THINGS EVERY MARKETER MUST KNOW ABOUT EMAIL with Greg Kraios & Chris Arrendale

Inbox Pros TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTERS 1 Deliverability Branding 3 2 Shared IP vs. Dedicated IP 7 3 Feedback Loops 13 4 No-Reply's 18 5 Setting Subscriber Expectations 21 6 Single Opt-In vs. Double Opt-In 29 7 Permission Marketing 37 8 Email Authentication 44 9 Email Throttling 50

250ok.com | InboxPros.com 2 Your domain is your identity. Write that down on a Post-It Note and stick it to your monitor. Now repeat after us, “my domain is my identity.”

DELIVERABILITY It’s the identity that your customers, the recipients of your marketing and transactional messages, have come to trust, or believe they can. It’s this trust that you must BRANDING: YOUR guard as if your business depends on it because it often DOMAIN IS YOUR does. How so? In the 2015http://www.pardot.com/blog/the-2015-email-marketing-landscape/ State of Marketing Report, the Salesforce survey of 5,000 marketers revealed 20% of IDENTITY the audience reported their business primary revenue source is directly linked to email operations. Those people saying email is dead? Tell them to put that stat in their pipe and smoke it (in locations where that’s legal, of course).

So, in an e ort to get your identity in order, we are going to focus on the Display Name or Friendly From, From Address, and the links used within the email.

EMAIL, STILL NOT DEAD

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THE INBOX EXPERIENCE

The Friendly From, subject line, and preview text are the In a perfect world, an intuitive and consistent first connections your message has with a subscriber. It’s Friendly From should: an email’s first moment of truth. Now, consider this - the • Reinforce recipient trust in your email average email user receives 215 emails per day (http://www.radicati.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Email-Statistics-Report-2015-2019-Executive-Summary.pfhttp://www.radicati.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Email-Statistics-Report-2015-2019-Executive-Summary.pdfThe channel https://www.verisign.com/en_US/domain-names/domain-name-search/index.xhtmlRadicati Group). It’s an email deluge out there, so clearly identifying yourself and purpose helps you cut through • Instantly provide insight as to the inbox noise. nature of the message you’re sharing

• Improve the odds of a message getting discover by a subscriber that’s located somewhere other than in their primary inbox (i.e., promotions tab, junk, trash)

• Increase the odds the subscriber will add your email address to their address book (“whitelisting”/ ”safe listing”)

• Help subscribers search, sort, and archive messages

• Ultimately, improve the likelihood of an Friendly From Subject Line Preview Text open and a better brand experience Example of the Gmail mobile experience

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Along the same lines, a branded and appropriate From Gmail, Yahoo!, and AOL can a ect the deliverability of Address can also be crucial for getting your subscriber emails sent by various email service providers (ESPs), so to open the email. Choose a From Address related to our recommendation is to use a domainhttps://www.verisign.com/en_US/domain-names/domain-name-search/index.xhtml you own. the mail stream (e.g., support, billing, promotions) and Neither you or your organization have one? Learn how don’t change it. In addition to your customers, internet to register a domain. After all, your domain is your service providers (ISPs) prefer to see stability in the identity, right? From Address.

LEGAL STUFF

For those mailing to U.S. subscribers, there is a non-negotiable requirement that your From Address and Reply-To Address “must be accurate and identify the person or business who initiated the message,” according to the https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/can-spam-act-compliance-guide-businessCAN-SPAM legislation. Example of the From Address Sending to subscribers in the E.U.? Disguising or concealing the identity of the sender on whose behalf USING A FREE EMAIL SERVICE ADDRESS the communication mailed is strictly prohibited. Canada FOR YOUR FROM ADDRESS requires that the sender must identify itself and the If you use a free email service for the address you persons on whose behalf a commercial electronic provide in the From Address field, a warning may appear message is sent. We’re not attorneys, so we recommend that recommends registering for a domain. The DMARC you consult someone who is when setting up your email http://kb.mailchimp.com/accounts/email-authentication/about-dmarc authentication policies for some free email services like program.

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PREVIEW TEXT BRANDED EMAIL LINKS

While we're trying to stay on topic with domain branding, Finally, branded email links are also important in making we had to mention preview text - the text that your customers feel comfortable clicking on links. When immediately follows the subject line. Again, this is your your subscribers hover over a link in the content, ensure email's first moment of truth in the inbox, so you need to that the link is branded with your domain, or a optimize the preview text when possible. subdomain, and not a shared domain provided by a third party. Most ESPs have the ability to apply custom Our friends at Litmus did a nice job explaining domains for link tracking. This type of link not only helps https://litmus.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-preview-text-supportpreview text in detail and created a list of email clients with any shared link reputation factors, but it reinforces that display preview text. trust.

Example of Preview Text

250ok.com | InboxPros.com 6 An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical number assigned to any device connected to the Internet. When it comes to sending mail, your IP address a single dedicated IP address at places like SendGrid or allows ISPs to identify you and your mail server. SparkPost is a drop in the bucket compared to the piles DELIVERABILITY of cash you burn on PPC on a daily basis. When you hit send, your email is transmitted from your IP address to the ISP’s receiving mail server, who then And let’s not forget your transactional mail – password DECISIONS: decides whether or not to accept your message based resets, order confirmations, shipping notifications – that your IP’s reputation, sending practices, etc. These you depend on to minimize customer support inquiries SHARED IP VS. factors directly impact whether you land in the inbox, and optimize the brand experience. If email is your spam, or get blocked altogether. A clean IP doesn’t primary driver of communication and critical to revenue, guarantee inbox placement, as the journey an email this is not the place to be penny-wise. For most DEDICATED IP takes is complicated, but you get the picture. businesses, cost should not be the driving factor in the decision-making process. As you consider your IP options, know you’ll use a shared IP, a dedicated IP, or a pool of dedicated IPs.

LET’S GET THE COST CONVERSATION OUT OF THE WAY

If messaging and communication is important enough to the success of your business, and you step back and look at the overall budget of your marketing programs, you’ll see that the extra $20/month or so you'll spend on

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a single dedicated IP address at places like SendGrid or senders with inconsistent sending behaviors (e.g., SparkPost is a drop in the bucket compared to the piles seasonal senders). The downside of the shared IP is that of cash you burn on PPC on a daily basis. pooling together with other senders leaves you with $44 ROI limited power to influence the sender reputation and it And let’s not forget your transactional mail – password exposes you to greater risk based on the sending resets, order confirmations, shipping notifications – that behaviors of your IP neighbors. you depend on to minimize customer support inquiries ON EVERY and optimize the brand experience. If email is your Life on a shared IP tends to weaken performance for the primary driver of communication and critical to revenue, best senders and improve performance for lower quality this is not the place to be penny-wise. For most senders. That being said, the ESPs of today are businesses, cost should not be the driving factor in the extremely skilled at uncovering and shutting down decision-making process. $1 abusive senders, and getting even better at predicting bad behaviors before they happen. Bottom-line: If you are a small, irregular or infrequent INTRO TO SHARED IP SPENT ON sender, the standard shared IP environment at most The shared IP environment involves a series of IP top-level ESPs is a great option. Also, if you have higher addresses used to send mail from a single organization EMAIL than average hard bounce rate (3%+), the shared IP or a group of unrelated organizations. This group of IPs environment is a safer place for you. is also known as the “shared IP pool.” The shared IP is Source: Direct Marketing News 2015 If messaging and communication is important enough to the entry-level environment o er by most ESPs. the success of your business, and you step back and look at the overall budget of your marketing programs, Shared IPs are often used to group the outbound mail you’ll see that the extra $20/month or so you'll spend on delivery of multiple, low-volume senders or smaller

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senders with inconsistent sending behaviors (e.g., program. It’s exactly how it sounds: an IP exclusively seasonal senders). The downside of the shared IP is that dedicated to your business. Because you define the pooling together with other senders leaves you with characteristics of the mail sent over that dedicated IP, limited power to influence the sender reputation and it receivers build the most accurate picture of your exposes you to greater risk based on the sending behavior. In other words, you gain total control over behaviors of your IP neighbors. shaping your reputation.

Life on a shared IP tends to weaken performance for the Beyond control, dedicated IPs allow senders to avoid best senders and improve performance for lower quality having a sender appendix like mybrand.myesp.com senders. That being said, the ESPs of today are associated with their emails. This appendix occurs in the extremely skilled at uncovering and shutting down shared IP environment but not with dedicated IPs. abusive senders, and getting even better at predicting Is my email volume high enough for a dedicated IP? bad behaviors before they happen. Bottom-line: If you are a small, irregular or infrequent There is no hard and fast number available. SendGrid sender, the standard shared IP environment at most recommends that you send 100k emails per year before The shared IP environment involves a series of IP top-level ESPs is a great option. Also, if you have higher considering a dedicated IP, and they caveat that by addresses used to send mail from a single organization than average hard bounce rate (3%+), the shared IP saying you can send less if your sending consistency is or a group of unrelated organizations. This group of IPs environment is a safer place for you. strong. Others, like Mailgun, recommend you send 50k is also known as the “shared IP pool.” The shared IP is email per week before jumping to dedicated. Marketo? the entry-level environment o er by most ESPs. 50k emails per month. See what we mean? INTRO TO DEDICATED IP

Shared IPs are often used to group the outbound mail Dedicated IPs are the gold-standard approach to today’s Does being on a dedicated IP mean no other delivery of multiple, low-volume senders or smaller email landscape and investment in the success of your sender can impact your reputation?

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No. That’s just sender mythology. The truth is that if your per IP with your ESP. This type of constraint will factor ESP has senders of marginal and/or poor reputation all into the number of IPs required. with dedicated IPs, even fairly small subnets of just a few hundred IPs, then it's possible the ISP will see enough bad behavior in that IP range that they'll just flag to the whole block. You could have the best intentions but, in this case, you're hosed and need to seek mitigation. The meta-point here is to purchase a dedicated IP with an ESP that has a sterling reputation and ask hard questions about the other senders "near" you and their sending history.

How many dedicated IPs do you need?

You can always operate a single IP. Of course, we don’t recommend it, but you certainly can. At a bare minimum, split your transactional and bulk mail on two separate IPs. If you don't have a very sophisticated messaging program, start with one. If you have many di erent kinds of programs, some riskier than others, get several dedicated IPs.

For high-volume senders, consider the max volume you send hourly and walk through the hourly throttling limits

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SHARED VS. DEDICATED IP

111.222.33.4444 111.222.33.4445 DEDICATED IP ADDRESS SHARED IP ADDRESS

YOUR COMPUTER YOUR COMPUTER ANOTHER COMPUTER

ESP

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WARMING THE DEDICATED IP Bottom-line: If you’re consistently sending…

“New or unknown IPs are treated as innocent until • Less than 50k messages per month, proven guilty, but the bar for guilt is incredibly low,” a shared IP will work just fine. according to 250ok VP of Engineering and former • 50k+ messages per month, a Inbound Delivery & Anti-Spam Senior Engineer at dedicated IP test might be Hotmail, Paul Midgen. worthwhile.

Below is the recommended IP warming plan from • 200k+ messages per month, we Marketo for your first five days on the new dedicated IP… recommend dedicated IPs. Your reputation lift may not be as strong as Stay beneath these limits: those high-volume senders on

Hotmail & MSN.com: dedicated IPs, but, at this stage, 10,000 messages/day you’re doing the right thing for the future of your program. Yahoo & Rocketmail & YMail: 4,000 messages/day When purchasing dedicated IPs, go with an ESP that

AOL & AIM: 10,000 messages/day has a sterling reputation and ask hard questions about other senders "near" you and their sending history. Total (all domains): 50,000 Remember, your ESP is likely supporting other messages/day dedicated IP senders in your block.

After the first five days, you can slowly ramp up the volume.

250ok.com | InboxPros.com 12 For you rookies out there, FBL stands for feedback loop, the mechanism ISPs like Hotmail and Yahoo! use to report spam complaints to senders. Spam complaints (a.k.a., abuse complaints) are generated when a FEEDBACK LOOPS: subscriber clicks on the “report as spam” button. SUPPRESSING How do feedback loops work? When someone on your list hits the spam button, the ISP COMPLAINTS (a.k.a., the mailbox provider) forwards the o ending message back to a designated email address that has been set up by you or your ESP with the expectation that you will suppress this user in your database.

The key component of thinking about how you respond to complaints is time. Most feedback loops operate in near real-time, meaning while there can be a delay of days or weeks between the time you send the message and when it is reported as spam, the FBL notification arrives very soon after the recipient files the report.

The only safe way to interpret a spam complaint is to take it as an indication that the recipient wants to opt-out of that mail stream. Therefore, your responsibility is to do so, immediately. You should note

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Email Sent

Sender Suppresses FEEDBACK LOOP Receiver Address Reports Spam

ISP Notification Sends Report

ISP’S & YOUR FBL EMAIL ADDRESS that there is a direct correlation between deliverability and a timely response to complaints. Why? Not all ISPs maintain an FBL, but it is important to get Repeatedly sending messages to recipients who have signed up with all that are available. The one major ISP opted-out of those messages is the fastest way to tank that does not have a traditional FBL is Gmail, but they do your reputation. You can wind up in the spam folder, or o er your ESP the ability to receive alerts based on worse, be fired by your ESP. complaints. New feedback loops come out frequently and it is always a good idea to check and see if you are signed up for any new ones. Recommended: bookmark

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this https://250ok.com/email-deliverability/list-available-isp-feedback-loops/page at 250ok.com that includes an up-to-date list can complicate the suppression process. Best-in-class of ISP feedback loops. Perform a periodic check to sender programs will include tracking links in the email ensure you are covering all the FBL bases. body or subscriber identifiers in the x-header that provide signals to help identify the complainant. As the sender, you should set up a dedicated email account to receive the reports back from the ISP. You’re going to need it as you register for FBLs. You can GETTING STARTED consider adding a parsing script to the email account Your ESP will typically sign you up and process these that combs through the arriving messages to extract complaints so they will be automatically suppressed critical information. from further email campaigns. Make sure to confirm that feature exists when you’re shopping for an ESP. Each Once you begin receiving complaint reports from the ISP ISP has an application process to enable their FBL which that is sent to your FBL email address, it will contain a can usually be found on their postmaster site. The most copy of the email that triggered the spam complaint. common information requested includes contact These messages coming from ISPs are typically in the information, IP address, and the designated FBL email Abuse Reporting Format (ARF), and you are allowed to address for receiving reports. collect the information contained in these reports which include the message header and body. This is also While most FBLs are IP based, Yahoo! o ers a where you collect the complainant’s email address so domain-based FBL and requires senders to authenticate you can quickly suppress it. with DKIM to enable the feedback loop process. Also, as part of Yahoo!’s application, you will be asked for the d= For the sake of user privacy, some ISPs redact the and s= values from your DKIM signature. Be prepared to complainant’s email address from the message, which spend a little extra time setting up Yahoo!.

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USE FBL MONITORING SOFTWARE

Don’t be a hero and try to manually manage the FBL process. Technology is your friend. We recommend using an email reputation monitoring tool like 250ok’s Reputationhttps://250ok.com/tour/reputation-informant/ Informant™ to manage the FBL process.

Using the right tool allows you to:

• Understand which campaigns are generating the highest complaint rates

• Identify the recipients hitting “report as spam” most often

• Predict which of your IP addresses are likely to be a ected and at which ISPs

• Easily export a list of complaints to simplify your suppression process

Example of FBL monitoring via 250ok's Reputation Informant

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BENEFITS OF A STRONG FBL PROCESS BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND

Protecting your reputation. It’s never too early to mention that the easiest way to reduce spam complaints is to avoid spamming If someone is hitting the “report as spam” button, they strategies. Shocker, we know. Build a list of confirmed want o that stream. Make it so. Not making it so is opt-in subscribers (a.k.a., double opt-in), live up to the going to damage your sender reputation and, ultimately, frequency and volume you promised when they signed it’s going to hurt your brand. up, and give them a clear path to unsubscribe. But know that no matter how much TLC you put into your Watching your back. program, you’re going to receive complaints. So, be If you receive a spam complaint on a piece of mail you prepared. never sent, your IPs have likely been compromised and you need to act. FBLs serve as a safety net and as a Oh, and by the way, is your unsubscribe link broken? component of your network security. Use them as such. Check that link early and often.

Improving your program.

If you add campaign ID or list source ID to your email headers, you give yourself the opportunity to identify which campaigns and/or lists are causing headaches. That base will give you a jumping-o point for a deeper analysis of content, timing, frequency, personalization (or lack thereof), and so on. Take the intelligence you glean and apply it to your program.

250ok.com | InboxPros.com 17 We’re going to put on our devil horns for a minute and make the argument that there are situations where a No-Reply works.

SAY “HELL NO” TO Yes, sending a message from a No-Reply is like calling a consumer but muting their mic. You say what you want to say and then force them into alternative options for THE NO-REPLY responding to you. It works for you, no doubt. But is it ideal for them?

In the U.S., where receiving mail from a No-Reply address is legal, the Department of Motor Vehicles or Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) in some states is an example of a business that sends emails they never want you to reply to.

The BMV is a state government organization, so there is no competitive pressure on the business. They simply don’t have to provide the same level of stellar customer service as that of Macy’s, for example. Want to speak with them? Go to one of their oces and take a number, or use the live chat on their website during business hours. It’s their way or the highway.

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BENEFITS OF SAYING NO TO ‘NO REPLYS’

Unsubscribe flexibility. You’re including contact information and an unsubscribe link in the body of the No-Reply, but some subscribers will inevitably be too impatient to jump through your hoops and want to reply with a request to This email was sent by: Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles unsubscribe. It’s going to happen. Now 100 North Senate Avenue, Room N440 Indianapolis, IN 46204 guess what those subscribers are likely

Unsubscribe to do once they realize you are making them work to unsubscribe?

Please do not reply to the email. To contact the BMV, use Address book. It certainly is not myBMV.com or 888-692-6841 instinctive to add an address starting with “No-Reply@” to your contact list. Example of BMV email footer With the average American being served 362 advertisements per day (Media Dynamics), reducing What about businesses that are in heated competition unnecessary barriers to purchase or for consumers, or those aiming to please and retain engagement feels like a sound subscriber bases? For those senders, our practice. Of course, if you work at the recommendation is to avoid the No-Reply routine. BMV, barriers are probably not a concern.

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Deep cleanse. By sorting through to directly respond to your messages, these responses, you’ll be able to see is something we advise. if addresses are still valid. For example, an auto-responder might notify you that someone is no longer at that I FOUGHT THE LAW company. You will also get the Personal marketing and support preferences aside, automatic responses when an email there is one non-negotiable regulation in place: If you address bounces or fails. Remove send direct marketing mail to subscribers in the inactive subscribers, update new European Union, Article 13 requires a sender to contact information and domain include a “valid address” to which the recipient can changeovers. reply with a request to unsubscribe. Learn about more Engagement Metrics. We know that global email regulations here. mailbox providers generally view recipient engagement with mail as a Think your consumer or subscriber base will expand to positive signal. As a result, it’s our the E.U.? Save yourself future work and ditch the opinion that when you have the No-Reply approach now. opportunity to o er better engagement with a message, you do so.

More Human Than Human. Well, not more human, but bringing a human approach to your marketing communications, like allowing people

250ok.com | InboxPros.com 20 With email marketing, you have a golden opportunity to dramatically move the business needle. A 2015 MarketingSherpa survey (graph on pg. 22) found 72% of consumers say that email is their preferred form of SETTING communication with companies they do business with. 61% say they like to receive promotional emails weekly with 28% wanting them more frequently. The only SUBSCRIBER demographic exception in this survey was among females 65 or older, where 64% preferred email to EXPECTATIONS postal mail. They are ready.

As you race to communicate with your audience, remember that everything you do as a marketer is influencing what consumers think about your brand. No matter how grandiose or subtle, every action by you that registers with a consumer creates an impression. As you engage them, providing the experience they expect (or better yet, over-delivering) is critical - some studies have shown that it can take 12 positive experiences to make up for one unresolved negative experience (Understanding Customers, Newell-Lengner).

Picture this: Your customer is sitting in gridlocked trac when she hears a “ding” from her phone. She stops

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trying to break-up the chaos of her kids fighting in the data they collect and how they leverage it, content backseat to check her email – she’s expecting to get an format and quality level, mail frequency options, single email about an o er she’s made on a house. With one opt-in vs. double opt-in, and so on. You have a firm hand on the wheel and the other on her phone, which grasp on your space. If you don’t, you should. we do not condone even in gridlock, she discovers you’ve sent her your third email of the day. But you promised you would only send one message per week. DEFINING YOUR PROMISE WITH EMAIL You promised! The last email doesn’t even include an o er, but that’s why she signed up in the first place. If “In order to get permission, you make a she wasn’t so busy, she would opt-out, right now. To promise. You say, ‘I will do X, Y and Z, I hope Bezos’ point, what she’s saying about you right now is you will give me permission by listening.’ And what your brand means to her. then, this is the hard part, that’s all you do.” SETH GODIN SETTING THE TABLE

For marketers that have already gone through a brand We cover Seth Godin in greater detail in our Let Them strategy exercise, you probably have a strong sense of Eat Ham: Permission Marketing chapter, but this is what will work with your audience. As a byproduct, you where you define the promise of what you will deliver to baked up which audiences to target, what those who give you permission. This promise, and content/o ers will be meaningful, and how to deliver it examples of what it entails – a video example, an all via email. And for you, the email marketer, your infographic, a coupon – is likely where you will win or competitive research of successful email programs lose your attempt to build a new connection (i.e., adding revealed what other brands promise, what personal a new subscriber).

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COMMUNICATING THE PROMISE Welcome emails. Trigger this message to go out immediately and, You have multiple touchpoints available to set customer yes, hit them with a rezcap of the expectations when it comes to your email program. program. Show them how to update Never miss an opportunity to reinforce what you do, their preferences if that’s available. how you do it, and why it’s meaningful for them. Hand them the keys to your kingdom.

Digital Touchpoints Within every email. ESPs often • Landing pages & other registration provide a template that includes all (i.e., opt-in) screens. Make your pitch the key information you are legally and explain the benefit of being obligated to include in every email subscribed. Talk about the type of (e.g., postal address, unsubscribe content you share and the frequency link), but consider including a simple at which a subscriber can expect to sentence towards the header or receive messages from you. footer that reminds them about your • Confirmation emails & thank you purpose and the expected message pages. This is your chance to frequency. Also, adding your Privacy reconfirm everything, so list the bullet Policy and Terms of Use/Service points you covered at the opt-in point. within the footer is a pro move. For double opt-in lists, this Unsubscribe screens. Make opt-out a opportunity allows you to reconfirm breeze, and a two-click process at the everything before you begin. most. If you o er the ability to update preferences, show that here.

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Preference center. Allowing CONSUMERS SHOW UP WITH THEIR OWN subscribers to update their EXPECTATIONS preferences mid-stream will help Consumers have a ton of experience with email. As a reduce churn. If you manage multiple result, they bring a set of pre-baked expectations to this email lists, we recommend that you process: allow users to choose between opting out of a single email list or opting out Hold the spam. You would be of all streams you o er. CAN-SPAM amazed at the number of big requires that a sender o er the ability companies still buying/renting lists. to unsubscribe from all future emails Consumers don’t appreciate it. from any main list or sub-list (a.k.a., Deliver on promise. You can do the "universal unsubscribe"). everything else right on this list, but Privacy Policy & Terms of fail them and nothing else will matter. Use/Service. Both are important Delight them or behold the dreaded locations where you set expectations. list churn.

Let them drive. Leave the “send me tons of email” checkbox unchecked by default and earn the subscription.

Make it simple. At every touchpoint, customers expect things to be made simple.

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Be flexible. Sophisticated email What about personalization as a consumer programs give subscribers flexibility in expectation? 73% of consumers prefer to do business what and how they consume. Do your with brands that use personal information to make research and meet your consumer their shopping experiences more relevant (Digital where they want to be met. Anything Trends), so don’t be afraid to ask for data that helps less is you failing to be the best you improve their experiences. marketer you can be.

Be reasonable & protective. Only ask for the minimum amount of data required. Do not share their email address or other data with a third party without express permission to do so. Provide easy access to the Privacy Policy. Take care with their data.

Pay attention. From monitoring opt-ins, unsubscribes, complaints, support feedback, surveys, and customers flaming or loving your on social media, always be listening across all channels.

Example of personalization within email copy

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CONTINUALLY MEETING OUR 4 BIG TAKEAWAYS EXPECTATIONS We’ve shared a bunch of information in this chapter, See, that’s the thing about expectations: they never but here are the four high-level takeaways to end. When setting expectations for subscribers, it’s remember: exponentially easier to make a promise than to keep 1. Do your research on your target one. You’re nodding your head right now. You know audience and existing customer base. it’s true, but that lazy marketing devil on your Learn what makes them tick. Design shoulder won’t shut up. your program to meet their desires.

“Tina’s on vacation. We knew it was coming, but we 2. Under-promise and over-deliver on failed to prepare. Oh, well. I know we promise a video your content or o ers. Wow them, with every message, but missing it once won’t matter,” consistently. Remember, nothing else the marketing devil recommends. matters if you don’t.

3. Use the touchpoints you have with Don’t fall for it. Send what you promised to send. consumers or subscribers to Don’t send more or less frequently than the communicate expectations. expectation you set. If you promised this stream has a 20% o deal or more in every message, deliver it. 4. Listen to all the feedback signals Failing to do so will compromise the integrity of the within your reach and adjust stream. accordingly.

250ok.com | InboxPros.com 27 The opt-in is the process of a subscriber enrolling in a mail stream. There are a numerous subcategories of opt-in according to a variety of email professionals we respect; however, we like to narrow this down to three SINGLE OPT-IN VS. main types: single opt-in, double opt-in, and unconfirmed opt-in.

DOUBLE OPT-IN Like most marketing campaigns, we advise taking into consideration the campaign characteristics like target audience, the country of origin of the audience (and the laws in place), and any previous deliverability problems before making a decision. More about this later.

To give you a sense of the landscape, MarketingSherpa’s Email Marketing Benchmark Report (2013) found 39% of programs were deploying double opt-in campaigns. However, the 250ok study How The Top 500 Internet Retailers Collect Email Sign-ups (2016) reviewed the top 500 internet retailers which included over 1,000 websites, revealed that only 9% of these retailers were using double opt-in. ESPs like MailChimp strongly recommend their customers use double opt-in in an e ort to reduce spam, and the promise of better long-tail engagement.

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SINGLE OPT IN UNCONFIRMED OPT IN

Single opt-in (SOI), or just “opt-in,” is a process that does Unconfirmed opt-in (UOI), or unverified opt-in, is when a not require a new subscriber to confirm their sender enrolls an address to their mailing list without registration. Upon initial registration by the new verifying if the address owner has provided permission subscriber, their email address is instantly added to your or not. Say “hello” to spam. email list and you can begin sending to that address.

Example of a single opt-in program

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DOUBLE OPT IN

Double opt-in (DOI), or closed-loop opt-in/confirmed subscriber immediately following their initial opt-in, is a process that requires a new subscriber to registration that requires them to click a link. Only confirm their registration. This confirmation typically after the confirmation is verified will the new occurs through a verification email sent to the new subscriber be added to the email list.

Example of a double opt-in program

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SHOW ME THE MONEY

If ROI is your top KPI, you curious about the cash. • Subscribers: By the time the DOI list The case for double opt-in Improving the Return on achieved 1000 subscribers, the SOI Investment (ROI) for Direct Email Campaigns authors list acquired 1249 subscribers. report an average ROI for a DOI list may vary from 33% to 102% as compared to only –6% to 58% for an SOI list. • Opens: He designed a five-part welcome series of auto responder But other anecdotal, yet interesting, studies from emails and measured engagement. marketers like Jarom Adair of Solopreneur Marketing SOI had a 63.8% open rate with a 17% make a case for SOI. In Jason’s test, he set up two email CTR, and DOI had a 57.6% open rate lists, one with SOI and one with DOI. The tests ran with a 15.6% CTR. side-by-side until both lists had a minimum of 1,000 • Orders: The SOI list generated 14 subscribers. The result was interesting: orders while the DOI list drove 12.

• ROI: Unfortunately, the order values and ROI were not reported. Also, we

“Only requiring a single opt-in to have no sense of the lifetime value join your email list seems to work out better (LTV) each list drove.

because you get more subscribers.” • Spam complaints: This was another JAROM ADAIR metric omitted which we feel is critical for a healthy comparison.

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PROS & CONS OF OPT INS Cons of using double opt-in: • . It’s an extra step for The following points are commonly cited pros and cons Extra work subscribers. Some people will not regardinghttp://www.isipp.com/documents/The-Case-for-COI.pdf both approaches. mind, others will be annoyed.

Pros of using double opt-in: • Leakage. This is the group of new subscribers that initiate but fail to • Committed subscribers. You have a built a list of people that actually want complete the DOI process. They can to be on it. Congratulations. leak for multiple reasons: the extra step required, got distracted, • Cleaner Data. By its nature, this DOI misunderstood the confirmation email process yields cleaner lists by instructions, confirmation email hit a creating protection from typos, spam di erent tab and was missed, bots, revenge spam, and subscribers confirmation email failed to deliver, that had a change of heart and so on. People like Smart Insights’ mid-confirmation process. Tim Watson say that the leakage rate is commonly around 20% with 40% • Confirmed proof of permission. If subscribers begin hitting the spam leakage not being unheard of. button, you have evidence of their • Process failure. More than 15% of permission. You might need this in homepage and site registration email Germany or elsewhere. sign-up processes resulted in failure, according to a study of more than 160 B2C brands by ExactTarget.

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Pros of using single opt-in: • Fake emails. Some subscribers are willing to try entering a fake email • Simplicity for subscribers. The user address to gain access to content. that wants to receive mail from you Content marketers gating content will find the SOI process easiest. It’s a should expect to see some emails one-step action. bounce and your CRM to have some • Instant satisfaction. There is no delay bogus contacts. or time gap in the registration process • Your haters. Everybody has some and like there is with DOI. Everybody’s yours might intentionally register happy. address of known anti-spammers, your • List growth speed. Because of the competition, or known troublemakers. simplicity advantage in the • Honest typos. It’s inevitable that some registration process, the SOI percentage of new subscribers will programs typically produce higher accidentally fat finger their email numbers of registrants more quickly. address upon registration. Mailing to these addresses will negatively impact Cons of using single opt-in: your reputation. • Revenge Spam. The act of signing someone else up to a list to get back • List hygiene overtime. You’re going to at them. “I just signed my need to put in some overtime on the ex-boyfriend up for Dr. Phil’s emails. list hygiene work with these SOI lists. Maybe he’ll get the hint.”

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CLEANER DATA WITHOUT DOI? subscribers that have failed to engage with your emails in any way You can jump through other hoops to improve the within the first 120 days or the first 10 quality of your SOI lists: messages are what Chad White of Litmus calls Never-Actives. These • List verification. List verification subscribers present a risk to your services from companies like sender reputation and it’s in your best BriteVerify, Webbula, and interest to find a way to trigger their FreshAddress are used to identify engagement or cut them loose. We bad addresses. We are seeing more agree. integrations at the ESP level which will create better ease of use for senders. REALITY CHECK

• Double-entry confirmation. Asking a This is how we see it: new subscriber to enter their email • twice is a simple and immediate If you want to minimize your risk of quality check. But let’s face it, it’s not being blacklisted, use DOI. uncommon to copy and paste the • If your top KPI is “build a huge initial email into the secondary field in freaking list,” use SOI. this scenario. We do. • Will engagement metrics be stronger • Non-starters. Assuming your on DOI? We have shown anecdotal deliverability to a list is strong, evidence of varying results.

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• Will DOI improve the long-tail value of Through countless conversations with marketers about a list? You’re going to need to test. what it would take for them to move to DOI, we have uncovered some interesting potential hooks. Look for • Don’t base your decision o of a a future blog post on 250ok.com addressing this topic. couple email marketing blogs, test with your audience, your promise, your content/o ers, and program management team. Test, review, and react.

FINAL THOUGHTS

For us? We fancy ourselves as idealists. Our top KPI is the evolution of email. We dream of a world without spam, where advances in sending technology allow for extraordinarily personalized experiences, and, as a result, a world where the consumer places even greater value on the email channel as a whole.

But the current engagement and revenue generated by SOI lists mean most businesses are unlikely to switch just for the sake of creating a better email experience for humans. We get it.

250ok.com | InboxPros.com 35 Remember Seth Godin? If you don’t, you’re probably younger than us. Savor it while you can. The point is that it’s impossible for us to talk about permission-based marketing without tipping our hat to Seth Godin and his LET THEM EAT HAM: 1999 book, PermissionPermission MarketingMarketing. Here, he coined the term permission marketing - the process of earning a voluntary opt-in, or situational permission, from potential PERMISSION customers. Little did we know at the time how important his thinking on the topic would prove to be, and how it MARKETING would still be a conversation point today.

That being said, some businesses keep spamming for a reason: it works. For a surprising number of companies that will not advertise this fact, spam drives enough revenue to justify their deliverability headaches and the poor customer experience it creates. At least, that’s what they think.

But regulations in the E.U. and Canada’s CASL are beginning to change that reality. As the total number of worldwide email accounts is expected to increase to over 5.2 billion accounts by 2018 – a growth of more than 26% (Radicati Group) – we are bullish that legal pressures will continue to mount around the world and drive regulations regarding spam.

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DEFINING SPAM send the requested mail. Also, if you, as a subscriber of these companies, wish to turn o notifications or change In the face of Seth’s rallying cry, the CAN-SPAM Act of email frequency, you typically can. And you can always 2003 was passed in the United States which made the opt-out, which is one of the conditions of CAN-SPAM. We spamming of Americans legal with a few conditions. need to be careful about what we call spam. In an e ort to make sure we’re all on the same page, let’s define spam. Here is Wikipedia’s take: “Email Hard-core spam? Spamhaus, creators of The 10 Worst spam, also known as junk email or unsolicited bulk Spammers list, report that up to 80% of spam targeted at email (UBE) [or unsolicited commercial email (UCE)], global internet users is generated by a group of is a subset of electronic spam involving nearly approximately 100 known spam operations. identical messages sent to numerous recipients by email.”

The key is the combination of “unsolicited” and “bulk.” The two of those things by themselves do not constitute spam.

We see some blogs and media sites publishing lists of companies “spamming” customers because they send “Permission marketing is the privilege (not the so much mail (e.g., Groupon, LivingSocial, Facebook). right) of delivering anticipated, personal and For example, Unroll.me’s 2016 Spammy Awards is an relevant messages to people who actually want interesting read. But if a consumer asked to receive a to get them.” SETH GODIN daily deal email, a sender is not spamming when they

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send the requested mail. Also, if you, as a subscriber of permission vary by country but typically limit the access these companies, wish to turn o notifications or change to these contacts based on the length of time since their In the face of Seth’s rallying cry, the CAN-SPAM Act of email frequency, you typically can. And you can always last business engagement (e.g., a purchase, a lease, a 2003 was passed in the United States which made the opt-out, which is one of the conditions of CAN-SPAM. We consultation, etc.) with your company. spamming of Americans legal with a few conditions. need to be careful about what we call spam. In an e ort to make sure we’re all on the same page, The transactional mail of today falls into this category. let’s define spam. Here is Wikipedia’s take: “Email Hard-core spam? Spamhaus, creators of The 10 Worst Purchase receipts, shipping notifications, and changes to spam, also known as junk email or unsolicited bulk Spammers list, report that up to 80% of spam targeted at a company’s privacy policy are all examples of implied email (UBE) [or unsolicited commercial email (UCE)], global internet users is generated by a group of permission. Of course, implied permission can is a subset of electronic spam involving nearly approximately 100 known spam operations. technically include a giveaway registration at a trade identical messages sent to numerous recipients by show booth, an exchange of business cards, or a simple email.” verbal request. Thinking about adding people to email 2 TYPES OF PERMISSION lists without verifying they want on them makes us The key is the combination of “unsolicited” and “bulk.” There are two common types of permission that are uncomfortable, and we do not recommend that practice. The two of those things by themselves do not constitute known by several di erent names. spam. Along these lines, some claim we are seeing the limit of Implied (a.k.a., Implicit or Inferred) implicit permission being tested by businesses that use We see some blogs and media sites publishing lists of inbound marketing tactics. Patrick Hathaway’s blog post companies “spamming” customers because they send Implied permission, the weakest form of consent, refers Is This What Seth Godin Meant By Permission so much mail (e.g., Groupon, LivingSocial, Facebook). to a contact for whom it is reasonable to believe that Marketing?Marketing? details how downloading a single piece of For example, Unroll.me’s 2016 Spammy Awards is an you have permission to send messages. Implied is content, and not checking the opt-in box, resulted in his interesting read. But if a consumer asked to receive a based on you having a prior relationship with the inclusion on 19 di erent mail lists. Needless to say, he daily deal email, a sender is not spamming when they contact. The requirements associated with this type of was not happy.

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Explicit (a.k.a., Express or Express Consent) 3 MANTRAS FOR PERMISSION BASED EMAIL MARKETERS Explicit permission is real permission. This exchange is where the sender makes a promise about the value of We believe that Godin’s philosophy is just as important opting into a specific list and a subscriber decides if that today as it ever was. Remember, we are talking real https://litmus.com/blog/how-to-manage-t he-3-kinds-of-inactive-email-subscribers sounds interesting or not. The subscriber must opt-in for permission here, not implied. the sender to possess explicit permission. Mantra #1 – Permission is granted, not fabricated

"Real permission is dierent from presumed or “In order to get permission, you make a promise. You legalistic permission. Just because you say, ‘I will do X, Y and Z, I hope you will give me somehow get my email address doesn't mean permission by listening.’ And then, this is the hard you have permission. Just because I don't part, that’s all you do.” - SETH GODIN complain doesn't mean you have permission. Just because it's in the fine print of your The entire premise of permission is that you actually ask privacy policy doesn't mean it's permission and receive it. You shouldn’t buy lists, rent lists, or share either.” SETH GODIN lists among friendlies. If you don’t have permission, don’t mail them.

Nail your promise, show enticing examples of what they will receive (i.e., the value), and drive awareness of your o er in places your audience spends time.

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Mantra #2 – Permission is only the beginning

“The goal of the Permission Marketer is to move consumers up the permission ladder, moving them from strangers to friends to customers. And from customers to loyal customers. At every step up the ladder, trust grows, responsibility grows, and profits grow.” - SETH GODIN

Understand your customer’s journey and how email will play its role in that process. Many businesses are building relationships with di erent types of buyers, so leverage segmentation to address the specialized needs of each group.

For email marketers, the beginning comes in the form of the welcome email or campaign. This initial message is a great opportunity for you to convert as the average open rate is approximately 50%. Don’t miss this chance, and don’t delay in sending. Use an auto-responder to kick-o the welcome program upon opt-in.

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Mantra #3 – Permission is fragile and impermanent address six months ago when I downloaded a white paper. If customers want to opt-out of transactional messages from you, allow them. If they don’t want those “The promise is the promise until both sides messages, they will find a more painful way to shut you agree to change it. You don’t assume that just out. Let them eat ham. because you’re running for President or coming to the end of the quarter or launching a new You don’t have to wait for spam complaints to product that you have the right to break the deal. unsubscribes to figure out you might be heading You don’t.” - SETH GODIN towards a break-up.

Early warning signs (assuming your mail is being Assuming you are keeping very close tabs on your email delivered): deliverability with tools like 250ok, you can send with a • Open rates. If this number is going high degree of confidence that subscribers are receiving downward, you’re doing it wrong. your mail. Missing or blocked mail is you breaking the promise in the eyes of the consumer. • Click-thru rates. A decline in CTR is an indicator that you might be missing Not even transaction mail has a right to be forced on the mark with your content, consumers. Target doesn’t make us leave their brick and messaging, or o ers. mortar stores with a receipt when we make a purchase, • Tab movement. If a subscriber moves so why should eCommerce? Updating your Privacy you from their Gmail inbox to the Policy might be a big deal to you, but it doesn’t mean I promotions tab, you might be heading want to hear about it just because you captured my in the wrong direction.

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Don’t give up too quickly. For email addresses that have gone stale – commonly 3 to 6 months without an open (depending on the frequency of the mailings), try sending a reconfirmation campaign. These campaigns are sent to existing email subscribers to reconfirm permission to send. The email asks the subscriber if they’d like to remain on your mailing list, or if they’d like to be removed. A reconfirmation message should be sent periodically to avoid high bounces, complaints, and unsubscribes.

You’ve were given permission to feed them ham...

NOW GO DO IT!

250ok.com | InboxPros.com 42 You didn’t think you were getting through this series on email deliverability best practices without some semi-technical email talk, did you? Welcome to our EMAIL chapter on email authentication. Email authentication allows Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to accurately identify the sender of an email and, AUTHENTICATION: based on the outcome of the authentication process, decide what will be done with that message. SAFETY FIRST Authentication has moved from being a recommendation to a mandatory practice as spammers have become more malicious and clever. By spoofing your domain (i.e., your identity), spammers use a technique called phishing to trick your customers out of passwords, personal information, and, sometimes, cash.

(Note: The Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) says it observed a record-breaking 250% surge in phishing attacks between October 2015 and March 2016.)

For most email marketers, you probably have a dedicated email ops sta or person that helps handle your authentication. However, phishing attacks can have such a serious impact on your brand, we feel that it’s imperative for you to have a basic understanding of authentication. Knowledge is power.

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AUTHENTICATION TOOL: SPF

Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is a path authorization mechanism. Email spam and phishing often use a forged from address, so publishing and checking SPF records are recommended anti-spam techniques. SPF says that a message claiming to be from a given domain was allowed to be sent over a given IP. The list of authorized SENDS EMAIL sending IPs for a domain is published in the Domain Name System (DNS) records for that domain. It’s critical to keep those IP addresses up-to-date within your DNS VERIFIES records. SPF RECORD SERVER SPF has a reputation of being easy to implement, but it is also universally known as being easy to screw up. Proceed with care. RECEIVES AUTHORIZED EMAIL

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AUTHENTICATION TOOL: DKIM PUBLISHED DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) is a content PUBLIC KEY verification mechanism. It simply says whether a message has been modified since it was sent. DKIM SENDING MAIL SERVER SIGNING MTA intended to prevent forged sender addresses in emails, a technique often used in phishing and email spam. MAIL OUT Upon sending an email, digests of the message body PRIVATE KEY SIGNED and headers are computed then encrypted with a DNS SERVER private key and both values are stored in the message. The recipient does the same in reverse and uses the RETRIEVE public key to decrypt the encoded digest. If the values PUBLIC KEY match, the message was not modified. RECEIVING MAIL SERVER VERIFYING MTA Your ESP will keep the private key on the Mail Transport Agent (MTA), while you will update your DNS records with the public key. It is worth noting here that DKIM is MAIL IN VERIFIED required for getting enrolled in the Yahoo! and Gmail feedback loops - something we feel is mandatory.

MAILBOX

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10 STEPS TO GETTING STARTED WITH DMARC

Authenticate using both SPF and Publish a DMARC record with the DKIM. “none” flag set for the policy so you can begin receiving reports. Create a list of all IP addresses - internal and at your ESP - that you use Analyze the data and modify your mail to send email. streams as appropriate.

Ensure that your domains are Modify your DMARC policy flags from correctly aligning the appropriate “none” to “quarantine” to “reject” as identifiers. you gain experience and review the reports. Create your authentication record on SPF and DKIM, then publish them. Use a software platform like 250ok to monitor DMARC. Setup your mail server to sign outbound email with DKIM.

Test your records. DKIM has two testing tools: the Policy Record Tester and Selector Record Tester. SPF has a series of testing tools available on their website.

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DMARC

YOU RECIPIENT’S MAIL SERVER DMARC POLICY MAILBOX

VALIDATE SPF COMPOSE & CHECKS SPAM FILTERS & DKIM SEND EMAIL REPUTATION, CONTENT BLACKLISTS, & SCORING AUTHENTICATION

APPLY DMARC POLICY YOUR MAIL DIPOSITION SERVER ADDS RECEIVES DKIM SIGNATURE MESSAGE

PASS INBOX

QUARANTINE SPAM REJECT BLOCK

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LOOKING FORWARD

Most ESPs will set up your account with SPF and DKIM. DMARC is often an added requirement, but worth inquiring about if you do not have the internal resources to make it a reality. After reading this chapter, check your email headers and make sure you see SPF, DKIM, and DMARC pass, or have your email ops sta assist you. If you are unable to do so, feel free to reach to us for a consultation.

It's critical to review and perform email authentication testing on an ongoing basis. This includes making sure that the emails continue to pass SPF and DKIM checks. We often find that someone may make a change to a DNS record that may cause authentication failures. There are a lot of moving parts with here, but buckle down and ensure your program is always on top of authentication and DMARC.

250ok.com | InboxPros.com 48 Email throttling is the act of limiting the number of email messages simultaneously sent to one ISP or remote server. A deferral is what happens to a message when you’re throttled. The message is not accepted and it is EMAIL THROTTLING: handed back to you with a slap on the wrist and a request to come back later.

SLOW & LOW TO What’s the point? Throttles limit the amount of damage a spammer can do. When a non-spammer is hit with a DELIVERY throttle, it’s because they’ve been careless.

WHAT CAN CAUSE A THROTTLE?

Being a spammer. If your sender reputation is low due to spamming, you might have issues.

HTTP://WWW.TRIPWIRE.COM/STATEOFSECURITY/ FEATURED/PHISHINGFRENZYTHEGOODTHEBA Hitting rate limits. Limits mightDANDHOWYOUCANPROTECTYOURSELF/ include the number of emails sent per minute/hour, SMTP connections per minute/hour, and the number of emails sent by each SMTP connection.

Sending from an unknown IP. Until an ISP has enough data to determine

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your IP reputation, you will be under Spam complaints. When your mail increased scrutiny and, likely, rate has trigger increased spam limits. This typically occurs when an IP complaints but not enough for the has not been warmed up properly. server to block you. The receiving server shifts to a holding pattern on All ports full. When a receiving server receiving more mail from you until does not have any open ports other recipients have reacted to the available to receive email. mail already delivered. Mailbox is full. When the recipient’s mailbox is full and unable to receive more mail.

SENDER RECIPIENT’S ISP RECIPIENT'S MAILBOX

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Most ESPs will attempt the delivery of your mail for up to uncommon for a response of “User is receiving mail at 72 hours. If your mail remains deferred past this period, too great a rate right now, please try again later,” “User’s it’s likely that there is another cause beyond throttling mailbox is over quota,” or “Too many connections from and they will often convert your deferral to a hard your host.” bounce and possibly move the address to your block list.

WHAT DOES THROTTLING LOOK LIKE?

You’ve just sent an epic campaign and begin to check the email activity.

You see a lot of “deferred” where you expected to see “delivered.” Know that a “deferral” and “throttled” and “soft bounces” are synonymous in the email world. A large number of email is being deferred, but you’re not seeing many hard bounces. Example of a Bounce Code Some ISPs provide detailed bounce codes that may be related to sending emails too quickly. Examples include the RP-001 error from Outlook, and the TS01 and TS02 bounce codes from Yahoo!. These SMTP errors are almost always reported as a 400 class error. It is not

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AVOIDING TROUBLE FINAL THOUGHTS

There are six key tactics that help avoid a throttling situation: Email throttling is an integral part of email deliverability. Each ISP has their own threshold which they constantly 1. Work with a stellar ESP, one that has a evolve. Follow our recommendations and you will be o robust feature set to handle throttling. to a great start.

2. Consult with an expert deliverability agency like Inbox Pros, expert in-house sta , or with consultation from your ESP.

3. Only send from fully warmed IPs.

4. Schedule your emails to send over an extended period of time.

5. Expand the runway leading up to your desired completion date. Start sending earlier.

6. Segment your emails by domain or split your lists into multiple parts. Remember, we have recommended that you split transactional and marketing email at a bare minimum. Ideally, your program also isolates riskier lists on their own IPs.

250ok.com | InboxPros.com 52 We covered Deliverability Branding, Shared IP vs. Dedicated IP, Feedback Loops, No-Reply’s, Setting Subscriber Expectations, Single Opt-In vs. Double Opt-In, Permission Marketing, Email Authentication, and EMAIL Email Throttling. While there are other important topics, we felt this base was a solid starting point.

DELIVERABILITY Please feel free to contact 250ok with questions, anytime. And thanks, again, for stepping up your WRAP-UP deliverability game with us.

250ok contact email: [email protected]

53 ABOUT THE AUTHORS

GREG KRAIOS Greg Kraios is the founder and CEO of email deliverability software company, 250ok. For over 15 years, this email entrepreneur has made his way from ExactTarget to running his own flourishing email analyics company. Greg consistently pushes the envelope to produce software that maximizes deliverability across all systems.

250ok. com https://250ok. com/

CHRIS ARRENDALE Chris Arrendale is the founder and CEO of email deliverability and privacy Inbox Pros consulting firm, Inbox Pros. With over a decade and a half of experience, he continues to solve a variety of clients’ deliverability and compliance challenges. Chris works to ensure his client’s email reaches the inbox by providing strategic guidance as well as hands-on support.

Inbhttp://inboo xpros.comxPros.com/

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