metrics.

In summary, ESPs play a crucial role in email deliverability. They use a variety of tools and strategies to ensure that their customers' emails are delivered to their subscribers' inboxes and not marked as spam. By choosing a reputable ESP and following best practices for email marketing, you can ensure that your emails are reaching your subscribers and achieving the desired results for your email marketing campaigns.

Strategies for improving engagement and boosting email deliverability

Email marketing can be a highly effective way to engage with your target audience and drive business results. However, to achieve good email deliverability rates, it's important to focus on engagement and follow best practices for email marketing. Here are some strategies for improving engagement and boosting email deliverability:

  1. Segment your email list: By segmenting your email list based on subscriber preferences and behavior, you can send more targeted and relevant emails that are more likely to be opened and clicked.

  2. Personalize your emails: Personalizing your emails with the recipient's name, location, or other relevant information can help to increase engagement rates and make your emails feel more relevant and valuable.

  3. Use a clear and compelling subject line: The subject line is the first thing that recipients see when they receive your email. Using a clear and compelling subject line can help to increase open rates and improve engagement.

  4. Optimize your email content: Make sure that your email content is visually appealing, easy to read, and provides value to the recipient. Use a clear and prominent call to action to encourage clicks and engagement.

  5. Test and optimize your emails: Use A/B testing to test different elements of your email campaigns, such as subject lines, content, and calls to action. Use the data to optimize your emails and improve engagement rates.

  6. Monitor your email deliverability rates: Regularly monitor your email deliverability rates and take action to address any issues that may be affecting your deliverability, such as high bounce rates, low open rates, or high spam complaints.

In summary, by focusing on engagement and following best practices for email marketing, you can boost your email deliverability rates and achieve better results from your email marketing campaigns. Segmenting your email list, personalizing your emails, using clear and compelling subject lines, optimizing your email content, testing and optimizing your emails, and monitoring your email deliverability rates are all important strategies for improving engagement and boosting email deliverability.

The future of email deliverability and its impact on email marketing

Email marketing has been a popular and effective way for businesses to reach out to their target audience for many years. However, the future of email deliverability is likely to be influenced by a number of factors, and businesses will need to adapt to these changes to continue achieving success with their email marketing campaigns.

One of the key trends that is likely to impact email deliverability in the future is the increasing use of AI and machine learning (ML) in email marketing. AI and ML can be used to analyze user behavior and predict which emails are most likely to be opened, clicked, and engaged with. This can help businesses to create more targeted and relevant email campaigns, which in turn can lead to higher engagement rates and better deliverability.

Another trend that is likely to impact email deliverability is the increasing use of mobile devices to access email. As more and more people use smartphones and tablets to access their email, businesses will need to ensure that their email campaigns are optimized for mobile devices. This includes using responsive design, optimizing images and content for mobile screens, and using clear and concise subject lines that are easy to read on small screens.

The rise of privacy regulations such as GDPR and CCPA is also likely to impact email deliverability in the future. These regulations require businesses to obtain explicit consent from users before sending them marketing emails. As a result, businesses will need to ensure that their email lists are clean and up-to-date, and that they have obtained explicit consent from their subscribers to receive marketing emails.

In conclusion, the future of email deliverability is likely to be influenced by a range of factors, including the increasing use of AI and ML in email marketing, the rise of mobile devices, and the impact of privacy regulations. To continue achieving success with email marketing campaigns, businesses will need to adapt to these changes and adopt best practices that are aligned with these trends.

Over to you

Email marketing can be a powerful way to reach out to potential customers, but without good email deliverability rates, all your efforts could go to waste. Email deliverability refers to the ability of your emails to land in your subscribers' inboxes, and not end up in spam folders or blocked entirely. In this article, we discussed the role of email deliverability in email marketing, including the factors that affect it, best practices for improving it, how to monitor and measure it, common mistakes that can harm it, and how to troubleshoot issues.

We also talked about the importance of building and maintaining a clean email list and the role of email service providers in email deliverability. Finally, we looked at strategies for improving engagement and boosting email deliverability, such as segmenting your email list, personalizing your emails, optimizing your content, and testing and optimizing your campaigns. By understanding the role of email deliverability and taking steps to improve it, you can ensure that your email marketing campaigns are effective and achieve the desired results.

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