Email Marketing

Battle for the Inbox

In the realm of Email Marketing there is an unending battle between email service providers and unsolicited senders trying to flood your inbox with their marketing messages. Some of these messages can be things you have signed up for, a check box you selected when signing up for a service or purchasing a product giving the sender permission to send you marketing messages, Others, however may leave you stumped wondering where they found your email address. Despite requests for no further communication the emails continue to pour in.

Email Service Providers, such as Google / Gmail and Yahoo have recently implemented some new policies for email authentication that were previously optional related to the use of SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. Each of these methods make use of DNS to provide a different set of tools for senders to help identify emails they sent as authentic and in the case of DMARC what to do if an email that is received that is not.

SPF – Sender Permitted From

SPF provides a list of IP addresses that are considered as trusted for a particular from address.  If you are making use of a service like GMail, Yahoo, or Outlook or even your ISPs email service then your SPF record will already be set by your provider. It authorizes their own systems to send email for anyone using their service.

DKIM –  DomainKeys Identified Mail

DKIM adds a special signature automatically to any emails sent using an authorized sending platform that can be compared to a public record published in their DNS. The process makes use of cryptography to prevent forgery and is based off the the domain of the sending server, typically the one listed in the from address. If the signature check passes you can safely conclude the sender’s identity is authentic.

DMARC – Domain-based Message Authentication

Reporting, and Conformance – doesn’t directly offer any authentication in itself but it provides information on what a recipient’s system can do when an email is received that is determined to be fraudulent or forged.

Each of the above technologies have been used for many years however, recently Google and Yahoo have made the decision that any incoming mail into their networks must make use of the above technologies otherwise they will automatically be rejected. The 1Point platform has already been using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC with all messages sent from our platform. If you are using a shared pool, then you are all-set immediately upon signing up for your 1Point account. Your emails are being sent using the shared platform’s from address that identifies it as having been sent from the 1Point platform. If you are instead using a dedicated pool of IPs with your own domain however, there may be additional setup that is required, Don’t worry, its not that difficult and we’ll provide you with a datasheet detailing the changes you’ll need to make to your DNS. We’ll take care of the rest of the setup necessary on 1Point to properly identify your email with your name and that your mailings will pass SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication.

Our team will continue to strive to make sure you messages reach your intended recipients inbox and will work with each email provider and their requirements and any changes to the industry standards.

Want to run a successful email marketing campaign? Sending a random email to an unknown audience won’t cut it.

Email marketing is a powerful tool when used correctly. Did you know people send 4.3 billion emails each day? It may seem like a saturated field, but marketers report that email marketing is their goto method for acquisition and retention.

The thing is, if you don’t follow best practices, your message can easily get lost in the shuffle of the emails people receive every day. Your goal should be to stand out in an inbox full of offers and envoke engagement from your audience.

To get the best results, your campaign should be carefully planned out and tracked for effectiveness. Here are critical steps to take when running an email campaign.

Identify your goals

You should never make a move without having abtainable goals in mind. Establishing goals may seem overrated, but they serve as a benchmark to see if you are getting the amount of traction you need from your campaigns. It helps to write SMART goals—Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely.

Know and Segment your audience

Your contacts are likely different individuals at different stages in their buying journey with your company. Using a one-size-fits-all content “hose” is not going to benefit anyone.

When you segment your list, you can send out relevant emails to specific parts of your audience. You don’t want to send out a local news story to people in another country. You certainly wouldn’t want to send the same message to a loyal customer that you would send to a new lead.

You can segment your email list by things like:

• Location
• Demographic
• Age
• Gender
• Professional title
• Point in buyer’s journey
• Past purchases
• Activity on website

As you plan your campaigns, consider which target you will concentrate on and write your content to fit the audience.

Establish campaign timelines

Your campaigns should be made up of a concise series of related emails. When planning your content, you’ll want to have dates established for sending out the emails and pulling reports.

It’s most effective to time your emails with product releases, seasonal dates, and content publication. Create a content calendar to help create a defined visual of when campaigns will be finalized and published.

As you map out where your scheduled emails fall, you may notice a heavy trend in one area and a hole in another. Filling the gaps can help you create a more robust email marketing strategy that covers all your bases.

Write your email content

Don’t wait until it’s time to send out an email to write the copy. Create all your campaign before you even send out the first email. You can always make changes down the road.

If the goal is to be mindful and strategic with your emails, you want to make sure they all flow together right from the start. Here’s a few tips to keep in mind:

• Write in your brand voice, staying consistent with other company content.
• Include images and graphics in a dynamic and mobile-friendly layout.
• Trim unnecessary language to avoid wasting the reader’s time.
• Craft a subject line and opening sentence that spark interest.
• Write with your target audience in mind (not your brand) and personalize your content.
• Include a singular, clear call-to-action that aligns with the campaign goal.

Test your emails

Don’t just start firing off emails. Test your emails to find formatting problems or coding bugs in the message. Other things to check include:

• All links and buttons to make sure none are broken or going to the wrong place
• Image sizes (compressed to load quickly)
• Grammar and spelling

Testing your emails also helps ensure your content is completely ready to go by the deadline you’ve set in your content calendar. You can then schedule your emails so they are sent out during the best times for your target audience to increase your open rates and click-throughs.

Measure your campaign success

After your messages are sent, what’s the open rate? How many clicks did you get? Choose key metrics that will tell you if you are achieving your specific goals for the campaign or not.

Choose the right email marketing service

Are you looking for a FREE demo account? Check out 1Point Interactive today. Boost the success of your email marketing campaigns with access to our winning customer service team!

Are you ready to get started? Let’s talk!

Easy to Measure

Email blast campaigns are to measure. With any good marketing analytics tool, like 1Point, you can keep an eye on open, click, and click-through rates and ascertain how good or bad your email campaign is.

Segmenting Work

It’s important to know your audience. Your email subscribers may be looking for a different product than the one you are trying to sell them. It is important to segment your email lists before sending to ensure the right message is getting to your subscriber list. You can build a winning email marketing strategy by devising your campaigns based on user interests and product interactions.

Unexpected Emails and the Dreaded SPAM Box

Broadcast emails are generally unexpected by the recipient and can be off putting to some prospects. Action-based emails are a better option in such situations. It’s the job of an email marketer to craft a message that will entice the reader to move the blast from SPAM to the inbox.

At the end of the day, email marketing is still one of the most essential outreach methods your business has at its disposal. Email marketing lets you reach your customers on their terms, anywhere in the world.

If you need help creating your email marketing strategy, contact us today. We can schedule a call and get you on the right path to email marketing success. Remember, you don’t have to tackle email marketing alone. We have the insights and experience you’re looking for in a email marketing partner.

9/19/2022

Are you getting the best results from your bulk email marketing campaign?

Are your emails getting stuck on spam filters? Read this article and find out how you can improve your email marketing strategy using simple yet effective bulk email marketing techniques.

Bulk Email Marketing is a marketing strategy where a marketer or business owner usually sends email marketing messages or newsletters to a huge list of subscribers. It is also referred to as “mass email marketing.” This type of marketing strategy can help promote your products and services. However, it can also blacklist your business as spam by your prospects and subscribers. Most especially if you don’t practice the important principles of email marketing.

To prevent your mass email marketing campaign from being regarded as spam, you have to make sure that you follow the necessary email marketing guidelines.

Here are some email marketing tips to make your mass email marketing successful:

Email Marketing Tip #1: The Subject Line.  This is the first thing that subscribers will see as soon as they check their inbox. That is why your email copywriting subject line must be powerful enough to make them feel compelled to open it. You may also include the company name in the subject line. This will allow subscribers to recognize that the email message is from a trusted source.

Email Marketing Tip #2: The Design.  If you want to attract more prospects and customers, then you must go beyond sending email messages with plain text. Your email content must have a colorful and attractive design that will entice people to open, read and check out your product. To make your branding more effective, you must include your business logo together with images of the product. This is more attractive than just plain text.

Email Marketing Tip #3: The Spam Filters.  This is another element that every business owner or marketer has to worry about. No one would want their email messages to look like spam. That is why your email content must look seamless and refined. Refrain from using symbols of financial units to trick readers that they can make money with your product. This gets usually blocked by spam filters. Emails that look non-sense with plenty of grammar and spelling errors are usually blocked as well. If possible, you can ask your subscribers to include your email address on their contact list. More importantly, your email must be useful and informative. These things will help your emails avoid the spam filters.

Email Marketing Tip #4: The Message.  The email copy itself must be written in a way that will not make your subscribers think that you are just there to sell something. To avoid this, your mass email marketing messages must be written in newsletter form. This format tells subscribers what is going on with your company. It also provides an update on your newest line of products and any promotional events. An email newsletter form enables you to discuss the benefits of availing the product.

Email Marketing Tip #5: The unsubscription link. You must always have an unsubscription link in your email.If the user unsubscribes from your list, you must stop sending emails to that email address.

Email Marketing Tip #6: Email redundancy. Avoid sending same message multiple times to same email ID. Your Email Marketing Software should have reliable tracking to control redundant emails.

Email Marketing Tip #7: Email Attachments. Many email clients will not allow attachments while receiving and may mark such email as SPAM or move to JUNK folders. You need to avoid attachments to reach your subscribers’ inbox. In case if you want to show some attachments to your subscribers’, upload on your website and send an URL to download the file.

Email Marketing Tip #8: Email Content. Try to reduce the email content in order to deliver fast and also to improve readers count. Make simple and clear text message with link to your site regarding the announcement. Email Marketing best practices is to avoid SPAM and reaching recipients’ inbox. Text emails are faster than HTML emails and may avoid many SPAM issue

Email Marketing Tip #9: Avoid SPAM filtered words in your article to reach your audiences.
Some of the more commonly used phrases that ISPs and mail clients filter out include:

Email Marketing Tip #10: Most of the emails should be delivered to your subscribers in the week days to get maximum benefits. However, personal user products like weight loss, health, beauty items, etc. and related emails must be delivered in the holidays to get more attention.
People will love to search these kind of products in the week ends at home, not at office.

Source: Free Guest Posting Articles from ArticlesFactory.com.

1. Share the love: Encourage subscribers to share and forward your emails.
2. Gated Assets: Generate a relevant and enticing gated asset or lead magnet, such as an ebook or guide that solves a typical buyer problem to attract new subscribers.
3. Email Signatures: Add an opt-in link to employees’ signatures.
4. Free Tools: Create a free online tool that requires an email address to access. These could include a checklist, SlideShare, or content mapping Google Doc.
5. Subscription-based content marketing: Create bonus blog, video, or other content that provides additional value to your target audience and requires an email subscription.
6. Social Channels: Promote gated assets on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
7. Facebook Cover Photo: Add your email newsletter to your Facebook page cover photo.
8. Facebook Call to Action: Add Subscribe or Sign up to your Facebook as your page’s call to action.
9. Newsletter Previews: Share newsletter previews on your social channels.
10. Website: Your website can be a lead-generating machine if it’s optimized well.
    • Utilize well-timed pop-up forms encouraging visitors to subscribe to your newsletter or blog.
    • Shorten the length of your lead-capture forms to encourage more visitors to fill them out.
    • Include a relevant call to action on each page. One that requires an email address to access.
    • A/B test call to action copy to determine the most effective for your audience.
    • Create an outstanding blog
11. Leverage Partnerships: Leverage leadership partnerships to broaden your reach.
    • Include guest posts in your blog strategy.
    • Guest blog on other relevant sites.
    • Partner to feature other email subscriptions in your newsletter.
    • Ask partners to feature your email newsletter in their newsletters.
    • Create co-marketing offers as part of your blog or webinar series.
    • If you have some budget available, look into banner ad sponsorships on industry publication websites.