Email marketing is a powerful tool for e-commerce businesses, but its effectiveness hinges on one crucial factor: deliverability. No matter how beautifully designed or carefully crafted your emails are, they won’t achieve results if they don’t reach your subscribers' inboxes. Email deliverability is the measure of your ability to deliver emails to your customers’ inboxes successfully, avoiding spam filters and other barriers.
In this guide, we will explore what email deliverability is, the factors that affect it, and how you can improve it to ensure your e-commerce emails land where they’re supposed to—your customers’ inboxes.
Email deliverability refers to the ability of your emails to successfully reach your subscribers’ inboxes, rather than getting filtered into [the spam folder](case-studies-100pure-email-revenue.html) or blocked by internet service providers (ISPs). Unlike email delivery, which simply measures whether an email is accepted by a recipient’s email server, email deliverability is more about ensuring that your email makes it to the intended inbox.
If your emails aren’t getting delivered to inboxes, your engagement rates will drop, and your efforts to drive conversions and sales will be in vain.
For e-commerce businesses, email marketing is a crucial revenue driver. Research shows that for every $1 spent on email marketing, the average return is $42. However, if emails aren’t landing in inboxes, businesses lose out on this potential revenue.
Good deliverability directly impacts:
Deliverability is particularly important during key shopping seasons, such as Black Friday or Christmas, where the competition for inbox space is fierce.
Several factors influence whether your emails make it to the inbox or get stuck in spam filters. These factors include:
Your sender reputation is a key factor in deliverability. ISPs track your sending behavior (e.g., bounce rates, spam complaints) and use this data to determine whether your emails should be delivered.
Emails that contain spammy content or phrases like “Free!” or “Act Now” are more likely to be flagged by filters. Ensuring that your email content is clean and professional is vital.
Emails that are not authenticated properly are more likely to be filtered into spam folders.
Sending emails to invalid or inactive email addresses can harm your deliverability, as high bounce rates or spam complaints negatively impact your sender reputation.
Your sender reputation is essentially your email marketing “credit score.” It is a measure of how trustworthy you are as an email sender and is influenced by your sending practices, engagement rates, and user complaints.
Example: A successful e-commerce brand like Etsy maintains a high sender reputation by sending relevant, personalized content and keeping their email lists clean.
Even with a good sender reputation, emails can still end up in spam folders if you’re not following best practices for avoiding spam filters.
Spam filters are programmed to look for certain phrases that are often associated with unsolicited emails. Avoid words like “Free,” “Act Now,” or “Guaranteed” in your subject lines or body content.
Emails with sloppy HTML code, too many images, or broken links are more likely to be flagged as spam. Ensure that your email templates are properly coded and tested before sending.
If you’re sending HTML emails, always include a plain-text version. Some spam filters view HTML-only emails as suspicious.
Emails that are image-heavy with little text can trigger spam filters. Aim for a balance between images and text, ensuring that your message is clear even if images are blocked by the recipient’s email client.
Example: Mailchimp provides tools for building well-formatted emails that help you avoid common pitfalls like image-heavy designs or improper HTML structure.
Email authentication helps prove to ISPs that your emails are legitimate and that you’re not a spammer or phisher. It involves implementing protocols that verify you are who you claim to be when sending an email.
SPF helps prevent unauthorized senders from sending emails on behalf of your domain. By setting up an SPF record, you allow only authorized IP addresses to send emails from your domain.
DKIM adds a digital signature to your emails that verifies the email hasn’t been altered in transit and that it’s actually coming from your domain.
DMARC works with SPF and DKIM to give domain owners control over how their email is handled if authentication fails. It also provides visibility into who is sending emails from your domain.
Example: Leading email marketing platforms like Klaviyo provide easy-to-follow guides for setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to improve email authentication and deliverability.
Segmentation and list hygiene are critical to maintaining good deliverability. Sending emails to engaged, interested recipients not only improves open rates but also reduces the likelihood of being marked as spam.
Segmenting [[[[[[your email list](sms-survey-report-klaviyo.html)](case-studies-beekman-1802-bfcm.html)](case-studies-glowdega-boulevard-integration.html)](a-deep-dive-into-drip-the-email-marketing-service-for-ecommerce)](email-list-hygiene-how-to-clean-and-maintain-your-ecommerce-subscriber-list)](klaviyo-cdp-features-update.html) allows you to send more targeted emails that are relevant to the recipient. Common segmentation criteria include: - Purchase history - Engagement level - Demographic information - Browsing behavior
Cleaning your email list regularly helps remove invalid, inactive, or unengaged contacts. This can be done by: - Sending re-engagement campaigns to inactive subscribers - Removing hard bounces from your list - Offering [an easy opt-out option](sms-survey-report-klaviyo.html) to disinterested users
Example: E-commerce businesses like Amazon use segmentation to send personalized product recommendations, ensuring higher engagement and better deliverability.
The content of your emails also plays a significant role in deliverability. Emails that are poorly written, use spammy language, or contain broken links are more likely to be filtered out.
Avoid using all caps, excessive punctuation, or clickbait phrases in your subject lines. Keep it short, clear, and enticing.
Sending irrelevant content leads to low engagement and higher chances of spam complaints. Use personalization techniques to ensure your emails align with the interests of your audience.
Use tools like Litmus or Email on Acid to test how your emails appear across different email clients and to check for deliverability issues.
Example: By focusing on relevant content and clean email formatting, Nordstrom maintains high engagement rates and excellent deliverability, even during large promotional events like Black Friday.
Tracking your email deliverability is essential for identifying issues early and making improvements. Most email marketing platforms offer deliverability reporting tools to help you monitor performance.
Keep an eye on the following key metrics to assess your deliverability: - Bounce Rate: High bounce rates suggest you’re sending to invalid addresses. - Spam Complaint Rate: Aim to keep this as low as possible. - Open Rate: Low open rates could indicate your emails are landing in spam folders. - Click-Through Rate: A low CTR might suggest that your content is not relevant or engaging.
For e-commerce businesses sending high volumes of email, using a dedicated IP address can help improve deliverability. It ensures that your reputation isn’t affected by other senders using the same IP.
Example: SendGrid provides comprehensive deliverability analytics, allowing you to track bounces, complaints, and engagement rates, helping you fine-tune your email strategy.
Email deliverability is the foundation of a successful email marketing strategy for e-commerce. By maintaining a strong sender reputation, avoiding spam triggers, and optimizing your content and list, you can ensure your emails consistently reach the inbox. Prioritizing deliverability will lead to higher engagement rates, improved customer relationships, and, ultimately, increased sales for your e-commerce store.
For more resources on improving email deliverability, check out these guides: