Early Email #012: Deliverability for BFCM

Hiya! Kumusta?

BFCM Season Prep has come.

Now, before you think about strategy, cadence, copy, or design... there's one thing you need to take care of first: Deliverability.

Coz nothing else matters if your email isn't making it to the inbox.

Promotions Tab: I count the Promotions Tab as part of the inbox. 

It's where our promotional emails belong in the first place. There's nothing wrong with placing there at all.

The only reason I'm advocating for the Primary Inbox? Less competition, more eyeballs, more conversions.

So what can you do to get your deliverability sorted out?

1. Check your metrics: Bounced, Unsubscribed, Spam Complaints

Too many bounced? Test using double opt-in. It's also time to clean your list and suppress the bounced emails.

Too many unsubs? Unsubs are a good thing, but if you're seeing more than usual (check your historical data), it's time to investigate why.

Did you make any changes to your emails lately? Anything that's turning people off?

Too many spam complaints? Check your branding and messaging. Focus on educational emails.

ZERO spam complaints? Beware. It's either you have a 100% stellar email program with 100% loyal unflinching followers... or you're already in the spam box, so no one's complaining anymore.

2. Focus on engagement: Send emails that encourage replies for starters. Not just in campaigns, but also in the flows.

Campaigns: Run a giveaway that requires a reply to join.

Flows: Include a letter from the CEO (welcome flow) and encourage people to reply.

Not only will this improve your relationship with your customer base, but you'll also improve your sender reputation.

Bonus: You get automatically moved to the Primary Inbox. No need for "whitelisting" instructions (I mean, who does that anyway?).

3. Invest in SMS: Boost  + backup for email

In the end, even if you're making it in the inbox, you still have a ton of competition. Building your SMS list can help boost your conversions.

You effectively bypass the inbox and go straight to your customers' phones.

Just a friendly reminder that you shouldn't treat SMS like email. SMS is a two-way street, not a billboard.

TL;DR - Whether it's Email or SMS, have conversations and delight your customers!

I hope this was helpful.

And as always, if you have any questions, I'm only an email away.  

Happy emailing,

Kat

P.S. I talked about this topic recently on the Convert on Shopify podcast. If you're the podcast-listening type, you can catch the episode here.