What steps can I take to troubleshoot and resolve exceptionally low email open rates during BFCM?
Summary
What email marketers say12Marketer opinions
Email marketer from HubSpot Blog recommends re-engaging inactive subscribers with special offers, sending reminder emails close to the end of BFCM, and creating a dedicated landing page for email campaigns.
Email marketer from Litmus Blog advises using pre-send testing tools to identify potential deliverability issues, such as broken links, rendering problems, and spam trigger words, before sending emails during BFCM.
Email marketer from Mailchimp Blog advises segmenting your audience to send more targeted campaigns, cleaning your email list to remove inactive subscribers, and optimizing subject lines to increase open rates during busy periods like BFCM. They also recommend testing different send times.
Email marketer from Campaign Monitor Blog explains that using segmentation to send relevant content to specific groups of subscribers can significantly improve engagement rates, especially during high-volume periods like BFCM.
Email marketer from ActiveCampaign Blog suggests warming up your IP address, monitoring your sender reputation using tools like Google Postmaster Tools, and authenticating your emails using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to maintain deliverability during high-volume sending times.
Email marketer from Sendinblue Blog highlights the importance of creating a sense of urgency in email subject lines, personalizing email content, and offering exclusive deals for subscribers to stand out during BFCM.
Email marketer from GlockApps Blog recommends using inbox placement testing tools to check where your emails land (inbox, spam, promotions tab) across different email providers and identify potential deliverability issues before sending to your entire list.
Email marketer from Stack Overflow explains that throttling your sending volume, especially when sending to new lists or during peak seasons, helps to avoid being flagged as a spammer. Gradually increase the volume over time to establish a good sending reputation.
Email marketer from ZeroBounce Blog suggests regularly cleaning your email list to remove invalid, inactive, or spam trap addresses to improve your sender reputation and overall deliverability.
Email marketer from Email on Acid Blog recommends verifying that your email authentication records (SPF, DKIM, and DMARC) are set up correctly and are not causing any deliverability issues. They also suggest monitoring DMARC reports to identify potential spoofing attempts.
Email marketer from Reddit suggests checking email blacklists, such as Spamhaus or Barracuda, to see if your IP address or domain is listed, and taking steps to get delisted if necessary.
Email marketer from Email Geeks suggests looking at a breakdown of open rates by receiving domains to isolate the cause of low open rates.
What the experts say5Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks suggests that if low open rates are mainly around Hotmail, it's likely the emails went to spam and asks if inboxing testing is in place.
Expert from Email Geeks suggests checking if the emails were delivered, went to the spam folder, and identifying if a specific ISP had a particularly low open rate.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that poor list hygiene significantly impacts deliverability and open rates. Regularly removing bounced addresses, unsubscribes, and unengaged users is crucial for maintaining a healthy sending reputation. Low open rates are a symptom of the overall health of the list.
Expert from Spam Resource advises carefully throttling email volume increases during BFCM, even with good sender reputation. Sudden large spikes can trigger spam filters regardless of past performance.
Expert from Spam Resource highlights the importance of monitoring sender reputation with tools such as Sender Score and Return Path. Keeping a close eye on these metrics allows for early detection of deliverability issues. These problems will then impact open rates.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from RFC explains that implementing DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) helps verify the sender's identity, which can improve email deliverability by reducing the chances of emails being marked as spam.
Documentation from Validity explains that your sender reputation is a score that ISPs assign to your sending IP address and domain based on your sending behavior. A low sender reputation can lead to emails being filtered as spam.
Documentation from DMARC.org specifies that DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) helps prevent email spoofing by enabling domain owners to specify how email receivers should handle emails that fail SPF and DKIM checks.
Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools explains that monitoring your domain reputation and spam rate within Postmaster Tools can provide insights into deliverability issues. Sudden drops in reputation or spikes in spam complaints may indicate problems that need to be addressed.