Setup
This section is little bit technical. Add below records in your DNS.
- SPF(Sender Policy Framework) to identify allowed mail servers.
- DKIM(Domain Keys Identified Mail) to add a digital signature for verification.
- DMARC (Domain-based Messaging and Reporting Compliance) to specify what to do if the email is not authenticated using SPF or DKIM.
- BIMI(Brand Indicators for Message Identification) to display your brand logo in supported inboxes.
Use dedicated IP to send emails so you can analyze issues and improve your IP reputation. Use separate IP for transactional and promotional emails.
Validation
Validation of email address is important. Improve domain reputation by sending emails to active users only.
- Validate email syntax on the page and double-check email address using confirmation mail.
- You can ask to verify the email by replying to the email (eg. reply with ‘confirm’ text) as well.
- When users reply to your email, your domain authority improves, and the chances of landing your email in user's inbox tab improve as well. Ask questions in mail when it is appropriate.
- Validate email address before sending an email using tools (eg. mailgun, reacher, verify email, etc.) or programmatically.
- Avoid or minimize the use of spam words. Use tools like litmus spam test to test before sending emails.
- Clean email list regularly: Remove inactive and invalid users from the list. Send mail to inactive users to let them know they will not receive mail and provide an option to resubscribe in the mail.
Sender details
Use appropriate sender details for different types of emails. Here is the example
- Use brand name and image for transactional emails.
- Use person name for others such as onboarding, promotional, support emails. You can use different patterns such as at , from , .
- If you running a different program or service(eg. newsletter) then use a specific name for that as well so the user can easily identify and filter those emails from other emails.
- A sender can have a different reply-to email address and reply-to name. Use this feature to route questions, feedback to appropriate departments.
Subject and preheader Example
- The subject line and preheader should be: relevant to email content, attractive to capture attention, and engaging to encourage the user to open an email.
- Emoji is popular and it is a good way to capture attention.
- Preheader is a preview text which is shown with the subject. You can customize the preheader and it can be different from your email content. With this ability, the preheader gives an additional way to improve the open rate.
Call To Action(CTA)
- Use actionable text (eg. order now, buy now, learn more, etc.)
- Use the right arrow with CTA text to encourage action.
- You may use text just below CTA about common obstacles(eg. no credit card required), time urgency(eg. offer ends at 11 PM today, use coupon:first), etc. Here is the example
Personalization
- Personalize as much as possible. (eg. sender name, sender image, subject line, preheader, email content, CTA text, theme) based on user behavior, geography, culture, language, etc.
- If you send multiple types of mails, create unsubscribe page to unsubscribe from one or multiple types of mails(eg. Grammarly)
- Do not ask again to confirm the email address if entered email id is confirmed in previous campaigns or product. Keep a central database of email addresses to avoid such problems.
- Analyze the email open time and click time of different user segments to maximize the performance by sending an email at right time. There are some available solutions like Mailgun, Seventhsense. Still, you need to test what works best for you.
Thank you for reading!
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Please share your feedback and things which I have missed.