With the arrival of a new year, it brings a fresh start to the email marketing 2011 forecast. Now is the time to ensure you are sending to organic lists which are cleaned frequently. This year in particular, improving engagement is going to be critical for deliverability success. If you have gathered lists or are thinking about gathering lists by means other than organic collection, we say don't do it!
It may seem like collecting lists organically is very time consuming and inconvenient, but it is worth it in the long run. Purchasing, renting or using an old email address list will be caught quickly by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Email Service Providers (ESPs), causing your reputation to be negatively hurt. Most ESPs specify in their terms that lists must be opt-in/double opt-in only and if you are caught using a non-opt-in list many ESPs will terminate your account immediately.
It used to be that ISPs would base inbox placement on the reputation of a sender and/or IP. For example: not receiving high complaints, not sending to spam traps, not blacklisted and has a good Sender Score. That trend is now turning to engagement to a specific sender. If clients are seeing high opens, large amounts of click-throughs and recipients replying/forwarding to friends, they will receive more of their mail in the inbox.
So as you can see, the email marketing 2011 forecast is going to be about putting in the work to engage more with your lists in order to get more messages delivered to where they should.
What to look for in 2011 (upcoming posts):
New Canadian Anti-Spam Law
Increasing number of ISPs moving towards engagement rather than reputation
Increased punishment for the use of lists which are not organically collected
Have a question about deliverability? Our team is always ready for a challenge or two. Email them at deliverability@simplycast.com.
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