Deliverability rates for email marketing are falling according to benchmarks. The document discusses reasons for declining deliverability such as poor reputation, low quality lists, and lack of engagement. It provides tips for marketers to improve deliverability like understanding basics, building reputation, acquiring quality lists, focusing on engagement, and using seeds and panels to accurately measure rates.

1. Deliverability Rates are Falling
Learn the Reasons Why and How to
Prevent It
Tom Sather, Sr. Director, Research, Return Path

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

3. Your inbox knows a lot about you

4. Email Marketing is Alive and Well
72% of consumers
say that email is
their favored
communication with
companies they do
business with
Email marketers in
2015 report an
average ROI of 222%
on their email
investment
66% of consumers
have made a
purchase online as a
direct result of an
email marketing
message

5. The Path to the Inbox

6. Deliverability Defined

7. Deliverability
de·liver·a·bili·ty n.
To bring or transport to the proper
place or recipient. distribute: deliver
groceries; deliver the mail.
7

9. Undeliverable as Addressed

10. Email Deliverability Defined
The ability to deliver email to a
subscriber’s inbox.
10

11. Monitor Your Inbox Placement Rate, Not Delivered
#50EmailTips 11

12. Delivered Rate
= (Total Sent – Bounces) / Total Sent
12

13. Inbox Placement Rate
= ((Total Sent – Bounces) – Spam) /
Total Sent
13

14. 2016 Deliverability
Benchmarks

15. Global Inbox Placement Rates
Source: 2016 Deliverability Benchmark

16. USA Inbox Placement Rates
Source: 2016 Deliverability Benchmark

17. Canada Inbox Placement Rates
Source: 2016 Deliverability Benchmark

18. UK Inbox Placement Rates

19. Australia Inbox Placement Rates
Source: 2016 Deliverability Benchmark

20. 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

21. The Challenge of
Measuring Email
Deliverability

23. Bounce Logs

24. Personal Inbox

25. Direct Data

26. Seeds

27. Pros:
• Can pre-test campaigns
• Accurate, real-time
results
• View of Inbox, Spam and
Missing/Blocked
campaigns
• 100+ Inbox Coverage
• Convenience
Cons:
• Engagement filtering may
not be factored
Measuring Deliverability from Seeds

28. Subscriber Panel

29. Pros:
• Larger, more accurate
sample size
• Subscriber behavior
• No set up required
Cons:
• Only available for
Microsoft, Yahoo,
Google, and AOL
domains
• Doesn’t account for
blocked or missing
campaigns
• Cannot pre-test
campaigns
Measuring Deliverability from a Subscriber Panel

30. The Best Way to Measure Deliverability
Seeds + Subscriber Panel

32. Understand the
basics of reputation

33. Your Reputation Defines Your Deliverability
Complaints
Quality of
Subscriber File
Email
Infrastructure
Engagement Sending History Message Quality
33

34. Find out your
reputation
www.senderscore.org

35. High Sender Score = High Inbox Placement Rate
35
Source: Return Path 2016 Sender Score Benchmark Report

36. Subscriber Complaints Cause Major
Reputation Issues

37. How Unknown Users Impact Reputation
37

38. Spam Trap Reputation Impact
38

39. Authenticate
Failing authentication can cause
deliverability issues
#50EmailTips 39

40. BAD_CREDIT HTTP_ESCAPED_HOST
DATE_IN_PAST_03_06 LOCALPART_IN_SUBJECT
FREEMAIL_FORGED_REPLYTO PLING_QUERY
FREEMAIL_REPLYTO RCVD_IN_NJABL_RELAY
FREEMAIL_REPLYTO_END_DIGIT REMOVE_BEFORE_LINK
HTML_FONT_FACE_BAD SUBJ_ILLEGAL_CHARS
HTML_FONT_SIZE_HUGE SUBJECT_NEEDS_ENCODING
HTML_IMAGE_ONLY_12 T_KHOP_FOREIGN_CLICK
HTML_IMAGE_ONLY_28 TRACKER_ID
HTML_IMAGE_ONLY_32 URIBL_BLACK
Top Spam Filter Reasons: Content vs. Quality
40

41. Acquiring and
Maintaining Quality
Lists
41

42. What are your most important list goals?
42
Email List Strategy
Survey/Business-to-Consumer
Channel
Published April 2016 by Return Path in
Partnership with Ascend2

43. How are list sizes changing?
43
Email List Strategy Survey/Business-to-Consumer Channel
Published April 2016 by Return Path in Partnership with Ascend2

44. List Quality is Increasing
44
Email List Strategy Survey/Business-to-Consumer Channel
Published April 2016 by Return Path in Partnership with Ascend2

45. What are the most effective, difficult ways to
grow email lists?
45
Email List Strategy Survey/Business-to-Consumer
Channel
Published April 2016 by Return Path in Partnership
with Ascend2

46. Issue Frequency
Low read rate 26%
High subscriber complaints 21%
High number of inactive users 19%
Sending to spam traps 7%
Content fingerprinted as
spam
4%
83%
17%
79%
21%
Deliverability Tied to List Quality

47. Focus on
Enagagement

48. Inbox Engagement vs. Email Engagement
Inbox Engagement
• Regularly logs-in
• Reads and sends email
• Files email
• TIS/TINS
Email Engagement
• Opens
• Clicks
• Shares
• Purchases

49. Important Engagement Metrics

50. “This is Not Spam” – Rarely used, But Highly
Trusted

51. “This is Not Spam” and Deliverability
Source: Return Path “This is Not Spam” Report
51

52. My email
campaign
went to
spam. Sad!

56. Opens Decline as Spam Increases

58. Grow a quality list

59. Don’t fear higher frequencies

60. Keep complaints to a minimum

61. Emails and Texts from Hillary
1. Can we grab your number?
2. Want to get texts from
Hillary?
3. The official text message
list
4. Want to stay in the loop
with Team Hillary? Sign up
for texts:

62. Can we grab your number?

63. Lessons Learned from the Candidates
1. Establish a sending
history and
reputation
2. Be cautious of
acquiring or renting
email lists
3. Don’t ignore list
quality
4. Leverage live events
5. Keep it simple and to
the point
6. Earned media can be
your best friend and
your worst enemy
1. Grow a large, quality
list
2. Test, test, test
3. Segment your list
4. Keep negative
engagement
measures down
5. Optimize for reach
and action

64. returnpath.com/emailforpresident

65. Let’s Connect
Tom Sather
Senior Director, Research
Tom.sather@returnpath.com
303.999.3116
@tom_sather
@returnpath
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tsather
http://blog.returnpath.com