Summary
Email is still one of the most effective digital marketing channels, but there’s a whole email path between clicking “send” and seeing that message land in the inbox. A lot of people don’t realize that.
Maybe you’ve already sent out a great email campaign, but the results weren’t quite what you were aiming for? That’s where email deliverability comes in. It plays a part in achieving your communication objectives, but not many people really know what it involves. So how can you make sure that your emails don’t end up in the dreaded spam folder? Follow our guide and we’ll explain everything!
Sending an email: what really happens
Once you’ve got your email ready to go, it’s time to hit send. Every email goes through a few different steps on its way to the inbox. Each step is a chance for things to go wrong, but also a chance for things to go right. Let’s take a quick look at the stages your emails will go through.
1. Sending via the SMTP server: This is the digital equivalent of your post office. Your e-mail is first handled by your e-mail provider’s SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) server. It receives your e-mail, checks that it is correctly structured and makes sure that everything is in order before forwarding it on its journey.
2. Transit via MTA servers: Once validated, the e-mail passes through several intermediate servers called MTAs (Mail Transfer Agents). At this stage, your e-mail may be delayed or subjected to additional checks. This network of servers acts as intermediaries, guiding your email to its destination server. Just like the routes taken by physical packages, some paths are faster, others take longer.
3. Arrival at the receiving server: Finally, the email arrives at the recipient’s door, but it hasn’t arrived there yet! Email providers such as Gmail or Outlook analyze each message through a series of spam filters. They examine several factors, such as the sender’s reputation or the content of the message, before deciding whether the email will go into the inbox or the spam folder.
Each step represents a risk for the deliverability of your e-mails. A simple detail can be enough to send your messages to the spam folder.
Who are the guardians of the path of an email?
As we’ve just seen, there are several players involved in delivering your e-mails:
- The SMTP server: Responsible for getting things off to a good start, it’s the SMTP server that makes sure your e-mail leaves with all the necessary information.
- MTA servers (Mail Transfer Agents): These servers manage the transport of email across the Internet and ensure that it takes the most efficient route.
- Email Service Providers (ESPs): Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Outlook… These are the ones who decide the fate of your email by applying various filters to protect their users against spam, viruses and fraud.
Each player plays a role in the delivery of your message, and a small error at any of these stages can prevent your email from reaching its target.
How long does it take for an e-mail to reach its destination?
The time it takes for an email to reach the recipient can vary, but it’s normally just a few seconds. However, there are a few reasons why this could take a bit longer. If you’ve got a good infrastructure and your domain has a solid reputation, the email will get through to your recipient pretty quickly.
Optimizing deliverability: how can you ensure that your emails reach their target?
To ensure good deliverability, it’s essential to understand the criteria on which receiving servers base their decisions about the fate of your e-mail.
- Establish a good sender reputation: Your mailings must respect certain rules for receiving servers to consider them reliable. This includes compliance with authentication protocols such as SPF, DKIM and DMARC (more on these later). What’s more, if your e-mails are frequently reported as spam, your domain could be blacklisted.
- Have a clean subscriber list: Don’t underestimate the importance of maintaining a clean, up-to-date mailing list. Tools like Bouncer (a MailSoar partner) enable you to check your lists regularly and eliminate inactive or incorrect addresses.
- Personalize your mailings: Segmenting your audience and sending targeted messages not only improves engagement rates (open rates, clicks), but also helps you maintain a good reputation as a sender.
Authentication protocols: a key to preventing spam
- This is where things get a little tricky, but don’t worry, we’ll explain everything.
- SPF (Sender Policy Framework): This protocol verifies that the IP address used to send an e-mail is authorized by the sending domain. In other words, it ensures that no one is using your domain to send emails without your knowledge.
- DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail): Think of DKIM as a digital signature that proves your e-mail has not been altered in transit. This enables the receiving server to verify that the message is genuine.
- DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance): DMARC combines SPF and DKIM to offer additional protection. It also enables you to receive reports on spoofing attempts, and to define how to handle emails that fail authentication.
POP and IMAP: email reception protocols
The POP (Post Office Protocol) and IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) protocols are two methods used by e-mail clients to manage the sending and receiving of e-mails in a mailbox.
- POP: This protocol downloads e-mails from a mail server to a local device, then deletes the messages from the server. It is often used when users wish to consult their e-mail on a single device.
- IMAP: Unlike POP, IMAP synchronizes e-mail between multiple devices, while leaving a copy on the server. This ensures that users can view, edit and manage their e-mails from different devices (computer, smartphone, etc.), while retaining optimum management of their mailbox.
Using these protocols appropriately in your email client improves sending and receiving, and indirectly influences the experience of your recipients, which is crucial for deliverability.
How to improve deliverability during the path of an email
- Segment your mailings: Send targeted emails tailored to your subscribers’ interests. Intelligent personalization can significantly improve your open and engagement rates, which in turn enhances your reputation.
- Analyze your statistics: Open rates, click-through rates and bounce rates are key indicators that will enable you to adjust your campaigns in real time. This will help you quickly identify deliverability problems and resolve them before they impact your long-term results.
- Encourage engagement: Encourage your subscribers to interact with your emails, whether by answering questions, taking advantage of exclusive promotions, or adding your email address to their contact book. High engagement shows inbox servers that your emails are expected and appreciated.
How mailSoar can help you optimize your deliverability
Even with all these best practices, it can still be tricky to make sure your emails are delivered as well as they should be. That’s where we come in with our expertise at MailSoar. We’re here to help you every step of the way, from checking out your emailing infrastructure to setting up and putting technical recommendations into practice. We work closely with your team to make sure your emails reach their target and that your campaigns perform at their best.
Our deliverability audit service will give you a clear picture of where you stand with your sender reputation and suggest ways you can improve your performance. With us on your team, you can focus on creating great content, and we’ll make sure your emails don’t end up in the spam folder.
Why is deliverability so important?
When your emails reach the inbox, that’s when the magic happens: more opens, more clicks, more conversions. On the other hand, if your emails end up in spam, not only are they ineffective, but they can also damage your reputation in the long term. If your domain is marked as unreliable, it becomes even more difficult to get back into the good graces of receiving servers.
Make sure you're on the right side of the odds
Deliverability is something you really need to think about if you want your email campaigns to be as effective as possible. If you follow these best practices and get expert help from a company like MailSoar, you’ll have a better chance of getting your emails into your subscribers’ inboxes. You’ll also make your emailing strategy more effective.
If you want to know more, check out our full guide to email deliverability, or just give us a shout to chat about your particular situation.
