According to Return Path, recent shifts in how ISPs process and deliver email have resulted in as much as 20 percent of permission-based email ending up in the spam folder. Some ISPs, such as Gmail, remain difficult to achieve higher inbox placement rates. Incidentally, while optimizing for Gmail, StrongMail clients have noticed positive results with other ISPs.
StrongMail deliverability expert Sean Wirt explored Gmail's strict inbox placement rules, offered creative ideas to address them and explained how Gmail tactics can improve your results at other ISPs.
Key Take-Aways:
- Gmail's email engagement filtering – Beyond opens and clicks
- Engagement ideas to maximize inbox placement
- Tactics that improve Gmail reputation can improve reputation at other ISPs
Ask the Expert: How Gmail Deliverability Impacts Results At Other ISPs
1. ASK THE EXPERT:
HEADLINE EXAMPLE
HOW GMAIL DELIVERABILITY IMPACTS
RESULTS AT OTHER ISPS.
March 19, 2013
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2. AGENDA
1. Introduction
2. Gmail Challenges
3. How Gmail Works
4. Ideas for Success – “Think Outside the Box”
5. Client Success Stories
6. Q&A
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3. - “Gmail’s a Black Box”
- No Feedback Loop
- No Real Means for Contacting ANYONE!
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4. HOW GMAIL WORKS
- Internal Reputation Metrics
- Look at Personal Filter Data
- Customer Complaints
- “This is Not Spam” Reports
- Customer Address Book
- Content
- Authentication
- DKIM
- SPF
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5. IDEAS FOR SUCCESS
- Ensure That You are Authenticating Properly
- Encourage Recipients to Add Your Address to their Address
Book
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6. IDEAS FOR SUCCESS
- Test Your Content
- Ensure that You’re Sending in the Correct Language
- Focus on Your Engaged Customers
- Send Only to Your Most Recently Engaged for a Period of Time
- Visible Improvement?
- No change?
- Make a Plan Moving forward
- Implement the List-Unsubscribe Header
- KEEP MONITORING!
- You can no longer set up mailing program & forget about it
- Need to constantly monitor & adjust
- Can you afford NOT to segment before your reputation takes a
dip?
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7. HOW THIS CAN IMPROVE DELIVERY ELSEWHERE
- Use the Same Methods to Improve Your Reputation at
Other ISPs
- Many ISPs Today Use Engagement as a Key Metric
- DKIM, Used in Reputation Measures at Gmail, is Necessary
for Yahoo FBL
- Better Segmentation and Targeting Leads to Higher
Response Rates
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9. WHAT HAVE STRONGMAIL CLIENTS DONE?
- International Retail Client
- Bulking in One Country
- Tested Content
- Corrected Language Mismatch
- Focused on Recently Engaged
- Increased Engagement Window Over Time
- Customer Tried to Increase Faster than Advised
and Bulking Started Again
- Delivery Went From 100% Bulk to 100% In-Box
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10. WHAT HAVE STRONGMAIL CLIENTS DONE?
- Travel/Hospitality Client
- Bulking Began on Marketing Messages
- Bulking Then Started Happening to Corporate Mail
- Tested Content
- Changed Domain to Separate Corporate/Marketing
- Focused on Recently Engaged
- Increased Engagement Window Over Time
- Delivery Went From 100% Bulk (+ 20-30% on
Corporate Mail) to 100% In-Box for Both
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