Stemming the Fall of Email Deliverability: 2016 Benchmarks and How to Beat Them

Justin McHenry, Technical Account Manager, Return PathApril Mullen, Sr. Marketing Strategist, Selligent

Today’s Speakers

Justin McHenryTechnical Account Manager

Return Path

April MullenSenior Marketing Strategist

Selligent

14 700 500

Global Offices Consumer Brands Employees

50

Partners

EmailMobileSocialWeb

Offline

Consumer-First Marketing

15+ Years of Experience• 450+ dedicated professionals• 14 offices in 7 countries worldwide• Backed by Union Square Ventures,

Foundry Group, Costanoa Ventures, Vista Equity Partners, SAP Ventures

Proven DataInfrastructure• Over 2 billion Certification inboxes

• Scoring 26 million IP addresses daily

• Nearly 300 global partners

• Processing millions of transactions per day

Over 2,500 Email Optimization Customers

• Industries include:• Retail

• Technology

• Finance

• Entertainment

• And more

About Return Path

The inbox is the center of most consumers’ digital lives.

Your inbox knows a lot about you

The Path to the Inbox

Deliverability Defined

Deliverabilityde·liver·a·bili·ty n.To bring or transport to the proper place or recipient. distribute: deliver groceries; deliver the mail.

9

Email Deliverability Defined

The ability to deliver email to a subscriber’s inbox.

10

Monitor Your Inbox Placement Rate, Not Delivered

#50EmailTips 11

Delivered Rate= (Total Sent – Bounces) / Total Sent

12

Inbox Placement Rate

= ((Total Sent – Bounces) – Spam) / Total Sent

13

2016 Deliverability Benchmarks

Global Inbox Placement Rates

Source: 2016 Deliverability Benchmark

USA Inbox Placement Rates

Source: 2016 Deliverability Benchmark

Canada Inbox Placement Rates

Source: 2016 Deliverability Benchmark

Source: 2016 Deliverability Benchmark

UK Inbox Placement Rates

Australia Inbox Placement Rates

Source: 2016 Deliverability Benchmark

How Marketers Can Improve Deliverability

Understand the basics of deliverability

and how to measure

Build and improve sending reputation

Acquire and maintain quality lists

Focus on subscriber engagement

Understanding the factors and impact of reputation

Your Reputation Defines Your Deliverability

ComplaintsQuality of Subscriber File

Email Infrastructure

Engagement Sending History Message Quality

22

Find out your reputation

www.senderscore.org

High Sender Score = High Inbox Placement Rate

24

Source: Return Path 2016 Sender Score Benchmark Report

Subscriber Complaints Cause Major Reputation Issues

How Unknown Users Impact Reputation

26

Spam Trap Reputation Impact

27

Authenticate

Failing authentication can cause deliverability issues• Consistently passing DMARC=rise in inbox placement

#50EmailTips 28

Changes in authentication protocols

29

DMARC

#50EmailTips 30

DMARC process

#50EmailTips 31

DMARC policies

#50EmailTips 32

Google and Microsoft now p=reject

#50EmailTips 33

Only Gmail can send from @gmail.com

Google and Microsoft now p=reject

#50EmailTips 34

Only Microsoft can send from:● @hotmail.com● @outlook.com● @live.com● @msn.com

Google and Microsoft now p=reject

#50EmailTips 35

If you send mail from these domains your message will be rejected and deleted!

Only send mail from a domain you own and control!

Recommendations to Improve Engagement and Deliverability

36

Acquisition

Collect subscribers close to your brand

38

Avoid weak permission

• Complaints can be a sign of weak permission

• Pre-checked box• Opt-out

• Express permission is required in Canada

39

Be transparent on how information is used

40

Set expectations in welcome email

41

• Thank and/or welcome the customer

• Get customer excited about what’s ahead

• Allow preference changes

Drive Lasting Engagement

Understand customers over the long term

43

Evaluate the relevancy of your content

44

Testing is necessary and ongoing

45

Mobile must be top of mind

46

Respond to customer behaviors

• Purchase • Browse• Cart Abandon• Email Engagement• Offline Behavior

47

Set it, but don’t forget it

48

Re-engage subscribers

Subject line: It’s been a while...

49

Offer an opt-down

50

Winback using permission

Image source: Facebook

51

Q&A

52

Connect With Us

Justin McHenryTechnical Account Manager

Return Pathjustin.mchenry@returnpath.com

April MullenSenior Marketing Strategist

Selligentapril.mullen@selligent.com

Next Steps

#50EmailTips 54

Return Path Resources

● ebook: 2016 Deliverability Benchmark Report● Blog: 10 Common DMARC Misconceptions, Debunked● Blog: Demystifying the DMARC Record● Free tool: Sender Score site● Free tool: Blacklist checker

Selligent Resources● ebook: Open-Personalization Lookbook● ebook: Consumer-First Marketing Defined● ebook: Making Privacy a Brand Asset