Email marketing is one of the most dependable tactics in the marketer’s playbook. Flashy, new marketing channels come and go every year, many of them promising to yield impressive ROI, but few of them can actually compete with the tried-and-true approach of email.
Email is relatively simple to use, and it delivers great ROI. So it’s a no-brainer that companies ranging from financial services to retail would prioritize email marketing as a top contributor to their strategy.
Although easy to use, email is difficult to master if you don’t act on insights that can help deliver impact. And, often, the result of that neglect is beautiful emails, with tempting calls to action, but they get marked as spam and don’t make it to the recipient’s inbox.
As we enter a new year and a new chapter in digital marketing, it’s imperative that your email campaigns reach their intended destination. Accordingly, here are five best-practices to boost and maintain email deliverability in 2020.
1. Don’t ambush your mailing lists during peak times. Do gradually increase email outreach ahead of major seasons.
It’s tempting to blast out as many emails as possible to get your customers’ attention and to drown out the competition. But by doing that you risk not only turning off your customer but also having your campaigns flagged as spam, or—worse—you can be blacklisted by Internet service providers (ISPs), which could dent your deliverability rates.
You’ll be better off setting a cadence of personalized messages months in advance of an important season for your industry. For instance, if you’re a travel company wanting to reach spring-breakers, start by gradually sending emails that play up what’s in store for your customers months in advance, to start build momentum as the season approaches.
That gradual approach gives you the ability to build awareness, share brand news with new and existing customers who are the most likely to engage with it, and react to metrics in real-time to maximize conversions.