Summary
Improving email deliverability, especially for higher education CRMs, requires a comprehensive approach encompassing permission, authentication, list hygiene, content relevance, and technical best practices. Obtaining explicit consent and avoiding unwanted emails is paramount. Email verification services help identify invalid addresses, but are not a standalone solution. Implementing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authenticates emails and prevents spoofing. Maintaining clean email lists through segmentation and engagement monitoring, combined with personalized, targeted content, enhances relevance and engagement. IP warming gradually builds a positive sender reputation. Tailored strategies are crucial for higher education due to strict email rules and diverse audiences (students, faculty, alumni). A multi-layered approach to email hygiene and design testing across devices are essential.
Key findings
- Permission: Obtaining explicit permission is crucial, especially for educational mailing lists.
- Email Verification: Reputable email verification services help remove invalid and risky addresses.
- Authentication: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are essential for authenticating emails and preventing spoofing.
- List Hygiene: Maintaining clean and segmented email lists is vital for a healthy sender reputation.
- Personalization: Targeted and personalized content improves engagement.
- Higher Education Strategies: Tailored strategies are necessary for reaching diverse audiences in higher education.
- IP Warming: Gradual IP warming builds sender reputation.
- Multi-Layered Hygiene: Email verification alone isn't enough; use multi-layered approach.
Key considerations
- Compliance: Ensure compliance with privacy regulations and obtain explicit consent.
- Real-Time Verification: Consider integrating real-time email verification into your CRM.
- Feedback Loops: Implement feedback loops to monitor and address deliverability issues.
- Targeted Content: Develop highly targeted and personalized content for different audience segments.
- Authentication Configuration: Correctly configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records.
- Continuous Monitoring: Continuously monitor sender reputation and engagement metrics.
- Design Testing: Always test your email across multiple devices.
- ISP Rules: Follow specific guidelines from ISPs to avoid domain blocks.
What email marketers say
10 marketer opinions
Improving email deliverability, particularly for higher education CRMs, involves a multifaceted approach. Key strategies include using reputable email verification services to remove invalid addresses, maintaining clean email lists through segmentation and engagement monitoring, and personalizing content to enhance relevance. Building and maintaining a positive sender reputation by monitoring sender scores and adhering to best practices for sending bulk emails is crucial. Specifically for higher education, tailored strategies such as understanding audience preferences (students, faculty, alumni), proper email design testing across devices, and compliance with privacy regulations are essential for effective outreach.
Key opinions
- Email Verification: Using email verification services is critical for removing invalid, risky, and low-quality addresses.
- List Maintenance: Maintaining clean email lists through segmentation and engagement monitoring improves deliverability.
- Personalization: Personalizing email content enhances relevance and engagement.
- Sender Reputation: Monitoring and maintaining a positive sender reputation is vital.
- Targeted Content: Focusing on highly targeted content improves engagement.
- Educational Institutions: Tailored strategies are needed for reaching students, faculty, and alumni.
- IP Warming: Gradually increasing email volume builds a positive IP reputation.
- Design Testing: Testing email designs ensures consistency and avoids rendering issues.
Key considerations
- Real-time Verification: Consider integrating real-time email verification into your CRM.
- Feedback Loops: Implement feedback loops to address deliverability issues promptly.
- Privacy Compliance: Ensure compliance with privacy regulations when sending emails.
- Domain Alignment: Check to make sure that your domain is aligned with email sending policies.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Mailjet Blog advises that audience segmentation is key to sending relevant and engaging emails that improve deliverability. Segmenting lists based on demographics, behavior, and engagement levels allows for personalized messaging, increasing open rates and reducing unsubscribes. This also helps avoid sending irrelevant content, lowering the chances of recipients marking emails as spam, especially in sensitive sectors like higher education.
31 Aug 2021 - Mailjet Blog
Marketer view
Email marketer from SendGrid Blog suggests a strategic approach to gradually increasing the volume of emails sent from a new IP address to build a positive reputation with ISPs. Warm-up involves monitoring email performance closely, adjusting sending volumes based on feedback and engagement, and targeting highly engaged recipients first to establish a positive track record. This reduces the risk of being flagged as spam, enhancing overall deliverability.
26 Jun 2022 - SendGrid Blog
What the experts say
6 expert opinions
Addressing email deliverability issues, especially within higher education, requires a focus on permission and consent. While email verification services can help identify invalid addresses, they cannot solve the problems caused by sending unwanted email. Domain-wide blocks and high unsubscription rates indicate issues with email consent and content relevance. Educational institutions have strict email rules, requiring tailored strategies. A multi-layered approach to email hygiene, including verification, suppression lists, and engagement monitoring, is essential.
Key opinions
- Permission is Key: The biggest challenge in educational mailing lists is obtaining explicit permission from recipients.
- Unwanted Email: Deliverability problems often stem from sending unwanted email, not technical issues.
- Verification Limitations: Email verification services alone are not a complete solution and require other strategies.
- Educational Rules: Educational institutions have stringent email policies, requiring specific strategies.
Key considerations
- Obtain Consent: Focus on obtaining explicit consent from recipients before sending emails.
- Valuable Content: Provide valuable and relevant content to maintain engagement and avoid being marked as spam.
- Multi-Layered Hygiene: Implement a multi-layered approach to email hygiene, including verification and suppression lists.
- Tailored Strategies: Develop tailored strategies to address the specific challenges of deliverability to educational institutions.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks explains that recipient domain-wide blocks and high unsubscription rates are indicators of sending unwanted emails. Email verification services can help identify invalid addresses, but they cannot solve the problems caused by sending unwanted email.
14 Aug 2023 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks refers to a previous discussion about email verification services, indicating that it contains helpful information relevant to the original question: <https://emailgeeks.slack.com/archives/C0Y3T12Q0/p1720703906836259>
24 Jul 2021 - Email Geeks
What the documentation says
5 technical articles
Improving email deliverability relies heavily on authentication and list hygiene. Setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records authenticates emails, preventing spoofing and assuring email providers of legitimacy. Following best practices for bulk emails, such as segmentation, personalization, and easy unsubscribe options, also improves deliverability. Regular list cleaning, removing inactive subscribers and invalid addresses, is crucial for maintaining a healthy sender reputation. Proper implementation of SPF, including correct record syntax and alignment with email sending policies, is also necessary.
Key findings
- Email Authentication: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are essential for authenticating emails and preventing spoofing.
- Bulk Email Best Practices: Segmentation, personalization, and easy unsubscribe options improve bulk email deliverability.
- List Cleaning: Regularly cleaning email lists is crucial for a healthy sender reputation.
- Proper SPF Implementation: Correct SPF record syntax and alignment with email sending policies are required.
Key considerations
- Authentication Setup: Ensure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are correctly configured for your domain.
- List Segmentation: Segment your email lists to send more relevant and personalized content.
- Unsubscribe Options: Provide clear and easy-to-use unsubscribe options in your emails.
- Bounce Rate Monitoring: Monitor bounce rates and spam complaints to identify and address deliverability issues.
Technical article
Documentation from Google explains that setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records is essential for authenticating your emails and preventing spoofing. This helps improve deliverability by assuring email providers that your emails are legitimate.
24 Dec 2023 - Google Workspace Admin Help
Technical article
Documentation from Mailchimp explains that regularly cleaning your email list by removing inactive subscribers and invalid addresses is crucial for maintaining a healthy sender reputation and improving deliverability. They recommend using Mailchimp's built-in tools for list cleaning and segmentation.
18 Mar 2024 - Mailchimp Resource
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