{"id":22823,"date":"2024-01-09T08:05:34","date_gmt":"2024-01-09T08:05:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bloomreach.com\/library\/the-ultimate-guide-to-mastering-email-deliverability"},"modified":"2025-02-18T16:07:06","modified_gmt":"2025-02-18T16:07:06","slug":"email-deliverability-2022","status":"publish","type":"library","link":"https:\/\/www.bloomreach.com\/en\/blog\/email-deliverability-2022","title":{"rendered":"The Ultimate Guide to Mastering Email Deliverability"},"content":{"rendered":"

Marketers love email. Regardless of all of the advances in technology or what new app is trending, email is still one of the most important channels in a marketer\u2019s arsenal. That\u2019s why email deliverability is so important.<\/p>\n

Like any method of communication, there are rules and best practices you need to follow to make sure your emails reach your audience’s inboxes. And those rules are constantly being refined (like the latest deliverability changes from Google and Yahoo<\/a>). So, to make sure you have all the knowledge you need to create impactful email campaigns, we\u2019ve put together a comprehensive guide on email deliverability to help you get your emails to the inbox.<\/p>\n

Read on to make sure you\u2019re maximizing revenue from your email campaigns.<\/p>\n

What is Email Deliverability?<\/h2>\n

This question might seem too simple. The objective of email deliverability is to get your email delivered, of course.<\/p>\n

But there’s more to it than that. Let\u2019s say your latest emailing evaluation report says you have a 99% deliverability rate. Sounds good, right? But deliverability rate can be misleading. It\u2019s missing one important point.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t want to just get your email delivered. You want to get your email to your customer\u2019s inbox. The true goal of email deliverability is to get good inbox placement.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Spam emails are still considered delivered emails. Delivery rate tells you nothing about inbox placement. Don\u2019t be fooled by high delivery rates \u2014 focus on inbox placement.<\/p>\n

How do you get good inbox placement? To answer that, you need to understand the full journey of an email.<\/p>\n

BLOOMREACH NOTE:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wondering what outstanding inbox placement looks like? See how Bloomreach’s customers have achieved above-and-beyond inbox placement as part of the 99% Inbox Placement Club.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Journey of an Email<\/h2>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Let’s say you\u2019ve created a new email campaign as part of your Black Friday marketing strategy. How will you get it to the recipient’s inbox? Let\u2019s walk through the steps.<\/p>\n

Step One: Build Your Mailing List<\/strong><\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

First, you need to build your email list. This is everyone you target for an email campaign.<\/p>\n

Step Two: Send Your Email<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Once your email campaign is built, you hit send and the journey really begins. Most of your emails will actually get sent, but some will be suppressed, meaning there is no attempt to actually send them.<\/p>\n

Why? There could be a few reasons, but the most likely answer is that a subscriber revoked their consent.<\/p>\n

When your ESP prepares to send the mail, they evaluate consent, and the email is suppressed for that address. And while it’s never fun to see some emails getting stuck at the starting gate, this is actually a good thing \u2014 it means you can keep your contact list healthy and up to date by only sending to email contacts who actively want to receive your email marketing.<\/p>\n

Step Three: Your Sent Mail Is Delivered<\/strong><\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

From the emails that are successfully sent, most of them should be delivered (meaning they get to where they\u2019re supposed to go). Those that don’t get delivered are either soft bounced<\/strong> or hard bounced<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Bounced Email: Why Wasn\u2019t My Email Delivered?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Soft Bounce<\/strong><\/td>\nHard Bounce<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Full inbox<\/td>\nEmail address does not exist or is invalid<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sudden increase in sending volume<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Frequency too high for engagement levels<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

What\u2019s a Hard Bounce?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

A hard bounce<\/strong> means that you tried to send an email to an invalid address (one that doesn\u2019t exist). If you get lots of hard bounces, it\u2019s a signal to ISPs that your mailing list isn\u2019t very clean. You can clean up your list by doing an email validation.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s a Soft Bounce?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

A soft bounce<\/strong> can occur for a couple of reasons.<\/p>\n

In the past, you might get soft bounced if you try to email someone with a full inbox. These days, most email service providers offer much larger inboxes, so this is rarely the reason for a soft bounce.<\/p>\n

Most soft bounces today occur when there is a sudden increase in email sending volume. If you typically send 500,000 emails per day, then one day suddenly send 700,000, those extra 200,000 emails might be soft bounced. ISPs like consistency, and don\u2019t like sudden changes.<\/p>\n

Step Four: Your Delivered Email Makes It to the Inbox\u2026 Or It Doesn\u2019t<\/h3>\n

From the emails that are delivered, many will end up in your subscribers’ inbox. The ones that don\u2019t either go to a spam folder, are blocked by the receiver, or hit a spam trap.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s a Spam Trap?<\/h4>\n

A spam trap<\/strong> is an unmanned email address, owned by an ISP. This email address might be an abandoned one that\u2019s been reclaimed by an ISP, or it might be a brand new address created solely as a spam trap. Either way, it shouldn\u2019t be on your mailing list.<\/p>\n

If you send an email to a spam trap, it has a big negative impact on your sender reputation. In fact, hitting a lot of spam traps is one of the worst things you can do for your sender reputation. Don\u2019t worry though, you can minimize your risk.<\/p>\n

Step Five: Emails Are Then Opened or Remain Unopened<\/strong><\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

When is an Email Considered Opened?<\/h4>\n

How can you know an email has been opened if you\u2019re not actually watching over someone\u2019s shoulder? ESPs have found an ingenious and simple way to figure this riddle out.<\/p>\n

Most modern email service providers include a very small image in emails they send, called a tracking pixel<\/strong>. When someone opens their email, that loads the image, which requires a request to be made to the server that hosts the image. This request lets the email service provider know that the email has been opened.<\/p>\n

Step Six: The Recipient Takes Action<\/strong><\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

Once a subscriber opens your email, there’s a few different ways they can interact with your email campaign. Let\u2019s look at the actions, and what they mean for you:<\/p>\n