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 The Email Deliverability Landscape

The world of email deliverability has many layers and is constantly changing. Constant Contact, the company with which CU Village.com has partnered with to provide email marketing and survey solutions, relies on a team of experts to build relationships with Internet service providers, stay abreast of important and emerging issues, and work with others in the email industry to map out and execute battle plans in the fight against spam.

Ellen Siegel, director of technology and standards at Constant Contact, is the expert in industry best practices at Constant Contact. Here she answers some questions regarding the current deliverability landscape, how it impacts email marketers, and what they can do to improve it.

Q. While best practices for email marketing go well beyond the letter of the law, what requirements of the CAN-SPAM Act should email marketers be aware of?
A. There are several components to the CAN-SPAM Act that most email service providers [ESPs] will automatically take care of for you, but it's still important for email marketers to know what they are. First, all messages must have a clear unsubscribe link and all requests to be removed from a list, whether they're via that link or a reply to the message, must be honored within a maximum of 10 business days.

One of the biggest things to keep in mind when writing content is that subject lines must not be deceptive or misleading. They must accurately represent the content of the email. There have been several Federal Trade Commission [FTC] actions lately that reinforce this.

Finally, every email must contain a valid physical address that represents your organization. Those are really the high points that senders need to be concerned with.

Q. You mentioned that the FTC has taken action around the issue of misleading subject lines. Can you tell us more about that and what an email marketer can learn from it?
A. There have been two big cases in the last few months that have resulted in large settlements; the most recent one was against ValueClick for 2.9 million dollars. In both cases, the FTC used a combination of regular law against deceptive advertising and CAN-SPAM. And in both cases, the deceptive subject lines figured heavily in FTC action and also in the settlement.

The main take-away is that if what you communicate in the subject line has any caveats to it at all, those must appear in the subject line as well. They can't appear later in the message. So if you're advertising a free gift with a subscription, the information "with a subscription" needs to be in the subject line along with "free gift."

Q. How about ISPs, such as Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail? What are they doing about spam?
A. Unfortunately, legitimate email is only a tiny fraction of what they process. The volume of spam is so high that they really have to focus most of their efforts on eliminating it. Statistics out there show that more than 95 percent of all email that arrives at a receiver (ISPs and other organizations that receive email and filter it) is spam and most of that is completely malicious, illegal, illicit spam. So the ISPs and other receivers are really not interested in debating with those sending mail about whether or not they're following CAN-SPAM. Instead, they're interested in how to stem this avalanche of really nasty spam and how to keep as much as possible out of their customers' inboxes. So, in general, receivers set their bar higher than CAN-SPAM compliance.

Q. What steps can email marketers take to help the ISPs see their email as legitimate?
A. For starters, work with an email service provider that really knows what they're doing and has relationships with receivers. Also, make sure that you have real relationships with the contacts you are sending to and that they're getting what they want at a frequency that they're expecting. Monitor your click-throughs to see what your contacts are interested in and keep fine-tuning your content. In the end, the more you make your recipients happy, the less likely they are to tell their ISPs that they don't want your email.

Q. Moving on to a hot topic in the world of email: authentication. What is it and why does it matter?
A. Authentication allows a sender to take responsibility for their email in a way that can be confirmed by ISPs and other receivers. This confirmed identity gives the receivers something to attach a reputation to. In the future, this reputation may help determine whether your mail gets to the inbox or not.

You can think of authentication as your driver's license. It says who you are in a verifiable way, but it doesn't say anything about what your behavior is. Reputation is more like your driving record.

Authentication use has been growing a lot over the past years, and in fact the Authentication and Online Trust Alliance released a report in January saying that authentication has finally reached the tipping point, where more than 50 percent of the email coming in to the Microsoft domains, Hotmail and MSN, are in fact authenticated with sender ID.

Q. What are the benefits of authentication at this stage in the game?
A. ISPs are starting to check for authentication. So, if you are authenticating your email, they can register your identity and start collecting reputation data on you. Once the ISPs "flip the switch" so that all email must be authenticated, you'll already have built up a good reputation and you'll be starting from a much better point than someone who's just turning it on at the last minute.

Q. How does a Constant Contact user turn on authentication?
A. Within the Constant Contact product, you turn authentication on by going to the "My Settings" tab in your account; and off to the right of that settings page there's a link next to authentication. If you've never turned it on before it will show that it's off, and you can click to turn it on and choose the authentication domain that you want to use.

Q. Once authentication is turned on, can the people receiving your email see a change?
A. It's a very slight change. For some, the authenticated domain will show up in the "from" field once an email is opened. It is not seen in the inbox "from" line that people see before deciding to open. The majority of Constant Contact users will authenticate under Constant Contact's domain name "ccsend.com." They are required to choose a unique name so that they have their own sub-domain that they could use to build up their reputation.

Q. What technologies are on the horizon in the fight against spam?
A. There are many. Spammers are constantly evolving their techniques, so receivers have to keep up and try to stay one step ahead. It's not easy. Most of the technologies that are coming are under the covers and won't be seen by your readers, but it's good for all email marketers to be aware that there's a whole industry that's focused on developing these techniques to help stem the flood of spam. In the meantime, the best thing that senders can do is send relevant content. This will help ensure that their emails are seen as legitimate by the ISPs and their subscribers.

5 Reasons Subscribers Could View your Email as Spam and what to Do about It

Receiving a spam complaint from someone who is supposed to know you and your business might feel like you're being betrayed by a friend, especially when you've worked so hard to build a permission-based list. You are following the rules, so why the spam complaint?

It may be that certain characteristics of your email look like spam to your subscribers or they aren't satisfied with what they are getting from you. But take heart: there are ways to help more of your recipients respond with approval instead of with the spam button. Here are the five most common consumer spam-complaint triggers and how you can avoid pulling them.

1) Questionable Identity
Clearly communicating your identity is the number one way to avoid spam complaints. According to a survey by the Email Sender and Provider Coalition, 79 percent of consumers clicked the spam button when they didn't know who the sender was. Here are the two simplest ways to make your identity apparent.
  • Use a familiar name in your "from" line. Use the same words your audience uses to identify you or your business. For example, if you're an online business and your customers refer to you by your domain name instead of your formal business name, put your domain name in your "from" line. If you are your brand, and everyone on your list knows who you are, use your name.
  • Include your brand. Insert your logo into the upper left or center of every email and include image descriptions (alt text) of your company's name for readers who have images disabled. Choose colors that identify your business when designing your email templates and use the same colors in every template you use. Don't just use the stock template colors.
2) Irrelevant Content
Consumers expect their email subscriptions to deliver value. According to eMarketer, 46 percent of Internet users say the commercial emails they receive are not targeted to their needs. Since your email list is likely to include people with a variety of interests, take these interests into account before you send.
  • Offer choices on your sign-up form. Some consumers want to receive promotions, while others only want informative newsletters. Offering options helps you make your emails relevant.
  • Use click-through data to target future messages. When people click on your links, they tell you what they are interested in. Use this data to create different email lists.
  • Send surveys and polls to learn about preferences. Instead of making assumptions about what to send, ask. You can conduct a formal survey before starting a major email campaign or use ongoing polls to get small bits of information over time and adjust your strategy as you go. If you use Listen Up! Survey from Constant Contact you can quickly develop and send professional surveys to your members.
3) Broken Promises
Sending emails that your subscribers didn't ask for (such as promotions when they signed up for an email newsletter) can be perceived by your audience as a broken promise. Give your subscribers clear expectations before they share their email addresses, then keep your promises.
  • Tell your new subscribers what you're going to send. Clearly describe each type of email communication you offer (e.g., promotions, newsletters, and event announcements) and ask new subscribers which they would like to receive.
  • Send a welcome email after new subscribers join. Whether they join through your Web site or you add them to your list after they subscribe offline, send a welcome email that clearly describes the email content you plan to send. You can also include a link to archived emails to reinforce your content description.
4) Excessive Promotion
Selling your products or services is an important part of your email marketing, but, according to a Jupiter Research survey, 40 percent of consumers said they stopped subscribing to opt-in emails because they were getting too many offers. Sending promotions too frequently might lead to spam complaints.
  • Keep your promotional frequency in line with your business model. If you sell items that are consumed quickly, your audience probably expects more frequent promotions than if you sell items that are normally purchased every few months, years, or once in a lifetime.
  • Place promotions on your Web site and use informative email content to drive clicks. Instead of putting an entire article and a promotion in your email newsletter, use only the first two or three sentences in your email and post the rest of the article, and a related promotion, on your Web site.
  • Know your audience's promotional preferences. Some consumers love coupons, sales, and discounts. Others don't. If you're not sure of your audience's promotional preferences, use a survey, a poll, or a choice of interest list to sort your subscribers into groups.
5) Confusion and Illusion
Sometimes consumers report legitimate email as spam because they simply want to get off a list and don't understand the negative impact of hitting that spam button. Here are two reasons why consumers might choose the spam button over the more forgiving option of unsubscribing.
  • Your subscribers can't figure out how to unsubscribe. If your audience has trouble finding the unsubscribe link at the bottom of your email, use a permission reminder at the top of your email that includes the link. This is simple to do when you use Speak Up! Email Marketer from Constant Contact.
  • Your subscribers don't trust the unsubscribe link in your email. Use your sign-up process and welcome email to reinforce the ability to safely unsubscribe from your list by clicking the unsubscribe link in any of your emails.
While it may be impossible to take the sting out of receiving a spam complaint, it is possible to minimize the amount of complaints you receive. Stick to permission-based tactics, make your identity clear, send relevant content, and keep tabs on your frequency. If you put all these tips into practice, then you've done everything in your power to keep subscribers on your list and stop them from clicking the spam button when they receive your emails.

Product Enhancements: Speak Up! Email Marketing

What's new...and what's improved?

New! Autosave - Now you can relax and focus, free from the fear of losing your work, while you create your emails. Why? Because now they'll be automatically saved every five minutes even if you forget to click "save."

Improved! Copy & Paste - Love to copy and paste content into your email template? Don't like the annoying formatting that often comes with it? We've improved our copy-and-paste feature so you can paste content as text only (by using the right-click feature on your mouse!). Want to keep the formatting? Select "Paste with Formatting" from the left toolbar.

New! Basic Templates - Many have been asking for simple, "no-frills" templates. Our Basic Templates offer the structure to easily create your email without color, design, or imagery.

Enhanced! Contact Remove Option - We've made it possible to remove a single contact from just one list. Simply select the contact you want to remove and click the "Just This List" option. Want to remove a contact from all your lists? Choose "All Lists." It's that simple.


For information about our products and services, contact your CU Village.com business consultant.

 
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