How do LiveIntent ads in emails affect deliverability and user experience?

Summary

Using LiveIntent ads in emails doesn't inherently damage deliverability, but several factors impact user experience and potentially, indirectly, deliverability. Key considerations include list hygiene, ad relevance and frequency, compliance with regulations like CAN-SPAM and GDPR, and balancing ad content with valuable content. Implementation is technically simple, but proactive email health monitoring and optimization are crucial for success. Overloading emails with ads can negatively impact engagement, while well-placed, relevant ads can be integrated effectively.

Key findings

  • No Direct Deliverability Impact: LiveIntent itself doesn't automatically harm deliverability if best practices are followed.
  • User Experience Key: User experience heavily relies on ad relevance, frequency, and placement.
  • List Hygiene Essential: Maintaining a clean and healthy email list is critical for deliverability and preventing issues with ad networks.
  • Compliance is Crucial: Compliance with CAN-SPAM, GDPR, and other privacy laws is necessary when using personalized ads.
  • Balance is Important: Balancing ads with valuable content enhances user experience and prevents ad fatigue.
  • Implementation Simplicity: Implementing LiveIntent ads is technically straightforward, often involving adding an HTML block.

Key considerations

  • Relevance and Targeting: Ensure ads are highly relevant to the target audience to minimize unsubscribes and complaints.
  • Frequency Management: Avoid overloading emails with ads to prevent negative perceptions and maintain engagement.
  • Strategic Placement: A/B test different ad placements and formats to optimize user engagement and minimize disruption.
  • Content Integration: Maintain a balance between ads and valuable content to improve user experience.
  • Legal and Ethical: Comply with all relevant regulations (CAN-SPAM, GDPR) and ensure ethical advertising practices.
  • List Management: Regularly clean and validate your email lists to maintain high deliverability and engagement.
  • Email Health Monitoring: Continuously monitor sender reputation, authentication protocols, and spam complaints to maintain email health.

What email marketers say
8Marketer opinions

LiveIntent ads in emails can affect deliverability and user experience. While direct deliverability issues are not always apparent, user experience is heavily impacted by ad relevance, frequency, and placement. Maintaining a balance between ads and valuable content, complying with GDPR, and A/B testing ad formats are crucial. Poor list quality can have deliverability effects.

Key opinions

  • Deliverability Impact: Direct deliverability issues are not always apparent, especially if the list is managed well, but poor list management can change this.
  • User Experience Sensitivity: User experience is highly sensitive to ad relevance, frequency, and placement.
  • Ad Overload Negative: Overloading emails with ads leads to negative perceptions and decreased engagement.
  • GDPR Compliance: GDPR Compliance must be adhered to.

Key considerations

  • Ad Relevance: Ensure LiveIntent ads are highly relevant to the target audience to avoid unsubscribes and complaints.
  • Ad Frequency Balance: Maintain a balanced approach to ad frequency to prevent user fatigue and negative perceptions.
  • A/B Testing: A/B test different ad placements and formats to optimize user engagement and minimize disruption.
  • Content Balance: Balance LiveIntent ads with valuable content to enhance the overall user experience.
  • Placement Optimization: Ensure ad placements are strategically positioned and styled to complement the overall email design and not conflict with key calls to action.
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum suggests that the frequency of LiveIntent ads plays a crucial role in user experience. Overloading emails with ads can lead to negative perceptions and decreased engagement. A balanced approach is recommended.

May 2024 - Email Marketing Forum
Marketer view

Email marketer from Digital Marketing Digest suggests maintaining a balance between LiveIntent ads and valuable content to prevent user fatigue. Providing high-quality content alongside ads can enhance the overall user experience.

September 2024 - Digital Marketing Digest
Marketer view

Email marketer from EmailGeeks forum advises that when using LiveIntent for personalised advertising, always ensure that your emails comply with the GDPR.

March 2023 - EmailGeeks forum
Marketer view

Email marketer from MarketingProfs Forum recommends A/B testing different placements of LiveIntent ads within emails to optimize user engagement and minimize disruption. Experimenting with ad formats can also improve performance.

June 2023 - MarketingProfs Forum
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks shares that he is not aware of LiveIntent ads creating any deliverability issues for Hearst Newspapers but readers probably don't like the ads.

February 2022 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Reddit shares that the effectiveness of LiveIntent ads relies heavily on relevance; irrelevant ads can significantly degrade user experience, leading to unsubscribes and complaints. Target ads effectively or risk alienating your audience.

January 2023 - Reddit
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks, who is the Director of Email for LiveIntent, answers that they typically do not see an impact on deliverability with their ads as long as publishers don't overload newsletters with ad units. Also confirming they are still in NYT newsletters, just not all of them.

July 2021 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Creative Emails answers suggests ensuring your ad placements are not too close to your main call to action. Also they should be styled in the branding and style you have.

July 2022 - Creative Emails

What the experts say
4Expert opinions

Experts suggest that LiveIntent ads, and similar ad services, don't inherently impact deliverability if well-managed. Implementing the ads is often technically simple, involving adding a content block. However, maintaining high list quality and ensuring ad content is relevant and avoids spam triggers are crucial for preventing deliverability issues.

Key opinions

  • No Inherent Impact: Ad placement services like LiveIntent don't automatically harm deliverability.
  • Simple Implementation: Technically, integrating these ads is straightforward, often requiring only adding an HTML content block.
  • List Quality Critical: Maintaining a clean and validated email list is essential when using ad networks like LiveIntent.
  • Content Matters: Ad content must be relevant, non-misleading, and avoid spam triggers to protect deliverability.

Key considerations

  • List Hygiene: Regularly clean and validate your email lists to maintain high deliverability.
  • Content Relevance: Ensure ad content is relevant to your audience to minimize negative impact on user experience and prevent spam complaints.
  • Spam Prevention: Avoid using excessive promotional language or spam triggers in ad content.
  • Monitor Reputation: Continuously monitor your sender reputation to detect and address any deliverability issues promptly.
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks shares that multiple clients are using a competing service to LiveIntent and there is no noticeable impact from the ad placements in their emails.

July 2023 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from Spam Resource responds that utilizing ad networks like LiveIntent necessitates stringent list quality management. Poor list hygiene can lead to deliverability issues, particularly with aggressive ad monetization strategies. Regularly clean and validate your email lists.

December 2022 - Spam Resource
Expert view

Expert from Word to the Wise explains that the content within the email (including advertisements) plays a critical role in deliverability. Ensure that ad content is relevant, non-misleading, and doesn't trigger spam filters. Avoid excessive use of promotional language.

March 2022 - Word to the Wise
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks explains clients manage their ad placements with their ad partner, and all they do is add a content block to the emails, so development is a few minutes of adding HTML to the newsletter.

February 2024 - Email Geeks

What the documentation says
4Technical articles

Email marketing and deliverability documentation emphasizes that using LiveIntent ads requires adherence to best practices, including maintaining a clean email list, complying with CAN-SPAM and GDPR, monitoring sender reputation, ensuring proper authentication, and focusing on subscriber engagement. The integration of ads does not negate the need for overall email health monitoring and proactive deliverability management.

Key findings

  • List Hygiene is Vital: Maintaining a clean and healthy email list is paramount when using LiveIntent ads.
  • Compliance is Mandatory: Compliance with CAN-SPAM, GDPR, and other privacy laws is essential.
  • Email Health Monitoring: Implementing ads requires continuous monitoring of email health.
  • Multiple Factors Influence Deliverability: Sender reputation, authentication, content, and subscriber engagement all significantly impact deliverability.

Key considerations

  • Proactive List Management: Implement regular list cleaning and validation processes.
  • Legal Compliance: Ensure your email practices fully comply with relevant legal requirements.
  • Reputation Monitoring: Actively monitor your sender reputation to identify and address potential deliverability issues.
  • Authentication Protocols: Implement proper email authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) to improve deliverability.
  • Subscriber Engagement: Focus on strategies to improve subscriber engagement, such as providing valuable content and personalized experiences.
Technical article

Documentation from Microsoft highlights a large list of best practices, many around reputation and authentication that should be followed to improve email deliverability and so improve results for ad driven traffic.

March 2024 - Microsoft
Technical article

Documentation from Litmus details that multiple factors can affect email deliverability including sender reputation, authentication, content, and subscriber engagement. Implementing ad's such as LiveIntent require you to also monitor your email health.

May 2022 - Litmus
Technical article

Documentation from Mailchimp states the use of email marketing best practices and maintain a healthy list, but also to comply with GDPR and other privacy laws.

September 2022 - Mailchimp
Technical article

Documentation from LiveIntent Help Center emphasizes the importance of maintaining a clean email list and adhering to CAN-SPAM guidelines to ensure optimal deliverability when using LiveIntent ads. Regular list hygiene and compliance are key.

June 2022 - LiveIntent Help Center