Many factors contribute to the overall effectiveness of an email marketing campaign. Email deliverability is one of them.
It’s likely that not all of your emails will be delivered. There are many reasons some won’t reach their intended inboxes, but often this is due to the associated addresses no longer being valid. For example, someone who signed up for your list with their work email may not have access to that address anymore if they no longer work at the same company.
While this is something you should anticipate, it’s also not something you should ignore. A high email bounce rate can prevent future emails from reaching inboxes, further impacting your deliverability rate.
That’s why it’s important to set an email marketing deliverability benchmark. Knowing your goal rate and email deliverability best practices makes it easier to actually reach it. Of course, you also need to understand what a proper benchmark would be, along with a few suggestions for improvement.
What is a Good Email Delivery Rate?
A recent report indicates the average email deliverability rate for marketers is 80%. However, the number does vary from one industry to another. It’s still important to research benchmarks in your specific sector to determine what you should aim for.
Once you’ve set a benchmark, you need to go about implementing strategies to reach it. That involves adhering to email deliverability best practices.
Email Deliverability Best Practices
Remove Invalid Addresses
First, use an email checker to remove any addresses that are no longer valid from your list. This guards against a high bounce rate which can skew your actual email delivery rate.
Examine the Email Deliverability of Others
Next, study the factors that have caused other marketers to improve deliverability rates. The tactics they find effective are often relatively simple. For instance, because sending emails seemingly randomly often has a negative impact on sender score, it’s helpful to maintain a consistent email sending schedule.
Include a Double Opt-In for Subscribers
You should also include a double opt-in for your email list. While you might think this will prevent you from maximizing the number of subscribers on your list, it will actually benefit you in the long run by reducing spam complaints, which can also harm email marketing deliverability and brand reputation.
Avoid Spam Risks That Impact Deliverability Rates
It’s also necessary to avoid certain tactics which marketers sometimes use as shortcuts. For instance, while buying subscribers for your email list may make it seem as though you have many genuine followers, it’s not uncommon for those subscribers to make spam complaints. Follow email deliverability best practices and stick to natural and ethical lead generation strategies to improve the deliverability of your messages.
Taking these steps will help you get closer to reaching your email delivery rate benchmark. Of course, while it’s acceptable to settle for the industry average, you should focus on improving your rate consistently. Doing so may help you achieve an above average email marketing deliverability rate in the long run, which gives you a major competitive edge.