Ensuring your emails land in recipients' inboxes—and not their spam folders—is crucial for effective communication, customer engagement, and maintaining a positive sender reputation. Poor deliverability can lead to reduced engagement, lower conversion rates, and damage to your brand’s reputation.
This guide outlines actionable strategies to optimize email deliverability through proper domain authentication, engaging content, and strict compliance with anti-spam laws.
Authenticate Your Domain
Proper domain authentication is essential for email deliverability. Without it, your emails are likely to be flagged as spam, damaging your domain reputation.
Steps to Authenticate Your Domain:
Set Up DNS (Domain Name Services): Configure your DNS records to define how your domain interacts with the internet, including email servers.
Enable DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail): Add public-key encryption to verify email authenticity and protect against spoofing.
Implement SPF (Sender Policy Framework): Authorize specific email servers to send emails on your behalf.
Establish a DMARC Policy: Align your domain with the "From" header and define policies for handling unverified emails.
Setting Up SPF for Method Emails
Method uses SendGrid to send emails. To improve deliverability, include the following SPF record in your DNS configuration:
include:sendgrid.net
NOTE: For more information on custom SPF records, please see SendGrid's article "SPF Records Explained".
Configuring DMARC and DKIM
DMARC enhances authentication by linking your domain's "From" header with its DNS records. However, restrictive DMARC policies can interfere with SendGrid’s DKIM setup. Choose one of the following approaches:
Set DMARC Policy to p=none (Recommended):
Pros: Simple and compatible with Method’s default setup.
Cons: Limited control over handling unverified emails.
Implement Your Own DKIM and DMARC Policies:
Pros: Full control and flexibility.
Cons: Requires advanced setup, including a dedicated SendGrid account, and may involve additional costs.
For step-by-step instructions, see SendGrid’s guide: DKIM Records Explained.
Create Engaging Content and Ensure Compliance
The quality of your email content and adherence to anti-spam laws are essential for maintaining deliverability and building trust with your audience. For more details, visit Email Marketing Best Practices.
Engaging Content Tips:
Avoid spam triggers: Replace phrases like “FREE!!! LIMITED TIME OFFER” with a more professional tone, such as “Exclusive Offer for [Recipient’s Name].”
Maintain a balanced image-to-text ratio: Pair product images with concise descriptions or bullet points.
Segment and personalize: For example, if a subscriber attended a webinar on field service management, follow up with a case study relevant to their industry.
Avoid combining promotional and transactional content: Keep these email types distinct to avoid confusion.
Compliance Guidelines:
Use double opt-in: Confirm subscriber intent to prevent invalid entries or spam traps.
Clean your email list regularly: Remove disengaged or invalid subscribers to improve list health and deliverability rates.
Ensure compliance with regulations:
Include an unsubscribe link: Method automatically appends an unsubscribe link to ensure compliance and protect your sender reputation.
By crafting professional, relevant content and adhering to these compliance guidelines, you can engage your audience effectively while safeguarding your campaigns.
Quick Checklist for Deliverability Success
Use this checklist to ensure your email campaigns are optimized for deliverability:
Authenticate your domain with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
Craft engaging, professional content tailored to your audience.
Build a permission-based email list using double opt-in.
Regularly clean your list to remove disengaged subscribers.
Include an unsubscribe link in all your emails.