EMAILING B2B 18 tips for A good deliverability

Article first published on Webmarketing&com

By Romain Simon

B2B vs B2C There are differences

Emailing without optin is allowed In b2b if the message is coherent with the job of the recipient

at least in France : http://www.cnil.fr/documentation/fiches-pratiques/fiche/article/la-prospection-commerciale-par-courrier-electronique/

Companies often use anti-spam softwares

such as microsoft forefront, Cloudmark or spamassasin

Which makes it even more difficult to deliver your email

Here are 18 tips for optimal b2b emailing deliverability :

Master the sending - Part 1 -

#1 - Check the reputation

of your email server

Some tools :

Mxtools : http://www.mxtoolbox.com/blacklists.aspx

senderscore : https://www.senderscore.org/

Mcafee trustedsource : http://www.trustedsource.org/en/feedback/checking

Cisco senderbase : http://www.senderbase.org/

#2 – send emails from a

Dedicated server

This will allow you to control better your reputation. Shared hosting is a nightmare.

Amazon ses is good & affordable : http://aws.amazon.com/fr/ses/

#3 – sign your sending Emails with spf & dkim

#4 – create distinct records For each usage : prospecting, newsletter…

#5 – set your sending rate

As low as possible Lots of domains have low reception rates

Manage your lists - Part 2 -

#6 – avoid buying or Renting Lists of emails

they have already been used a lot

And you will receive lots of complaints

For a low response rate

#7 – create your own lists by combining inbound Marketing and Tools to help you get prospects from

social networks

Awesome tool to get prospects from social networks:

www.datananas.com

#8 – if you buy or rent lists anyway

Ask them to send themselves

But this has two problems:

How do you know if adresses are good and not just some contact@?

You don’t have a direct access to the stats…

#9 – know the history Of The List You rent or buy

Where did they get the emails from?

Are they optin?

When did they collect them?

How many times the list has been used?

How did they handle complaints?

#10 – keep your Bounce Rate Below 5%.

Get rid of any email that bounced

#11 – watch you emails

abuse@, privacy@ & postmaster@

#12 – segment your base & target the right audience

Be perfect on the content

- Part 3 -

#13 – only send quality content.

B2b filters also look at it…

#14 – the subject line must Be simple & without bullshit

#15 – avoid spammy words Such as « free » « money »

Or « click here ».

Otherwise your spam score will explode

#16 – use a light design

With very few images

Or better

Do not use any image at all Even in your signature

#17 – customize the content.

First name is a must have

But don’t forget to replace custom fields…

#18 – do not use

shortened urls

A lot of url shorteners are blacklisted

Happy sending !

@romainsimon

+romainsimon

www.romainsimon.net

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