Are Your Emails Getting Through?

At Peppermint Soda, we understand the intricacies of email deliverability and its paramount importance. So, let’s explore why your emails might not be reaching their intended recipients and how you can enhance their delivery rates.

Understanding Email Deliverability

Email deliverability measures whether your emails reach your recipients’ inboxes. While this may seem straightforward, various factors can impede it. These include spam filters, server issues, and recipient behaviour. An email’s journey from your outbox to someone else’s inbox is more complex than one might assume. 

The Journey of an Email

1. Sending Domain and IP Reputation: Before your email even leaves your outbox, the reputation of your sending domain and IP address plays a crucial role. If your domain has a history of sending spam, spam filters are more likely to flag your emails. Maintaining a clean sending reputation and regularly monitoring and addressing any issues is essential.
2. Content and Design: Spam filters scrutinise the content of your email. Specific keywords, phrases, and even excessive use of images can trigger these filters. Additionally, the design and layout of your email can impact deliverability. Simple, clean designs with an excellent text-to-image ratio are preferred.
3. Spam Filters: Different email providers use various algorithms to filter out unwanted emails. These filters examine your email’s content, sending history, and user feedback. Even if you have the best intentions, your email might still get caught in these filters.
4. Recipient’s Email Server: Once your email passes the spam filters, the recipient’s email server evaluates it further. Some corporate servers have stringent security measures that can block emails from unknown sources.
5. Inbox Placement: Even if your email reaches the recipient’s server, it doesn’t guarantee it will land in their inbox. It might end up in the spam or junk folder, significantly reducing the chances of being read.

Why Emails Don’t Get Through

1. Spam Content: Overly promotional language, all caps, and excessive exclamation marks can all flag your email as spam. Phrases like “Buy now!” or “Free offer!” are common triggers.
2. Blacklists: If your IP address or domain ends up on a blacklist, your emails will be blocked by most spam filters. Blacklists are usually the result of complaints, spam traps, or a sudden increase in email volume. You can check your IP address on Mail Genius or Zero Bounce sites. 
3. Outdated Contacts: Sending emails to outdated or invalid addresses can harm your sender’s reputation. Regularly clean your email list to ensure you only send to engaged and valid recipients.
4. Lack of Authentication: Ensure that you’re using proper email authentication methods such as SPF (Sender Policy Framework), DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), and DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance). A unique URL and website are always better, as Google often blocks domains without DKIM or DMARC. These protocols help verify that your emails are coming from a legitimate source. If you’re in doubt – ask the professionals!

Strategies to Improve Email Deliverability

1. Build a Good Sending Reputation: Start with small, targeted campaigns and gradually increase your email volume. Avoid sudden spikes in sending frequency, which can look suspicious to email providers.
2. Quality Content: Focus on delivering valuable content your audience wants to read. Personalise your emails and avoid language that can be construed as spam.
3. Segmentation: Segment your email list to ensure your content is relevant to each recipient. This increases engagement and reduces the chances of your emails being marked as spam.
4. Regular List Maintenance: Periodically review and clean your email list. Remove inactive subscribers and invalid email addresses to maintain a healthy list.
5. Authentication: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to authenticate your emails. This helps to prevent spoofing and ensures that your emails are recognised as legitimate.
6. Monitor and Test: Regularly monitor your email deliverability metrics such as open rates, bounce rates, and spam complaints. Use email testing tools to see how your emails perform with different providers.
7. Engagement: Encourage recipients to add you to their address book or safe sender list. This can significantly improve your chances of reaching their inbox.

Tools to Assist with Deliverability

At Peppermint Soda, we recommend leveraging various tools to enhance your email deliverability:

1. Email Deliverability Platforms: Tools like Litmus and Email on Acid can help you test your emails across different providers and devices to ensure they look good and pass through spam filters.
2. List Verification Services: Use ZeroBounce or NeverBounce to clean your email list and remove invalid addresses.
3. Monitoring Tools: Platforms such as SendGrid or Mailgun offer insights into your email delivery metrics, helping you identify and address issues promptly.
4. Spam Testing: Tools like Mail-Tester or GlockApps allow you to test your emails against standard spam filters to identify potential issues before you send them.

How we can help 

At Peppermint Soda, we specialise in crafting email campaigns that capture attention and reach the intended audience. Our expertise in digital marketing ensures that your emails are optimised for deliverability from the get-go. We focus on building strong sender reputations, creating compelling content, and employing the best practices in email marketing.

Getting emails through is not just about hitting the send button; it’s a meticulous process that requires attention to detail, continuous monitoring, and adapting to ever-changing email provider algorithms.

To discuss how we can enhance your email campaign, contact us at [email protected]. Our blog page has more helpful topics, too.