How can email deliverability be explained simply to non-technical audiences like legal professionals?
Summary
What email marketers say10Marketer opinions
Email marketer from StackExchange explains that maintaining a clean email list is crucial for deliverability. Remove inactive or invalid addresses to reduce bounce rates and improve your sender reputation. It's like weeding a garden to help the healthy plants thrive.
Marketer from Email Geeks shares an analogy of comparing email deliverability to physical post, explaining how sender and receiver addresses work and how you can fake the sender address, thus if the recipient knows the sender, they are more likely to open. This simplifies the concept without diving into servers or protocols.
Email marketer from HubSpot Blog explains that email deliverability is about where your email lands: the inbox versus the spam folder. A good analogy is a package being delivered to your doorstep (inbox) versus being left at the neighbor's house (spam). Factors influencing deliverability include sender reputation, authentication, and engagement.
Email marketer from GMass explains that warming up new IPs is important for deliverability. Slowly increasing the volume of emails sent from a new IP address establishes a good sender reputation with ISPs, preventing your emails from being flagged as spam. It's like gradually introducing yourself to a new community rather than barging in.
Email marketer from Sendinblue Blog explains email deliverability by comparing it to the postal service. Your email is a letter, the recipient's inbox is their mailbox, and deliverability is whether the letter arrives safely. Factors like sender reputation are like having a good relationship with the post office, ensuring your mail isn't flagged as suspicious.
Email marketer from Campaign Monitor explains that segmenting audiences is a good way to improve email deliverability. Sending highly relevant emails will improve the chance of them not being flagged as spam.
Email marketer from Litmus explains that quality content is the key to good email deliverability. Make sure your emails are engaging and relevant to the recipient to avoid being marked as spam. A quality email is like a well-written letter that people are eager to read.
Email marketer from Reddit explains that sender reputation is like your credit score as an email sender. A good reputation means ISPs trust you, improving deliverability. Engaging content and consistent sending practices help build and maintain a positive reputation, while spam complaints and high bounce rates damage it.
Marketer from Email Geeks suggests describing spam, such as emails addressed generically or with obvious discount codes, to illustrate why some emails go straight to trash.
Email marketer from Mailjet Blog explains that one can use the pizza analogy. Your email is the pizza, your recipients are the customers, and the inbox is their doorstep. Deliverability is whether your pizza arrives at the right doorstep, hot and fresh. Spam filters are the gatekeepers deciding which pizzas make it through.
What the experts say2Expert opinions
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that sender reputation can be explained using real-world metaphors like credit scores or driving records. A good sender reputation is essential for email deliverability, similar to how a good credit score is essential for getting a loan.
Expert from SpamResource explains that spam traps are email addresses that are used to catch spammers. Avoid hitting spam traps to improve deliverability.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from AWS explains that DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) is a way to digitally sign your emails. This signature proves that the email wasn't altered during transit and verifies that it came from the stated sender. Think of it as a tamper-proof seal on a package.
Documentation from Microsoft Docs explains that maintaining a clean IP address reputation is crucial for email deliverability. Think of your IP address as your postal code; if previous senders from that IP sent spam, your emails may be flagged. Monitoring and promptly addressing any issues associated with your IP's reputation are key to ensuring good deliverability.
Documentation from RFC explains that an SPF (Sender Policy Framework) record acts like a list of approved senders for your domain. It allows receiving mail servers to verify that emails claiming to be from your domain are indeed authorized, preventing spoofing and improving deliverability. It's like giving a list of authorized personnel to a security guard.
Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools explains that proper email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is like providing a verifiable return address on a letter. This helps ISPs confirm that the email is genuinely from you, reducing the chances of it being marked as spam and improving deliverability. It assures the receiver that the email really came from the stated sender.